MovieChat Forums > Cidade de Deus (2004) Discussion > After the rape of Knockout Ned's girlfri...

After the rape of Knockout Ned's girlfriend....

posted 11 years ago by thepoet21
12 replies | jump to latest

Not sure if this is something that is unique to Brazilian culture, but didn't it seem like Ned's girlfriend was immediately forgotten after the rape? It was as though she was dismissed as spoiled goods and just forgotten. Is this indicative of a cultural attitude (that a raped women is damaged goods) or just the movies rapid pace and somewhat dark view of this world?

He even said that "He couldn't look her in the face?" So is that it, your girl is raped, and you turn your back on her? That's kinda messed up.

[–] fanfamauricio 11 years ago

This is not a Brazilian culture issue, I can assure you. I also noticed this and, with the *beep* up decay of Knockout Ned into crime, couldn't think of anything else than that she died right there in the raping.

[–] thepoet21 11 years ago

Did she really die though? That wasn't really made clear in this movie, so I don't know.....

[–] fanfamauricio 11 years ago

Yes, that wasn't clear in the movie. I found a PDF copy of the script and looked into it, the girl is just depicted as "a BLONDE" in the scene, not personally as Knockout Ned's girlfriend, but later is referred as his fiancée. It doesn't say anything about her dying, instead it implies that she is alive (Gelson, Knockout Ned's brother, suggest he to move somewhere else with her), but Knockout Ned's is really a coward at this point of the film (he says "I was there and did nothing" and wishes that Lil' Zé had killed him). Knockout Ned's name in the portuguese version is Mané Galinha, he is depicted only as Galinha usually, wich is portuguese for chicken, might explain his reaction.

But I think this seems like a flaw in the script by the filmmakers, since Knockout Ned only really appears at the last third of the film, this might have passed as non important for the story (wich isn't). Maybe he does get to treat her, try to stay with her, and before partening with Carrot completely loses it due to being a coward chicken, or maybe he really don't give a damn about her after the rape, also due to being a coward chicken. The story focus in his transformation into a vengeful bad guy, key in the slum war, and sadly lacks in his personal life.

[–] thepoet21 11 years ago

Excellent points. You know, I think that them missing these rather important details is indicative of the flaws of this film. Rather than focus on more of the drama and reality of the story, it seemed to be too mired in using the gratuitous violence as the focus. It's almost as though the director decided to forgoe the aftermath of the rape in favor of showing 6 year olds posing with handguns. Sad because this could have been a great movie if not for the somewhat sadistic nature of the movie.

[–] fanfamauricio 11 years ago

Yes, problably. The big drug dealers in Rio use kids as part of their "army", but that only happened after the '90s, that is often a critique towards the film, and also the motel (don't know how this is translated into the english version, but hotels in Brazil are for staying days and nights, while motels are exclusively for a few hours of sex) massacre isn't done by Lil' Zé in real life facts, wich might increase this point of view.

Fernando Meirelles and Walter Salles (usually partners, whose I'm a really big fan) don't usually do this sadistic violence in their movies, but might have use kids and lots of guns because that is a thing since the nineties (and not in the seventies and the eighties). I don't know how the book portraits the use of kids, but that is a sad decision in the story anyway.

[–] red_skin123 11 years ago

Chicken in slang terms in Brazil meant handsome and good looking. So his original name Chicken wasn't an allusion to him being a coward, that's why the english translation was changed to Knockout Ned because of how good looking he's supposed to be.

And I noticed the pattern of the passive portrayal of women in City Of God, they're not really important and more devices for the furthering of the plot, I don't know if that was the director's intent but if it was, then I think it's supposed to reflect the culture of The City Of God and how there's no time to reflect on nurturing and love, and how woman are mainly just for objects of lust and desire. Even the reporter is shown in a passive light, she drifts in and out of the story once her purpose as been served.

Woman represent life, and give life and how embracing love is like embracing life, but in The City Of God, there is no time for life or creation, just destruction, consumption, and lust.

Knockout Ned was portrayed as such a ladies man, and how he always was popular with the ladies, and how he was a very loving man who believe in love and peace, a man who embraced life, and running away from destruction. But when he failed to protect who he loved and what he lived for, it was horrible for him and he realized that he'd rather be dead than live with the fact he failed to protect the love and peace he had with his fiancee.

This was the true death of Knockout Ned, he was no longer a soldier of love and peace, that man died when his fiancee was raped, the days of running away from destruction was over, and the man he became ran towards it. Revenge consumed him, and all he was hellbent on was killing Lil Z, he hoped that it would bring peace to The Ghetto, but in the end he failed to realize all it would do was create more destruction, like when he kills the security guard all he did was create another soldier of destruction (Security Guard's Son).

I think since he became what he became, he didn't have time to embrace love and life anymore, he couldn't be a soldier of love and peace because he failed to protect love and peace and now all he wanted to do was destroy destruction and hate, AKA Lil Z.

[–] lamont-hard 10 years ago

I wondered what happened to her also but I did not feel he just left her, but off screen he could have tended to her. I doubt if he would just dump her because of the rape. Her role was not an important part of the story and they only had so much time and film space to tell the tale of what he became. So I can understand them not getting back to her.

[–] fairy_depp 10 years ago

I think he felt ashamed that he hadn't protected her and that was why he said he couldn't look her in the face.. Not because he saw her as spoiled goods, it was just guilt.

He was completely wrapped up in getting revenge for what happened to her and his brother and uncles death that he had no time for her.

[–] Eumenides_0 10 years ago

I was just going to reply the same. After the rape scene, when Ned's relatives are consoling him he laments that he couldn't even look her in the face, he was so ashamed and traumatised for being unable to protect the woman he loved, he just couldn't be with her anymore. And that's also why he wishes Lil Ze had killed him.

This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.

[–] kalaimay24 10 years ago

Mane Galinha/Knockout Ned feels like less of a men.

[–] LeofricsBeloved 8 years ago

The girl's fate after the rape was not explained. Knockout Ned felt like he was a coward and failed to protect her. He felt guilty and ashamed. It was not explained whether they remained together or not.

[–] RandomNJ 7 years ago

There is nothing about Brazilian culture but dwelling on her story would not make sense for the quick pace of the movie that was a quilt of different characters. Her story fitted as trigger to have Ned to look for revenge.

His line of "He couldn't even look her in the face" was for shame. He blamed himself and thought he should have reacted. But we know he would have been killed if he did. In the scene, one of guys is forcing him to look having Ned's face pinned with his feet so it's not like he could really have saved her.

It's not a question of have been forgotten but a question of letting for the viewer to guess she's left traumatized and the story moved along showing Ned path to crime after that.