MovieChat Forums > Tenderness (2009) Discussion > Why did Eric cry at the boat scene?!?

Why did Eric cry at the boat scene?!?

posted 14 years ago by Kohleye
7 replies | jump to latest

Ok, if he's a psychopath, he wouldn't have feelings for anyone, right? So did he cry because he was gonna get blamed for her death? The romantic in me wants to believe he might have feelings for her, but reality is that psychopaths don't feel empathy, but only for themselves..

Maybe he thought of her like a possession (like a car, cd, etc.) and therefore regretted losing her? But he almost kissed her forehead before letting her go, it seemed so different..

Why would a psycho want to save someone, as he did? It doesn't make sense.. Argh, what do you guys think??

[–] cdjunkee-1 14 years ago

I think he genuinely cared about her. throughout the film she pretty much offered herself up on a platter for him to kill her. if he had actually wanted to he would've. if he didn't care about her why try to go after when she jumps into the river? I'd like to believe his being distraught and tears for Lori were real.

BTW I found this movie quite touching and sad. I don't undertstand why people were dissappointed in it. sure it has it's cliche's. but I thought the acting really shined through. especially Sophie Taub as Lori. I found her last dialogue at the end when she talks about "Nothing changes..." to be tragic.

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

[–] Kohleye 14 years ago

I truly wished he cared for her too.. :/ But honestly it isn't possible for psychopaths to care for someone else, at least not in the sence we "normal" people do.. That's why I ordered the book yesterday, I wanna get inside the mind of Eric, lol.

Yes, Sophie Taub was really good, though annoying at times, but that was the role. I could very much relate to her last speech about "nothing changes".. So sad.

[–] Gary-161 14 years ago

>>Why would a psycho want to save someone, as he did? It doesn't make sense.. Argh, what do you guys think??

The inference, I suppose, is Eric's "twinky" defence was genuine and off that medication he was struggling to regain his feelings in the certain knowledge he had commited murder. But it is deliberately left ambiguous.

I believe the movie's altruistic motive is to give young victims of bad parenting some hope. Wrapped up in a serial killer plot as usual. Maybe young people would find it patronising. I keep young people away with a flame thrower so I can't confirm the veracity of that.

[–] Kohleye 14 years ago

I searched the net and found this: "Despite their disturbed emotional world some psychopaths may exhibit normal emotional experiences such as normal feelings for pets, relatives, art, sports, and so on."

So I guess Eric cared, wow.. That makes me quite happy.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] firephoenix6 14 years ago

Yeah- I agree. I saw this movie twice and it's just been haunting me.

While I think it would have improved the movie to have shown a little more of the "why" of Eric's pathos, I think it did a decent job of showing the "what."
I noticed throughout the movie that Eric's problem was a complete emotional disconnect- for whatever reason, he could not experience the range of human feelings toward others.(he attributes his inability to empathize as a result of the psychoactive drugs his parents and doctor gave him) I suspect that there were probably other contributing factors, and it would have made a more complete story, but we don't get to see it. For the majority of the movie, he is disturbingly withdrawn and detached.

IMO, experiencing the range of human emotions that encompass human social behavior is a form of intense psychological stimulation. And I think the brain craves that. So if, for whatever reason, the mind can't, or won't, allow the thought process to progress to a satisfying level of emotional experience, I think it's possible that it will try to simulate intense mental experiences in other ways. Which over time can lead to increasingly deviant and sociopathic tendencies to keep fueling the mental "rush." Hence, the necrophiliac proclivites of Eric- he gets physically turned on, and he replaces the mental rush of emotion with the mental rush of acts of violence. And then being dead is a plus because there's no threat of having to fake emotions.

As you stated, I think the end IS about a sort of unexpected breakthrough of his mental barriers. I think he was probably shocked himself at his spontaneous emotional response. Not that all's well that ends well, but it was a small, hopeful glimpse of perhaps a mind that still had a little corner to feel affection and empathy.

[–] simian_ninja 13 years ago

I think it was because he couldn't understand why she wanted to die. He had killed out of curiosity and then with passion, coming out of jail he was struggling with himself.

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