MovieChat Forums > Tenderness (2009) Discussion > Eric's type

Eric's type

posted 14 years ago by rlb1957
9 replies | jump to latest

I believe that Eric's type was hispanic girls as the girl in jail was and the
hotel maid seem to be. I'm not sure but the names of the other two girls seemed
to be hispanic. (appologies if I'm wrong) So that is why he didn't want to kill
and love Lori. Was the girl she saw him kill the girl they knew about or the
one they didn't find? I am assuming it was the one they knew about since the
parents were killed because of that girl. So Lori is obsessed with Eric because
she sees him kill the girl. But could she be obsessed about finding out why he did it and if he is still going to kill? Eric says he killed because of his meds
but did he really? If lori killed herself to prove she loved Eric why would she
do it in a way where he would get blamed for it. That would not be a way to prove
you loved someone. She knew the detective was following them and would know she died. I also think the scene where Eric is with the girl at the amusement park
may have made her believe that yes he was still a killer and would not stop.

[–] Gary-161 14 years ago

>>But could she be obsessed about finding out why he did it and if he is still going to kill?

No. You're thinking in terms of the generic conventions of detective thrillers which is basically, "get the bad guy." This movie is about how two people with abnormal pathologies come together. Lori's reaction to witnessing a murder is so atypical as to stretch credulity. But historically, two persons with abnormal pathologies have come together and this is such a story. Killing is Eric's fantasy and being killed is Lori's fantasy.

[–] rlb1957 14 years ago

No I'm not thinking of generic detective thrillers. I read true crime and
that is what I go by. If Eric enjoyed killing why didn't he kill Lori?
And if Lori wanted to be killed then why did she kill herself. Especially when she
knew that he would get blamed because she went out on the lake with Eric
instead of by herself. What was the scene at the motel about. He was thinking
about the maid but he had no sexual interest in Lori. Why??

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] rlb1957 14 years ago

I got the book and read it and it does say Eric was attracted to dark haired, dark
skinned girls, like my original post. It also says that Lori didn't see Eric kill the girl so she does
not know he killed the girl until a reporter tells her he is suspected of killing
other girls. I don't think she ever wanted to be killed tenderly by Eric.
She just wants to be loved by him. The book and the movie are not alike because
he doesn't even kill his mom the same way. I believe that Lori was trying to
find out if Eric was a killer and in the end she wanted him to go back to jail
because she thought he was....

[–] Gary-161 14 years ago

>>No I'm not thinking of generic detective thrillers. I read true crime and
that is what I go by.

Lori isn't interested in law and order and neither is the film. That aspect is proven flawed and "justice" arrives only in the context of a morality play. Lori and Eric both dislike authority figures and objectify people in the pursuit of fantasy. The difference between them is Lori is damaged goods and Eric has no excuse. The subtext is Lori is making a moral challenge to an abuser to release her from her pain and this flips Eric out. Lori dies believing Eric doesn't like her and nothing changes. But she has changed Eric who for the first time sees a woman as a person and not an object and tries to save her. Finally, on the bus Eric has learned that no man is an island and that people aren't vegetables. It sounds funny but that's basically it.

>>What was the scene at the motel about. He was thinking
about the maid but he had no sexual interest in Lori. Why??

If you are an avid reader of true crime you should know that one. Serial killers are often attracted to a certain look. In Eric's case I believe it was dark hair and skin. He's turned on by the maid because she resembles the domestic in the prison.

[–] Gary-161 14 years ago

>>For all we know, he wanted to just meet up the girl at the faiground and have sex with her.

Eric is not interested in that. He is essentially a necrophile. He intends to kill her.

>>Lori did not necessarily want to be killed.. she wanted to be with him more than anything in my opinion.

No, she wants him to kill her. Her fantasy books, etc. We see her manipulating men early on. Lori and Eric are two sides of the same coin in that respect. She drops hints, she manipulates Eric into her wish to be strangled.

>>it could've been a culminating and spontaneous decision after the numerous mechanizations and considerations to get back to the lake.. but it is impossible to know.

It's possible to know she wanted the intimacy of strangulation and to be kissed after death and therefore the lake was expediency after her confrontation with the detective and her knowledge she did not fit Eric's MO. As you said elsewhere, to perhaps float away like the original victim.

>>I can't remember the motel scene

Lori is in the Motel bathroom and catches Eric jerking off at the window. She realises that he is not "shy", the tender person she believes she has witnessed with the body by the river. He explains further that the kiss she witnessed then was not what she thought. After this, things begin to crumble for Lori. But this is the moment Eric is forced to examine himself.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Gary-161 14 years ago

>>Even as a necrophiliac he would've desired sex. He can turn face any time he desires, but there is absolutely no way to know when/if he will kill again.

No, you cannot know but to go against the inferences the author is persisting with is also perverse. A necrophiliac desires sex with dead people. To possess the body totally. Lori certainly believes Eric is going to murder which is why she intervenes.

>>What do her manipulations have to do with her motives?

She isn't "tempting fate." She is not "flirting." That is why she makes a deliberate point of asking Eric whether he received groupy letters in prison and insists that is not her interest. She wants him to kill her. That is fundamental to the story.

>>interesting - i'll have to watch this again sometime

Yes, I've only seen it once and it was not without interest which makes a nice change.

[–] firephoenix6 14 years ago

Lori isn't interested in law and order and neither is the film. That aspect is proven flawed and "justice" arrives only in the context of a morality play. Lori and Eric both dislike authority figures and objectify people in the pursuit of fantasy. The difference between them is Lori is damaged goods and Eric has no excuse. The subtext is Lori is making a moral challenge to an abuser to release her from her pain and this flips Eric out. Lori dies believing Eric doesn't like her and nothing changes. But she has changed Eric who for the first time sees a woman as a person and not an object and tries to save her. Finally, on the bus Eric has learned that no man is an island and that people aren't vegetables. It sounds funny but that's basically it.

RIGHT ON!!! Great analysis. The one thing I have a different take on is I believe Eric is seriously damaged goods as well. There are some hints about that sprinkled throughout the movie- such as the drugs he was taking, and his aunt making a bold statement to the detective about their familiy's extreme dysfunction. Although not detailed, I think there were some serious skeletons in his family's closet. (no pun intended)