A lot in this film confused me, but this section had me rubbing my head. There is the scene in the coffee shop, a scene in some kind of gray concrete room, a scene at a party. My thoughts were that the scene in the gray concrete room didn't really happen, it was the supposed to be the "real" conversation they were having stripped of politeness. (Oh and, he was the actual rape victim right? Did I get that?)
shareThe scene in the gray concrete room is office hours. It actually happens. He wrote a paper about the incidental benefits of having atrocities visited on you. She feels that it is a bunch of woman hating crap and grades it as such. He goes ahead and intrudes on her private time at the coffee shop to politely but forcefully try to make his case for his paper, she puts him off until office hours. At office hours, we miss whatever the first part of their office hours conversation was but it was probably little more than a rehash of the coffee shop conversation, they get into a shouting match in which He questions her ability to understand his point of view and her own prejudices against men. She gets angry and does some yelling of her own. At the party they meet and he reveals in a very oblique way that he was raped and that the his paper is rooted in his personal experience.
The best revenge is living well.
I found this scene to be extremely powerful. As someone who has been a victim of a similar experience (also male), I found myself getting actively angry at Sara for being so arrogantly self-righteous about her views against his paper and how she instantly assumed it was a commentary on weak women. I was tearing up by the time he yelled in her face that it was he who was the victim. As a combination of the actor's skill and personal experience. But I just loved how the scene was handled and it throws assumptions and perceptions in the woman's face ( and the audience as well as a result).
shareThe funny thing is that as a woman I fully agreed with him before he even admitted to being a victim of rape. Where exactly do people think the phrase "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" comes from. It's not just about getting picked on at school, it is about overcoming tragedy.
shareThe fact that she assumed it was a commentary on weak women showed that she still had sexist views against women as well. Why assume that women are the only victims? When he mentioned Victor Frankl, I got the point he was making completely.
Talking monkey, yeah, yeah. Came here from the future, ugly sucker, only says "ficus".