I couldn't agree more, Scruffy!
Plus, something else occurred to me after I watched it for the second time, something perhaps inconsequential but what helped me understand Jean's motivation in the end.
Something that bothered me the first time -- the fact that Jean whispered "Thank you" to Eddie after he chose death over the killing of Danny. Wouldn't it have sent Jean more "over the edge" to actually find someone who, unlike her, was able to give up their life for their loved one? Would she not feel as if she were exactly the same as the assailants who attacked her because she saved herself at the expense of her mother?
I wondered on that for a time, then it hit me -- her plaintive "thank you" wasn't for Eddie in that moment choosing his own death over Danny's, it was for BEFORE, when Eddie chose Danny's life over Jean's justice. I think the big turning moment for Jean, the one that sent her mind into madness was when the man who had vowed to protect her and see her attackers punished, the man whom she said she felt "safe" around, the man who possibly had become a sort of father-figure to her -- when she saw with her own eyes Eddie making out physically with Danny, it shattered her world. The last shell of herself was being thrown over for LUST.
But when Eddie proved that it wasn't just lust, but LOVE that he had sacrificed her for -- in a way, that made it "worth it" in her eyes. The giving up of herself for a higher purpose -- love. Eddie affirmed the true meaning of "love" in her eyes -- no, it was not love for her, but it was love for someone other than himself.
Maybe a bit whacked, but I thought it was very interesting.
he ran from the Indes to the Andes in his undies
-- Shel Silverstein
reply
share
don_juan-1
15 years ago
excellent point on the reason for the thank you. i think that hits the nail perfectly.
on the other hand, i was not convinced that danny actually did love eddie. perhaps he rushed to cover him out of respect for his sacrifice. the man just sacrificed his own life to save his (again). maybe he did; maybe he didn't, but the movie certainly leaves the question of how one-sided the love was open enough for reasonable doubt.
the point is that it does not matter whether the love was one-sided or not, only that it did not matter...the essence of the eddie character is to not be the one to make the choice to kill the one he loves. true love and altruism does not factor in to the constitution of the recipient of the love.
reply
share
boogaloo2
15 years ago
i think that hits the nail perfectly.
Ouch ! Don't remind me !
reply
share