MovieChat Forums > The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) Discussion > Just some thoughts *spoilers*

Just some thoughts spoilers

posted 12 years ago by AnotherInternetPerson
5 replies | jump to latest

This is just my theory. Please let me know what you think.

A. Emma.
Flashes show that Diana liked the name Emma, and that she had an abortion. I think Emma popped up in her future life fantasies for a couple reasons.
1. The day of the shooting, they walked past the pro-life crosses, and she was reminded of the painful choice she had to make, and she saw the cross that had the name Emma on it.
2. Emma told Diana- "You hate me." and Diana was obviously hurt by this remark. I believe this was Diana's internal struggle, with having to make such a traumatic choice. I think she felt she made the right choice to abort dirt bag's fetus, still there was a part of her that was dealing with a lot of confusion.
3. When Emma was watching the movie with guns, she told her mom "It is funny like a joke." Diana told Maureen she didn't report that kid to anyone for making the gun threat because she thought he was joking around. Emma also said "You are scared mom. Don't be so scared." I think that was just a way for Diana to relax, and just accept death, and not to fear it"

4. Diana and Maureen talked about visions, and how Maureen saw god. Diana said "What if you don't see it?" I wonder if Emma was the vision she needed to see?

B. The husband- We all know that she was seeing the professor before she died. Or she at least hooked up with him. In the fantasy life, she thought he was cheating on her. In real life, she talks about how she keeps getting his voice mail. I am guessing that he was a married professor, and she was the other woman. Which is why she was so concerned about the cheating.

C. The kid with the gun- His face went from "I am on a killing spree *beep* all y'all" to remorse after he shot Diana. He looked as if he felt bad for what he did after seeing Maureen's reaction. Do you think he felt sorry for his actions?

D. Maureen and her comments about Diana getting upset over the word Slut. I think Maureen had that misconstrued. I think Diana thought it was an ugly word to call females, and the guy she kicked in the crotch called her that. The guy she dated, and had to have an abortion. When he was on the phone in his truck, you hear him tell his friend "Oh it was nothing, just some slut." I think she was thinking of the girl that used to be Samantha (the skeleton). She knew the pain of being called names like that, and it made her upset that the guy who wrote slut on the blackboard was disrespecting the remains of a teenage girl. I also think she felt bad, because the teacher was so sincere when he said he enjoyed teaching them, and that had to happen.

Yeah I over analyzed this movie.

[–] inconsequentia-1 12 years ago

i like your reasoning but i would say you need to re-think [C] : ... think he was planning to off himself from the get-go, there may have been some thinking but i do not think it was that. ..peace

[–] AnotherInternetPerson 12 years ago

Of course the kid was going to off himself from the get-go. I was just wondering if he ended as soon as he did because he started to feel some remorse. He could have went back out and shot even more people. He could have stuck the gun out of the bathroom window and opened fire on the crowd. He could have decided to shoot the other girl. Instead he looked really sad for a moment, then offed himself.
Obviously he was sad inside, but he looked like he felt especially bad about his last murder.

[–] denise1234 11 years ago

** Spoilers **

I haven't read the book and these school shooters can have some very strange ideas (obviously, but even more so than being the mass-murdering jerks they are).

Aside from outright revenge, some mass killers have killed as many as they could because they believed these people would follow them to the afterlife after they suicided. Some have thought as friends they never had in real life, and some have thought as some kind of personal slaves.

If that *were* the case in this movie (which I'm not saying it was), then if the kid thought he had what he wanted at that point...well, time to go...

Some are just scorched-earth types: they know they're going to die at the end of their murder and mayhem, and they just want to take out as many folks as they can before that happens. And, some think they finally will have *something* memorable about their lives, some kind of 'legacy', hideous as that legacy may be -- some would rather have that than feel 'invisible' in life and death. And, with our current 24-hour media cycles, they certainly do get alot of attention...

Many are just insane at that point, and there's no rhyme or reason to what they do during their spree....

Seems to me, though, as portrayed in this film, the cops were closing in, he knew his time was limited, and he may just have been...finished/spent...he did what he planned to do for as long as he had the chance, he seemed to enjoy somewhat putting the two girls in the life-or-death choice situation (maybe he felt some kind of odd kinship as he had put himself in that situation), and while he had the gun and was shooting up the school, he felt some measure of 'control', which would have been taken away from him shortly, one way or the other, and he appeared to exercise one more form of 'control' (making the girls choose), before he exercised the ultimate form of control (taking his own life).

He could have killed Maureen. Don't know why he didn't. Can only speculate (as this entire post is speculation). Because we see him reloading, maybe he thought he had enough for one more and then himself (although I think he probably would have had enough to kill Maureen, too, if he had really wanted to).

Maybe he thought he was somehow 'honoring' the last choice of Diana, that he felt an odd kinship with her at that point (and they did seem to have some other minor kinship -- both being different forms of the archetypal 'social outcast' plus she was the one he had told about the plan to shoot up the school prior to doing it), and after she made her BRAVE choice, he followed suit (I'm certainly not calling HIS behavior 'brave', but he might have thought of it that way).

In any event, that bathroom scene is absolutely chilling. Gets to me every time.

11/16/12: The day the Twinkie died :(

[–] teenage_roadkill 12 years ago

I don't think the arrow was pointing at the skeleton. It looked like it was pointed at Diana since she was the only girl in the row & the conversation between Maureen and Diana kind of confirmed it when Maureen said, "If that word upsets you, I don't understand why you act the way you do." (Basically agreeing that she is a slut). That makes more sense why Diana was so upset, and why the teacher was upset too. (Kids calling a skeleton slut is a practical joke; Kids calling another student a slut is bullying).

[–] Tracey73 11 years ago

teenage roadkill - I agree. I am just now re-watching the movie (for the umpteenth time lol) and just watched that part. IMO "Slut" was intended for Diana (mainly because of the scene in the library and the teacher's reaction).

Just like you said - Maureen asks Diana why she acts the way she does (sexually promiscious). I also noticed when the boy drew the arrow, the shooter actually looks back at Diana (as if looking for her reaction).

Some hurt, some love, some shout. I fought the world and I lost that bout. ~ Blue October