MovieChat Forums > Fish Tank (2009) Discussion > Mia urinating in Conner's apartment

Mia urinating in Conner's apartment


What was the meaning of that. Was that she couldn't hold in the beer she was drinking or something else.

reply

i think the director is trying to get across a feeling of trauma - maybe even fear. people do that when they are traumatised.

reply

I took this a differently.

I don't think it trauma. I think was done intentionally. Like an animal marking their territory. I think she wanted Connor to know she had been there and this was the only way she knew how.

reply

👆 this

reply

This is a fairly common instinctive behavior in all mammals. Urinating is a way to express disapproval, frustration, stress, etc. In this context, Mia was punishing Connor by lashing out with a highly personal, highly offensive act.

reply

There was a similar scene in "Beloved" when the protagonist discovered that her daughter was still alive. She was experiencing high emotional distress and compulsively urinated in her back yard with sudden urgency.

reply


Yep! It was like a scene from this year's Fargo.


😎


"Oh okay then."


reply

It was also a very childish thing to do.

reply

Mia was a child.

reply

Hurley (above) is right. Burglars often defecate in the homes of their victims as a combination of nerves and defiance.




No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.

reply

You are right. It's also part of a sociopath's behavior. But I would have done the same if I was Mia.

reply

bitch marking her territory and saying 'fxck u' all in 1 go

reply

Looking at the replies to MrCG's question, I am wondering if I had seen the same film/scene.The next time you watch the movie study that scene, notice that after she has climbed the gate the camera lingers on the blue plastic chair at the end of the garden, it appears again in the video in the camera to tell Mia and the viewer that it was filmed there at the house. Has she is watching the video Mia finds out that Connor doesn't live with his mum, he lives with his wife/partner and they have a daughter and it's been filmed after her dance movie, and after they had made love. Notice also Mia's breathing gets heavier as she is watching, she is under stress, has the truth is being revealed to her, Conner has lied to her. She throws away the camera unable to watch it anymore, she turns around and around seeing the child's things dresses,toys denoting the child lives there and not just a visitor. The trauma is so much she loses control of her bodily functions and she has to urinate there and then on the floor, totally traumatised by what she has seen, and to add to the humiliation, has she is peeing herself the little girl on the video laughs as if laughing at her, (fear induced urination pervades throughout the animal kingdom). Mia is in love with Conner and she has been betrayed, so much so she kidnaps the object of that betrayal (the girl) to avenge herself and Conner.There is so much more to the film, one only has to watch and take notice.

reply

^Correct.

Have you ever been betrayed/cheated on/lied to by someone you truly loved?

You want to throw up, pass out, etc.

She lost control of her bodily functions, as she was only 15. It's a very realistic scene.

I kill trolls. It's a living.

reply

Interesting theory, but I think it makes much more sense that she is doing it deliberately. Again, this is very instinctive aggression common with all mammals. She is lashing out at him, not losing control of her bodily functions (she doesn't "pee herself," she pees on the floor). People will pee themselves when in fear for their lives, but in that situation they never pull down their pants--if they are that traumatized, it just happens. The fact that she pulled down her pants indicates that it was a deliberate act of aggression. Your theory is possible, too, of course, and your attention to detail is impressive.

reply

Thanks, I am afraid the detail comes with the benefit of several viewings and having the DVD, it is my take on the scene though the writer/director might not of intended it to be seen that way. The problem I have with it being an act of aggression, is leading up to her peeing over the carpet she is in a state of shock and stress after the truth is shown to her, she is in a vulnerable state and stays in that state until she leaves the house, looking in the bathroom mirror devastated and defeated. It is not an act of anger or defiance, the look on her face to my mind proves that, that comes later with the kidnapping. Credit of course must be given to newcomer Katie Jarvis for her brilliant acting and director Andrea Arnold for putting so much into that scene for us to discuss.

Nel

reply

i think you and the other guy are both correct...
you ever hear something devastating, and, well we say it feel like "your belly drops", meaning you all of a sudden feel sick, like diarrhea sick?
i totally agree with the other poster, that that is what happened to mia (her heavy breathing, seeing all the evidence of a girl living there, betrayal, etc) and she really did all of a sudden have to pee....
but i agree with you as well, that she deliberately pulled her pants down and peed on his carpet, as a fxck you.... she didn't pee herself in fear or stress, but the stress did make her have to suddenly go.... and yes, instead of going to the washroom i am going to piss all over this carpet because screw you connor lol


now the only thing i wanna know is, did she really pee on camera? i only ask because i literally just paused after that scene, to look for the answer online.... lol i'm not a pervert or anything, but i realized for the first time that her, um, stream? went from one to two steady streams and as a female i know this happens lmao....

kudos to her if it was real and even more to the production team if it wasn't, that 2nd stream mid-stream was a very realistic touch

It's mercy, compassion and forgiveness I lack. Not rationality...

reply

I agree with your summary.

If I was the director, I would have asked for the real thing. She's not exposing herself and it would be very difficult to fake. It's an interesting and powerful scene, fraught with tension that doesn't release until she gets hit in the field later on he goes home.

reply

Very well said. I agree

reply

I thought it symbolized "marking a territory", sorta like how animals do. But I could be wrong. Maybe she really did just have to urinate. But then again, couldn't she at least of used the restroom. I mean, the carpet?? Gross!!!

reply