MovieChat Forums > Red White & Blue (2010) Discussion > Franki's Girlfriend (Major Spoilers)

Franki's Girlfriend (Major Spoilers)

posted 13 years ago by tdigle
18 replies | jump to latest

The movie didn't give much detail on their relationship. Is it possible that she was the one that gave Franki HIV instead of Erica? Erica never admits to knowing she has HIV (furthermore, there's also some evidence that might lead one to believe that Erica didn't have HIV, e.g., her marrying Noah Taylor's character and Franki's bandmates getting a clean bill of health). I ask this question only because Franki's girlfriend admits to seeing someone else in their first scene together. Were they apart for a really long time? When he told the health professional that he had only had unprotected sex once in the last half a year or so, did he mean just one sexual encounter outside of his relationship?

[–] RealLadyGaga 13 years ago

That's an interesting point. I'm not sure, and there was a lot of ambiguity in the film, so I guess we'll never know. My friend said he'd not slept with his gf yet, but I just thought they'd broken up for a while and she'd come back to him.

[–] esenbeh 13 years ago

Which film did you see? Erica does not only admit to having it, but also to having deliberately tried to spread it as a means of revenge against men (who she generally sees as pigs due to her stepdad). That's why she initially doesn't sleep with Taylor's character as she recognises him as a good guy.

[–] tdigle 13 years ago

Uh, she never admits to having it. When she is confronted by Franki and his bandmates, she goes on about how she was raped at such a young age and how that warped her perception of the opposite sex. Never once does she say, "I have HIV/AIDS." Are you sure that YOU watched the same film we're talking about here?

[–] esenbeh 13 years ago

When confronted with it by those guys, she says something like "Everybody says it's this horrible disease, but it's not so bad. It doesn't hurt and I live a pretty normal life and do what I want."

If that's not admitting it, I don't know what it is.

[–] tdigle 13 years ago

Let's put your instance of paraphrasing in context (from the film, verbatim):

Erica: You know how old I was when I lost my virginity? Four. Two days after my fourth birthday. You know who I lost my virginity to? My momma's boyfriend.

One of Franki's Bandmates: Why are you telling us this?

Erica: You get *beep* two days after your fourth birthday you tend not to care about anything much. Everyone says it's this horrendous disease...I don't know, it's okay, doesn't hurt, hasn't ever stopped from doing anything I wanted I...I live a pretty normal life.

Ed: What like *beep* everyone you meet?

Erica: If a guy thinks he can get away with it, mostly he'll give it his best "do-so..." that's what my momma's boyfriend thought. Do you know what? He was right.

What disease is she referring to? Is she referring to HIV or is she referring to the mental problems arising from her rape as a young girl?

The question I posed in the opening post is a valid one. I'm buying the first respondent's post, that this film was very ambiguous and that it can justifiably give way to many interpretations; I'm definitely not buying the clear-cut answers that you think this movie seems to have.

[–] esenbeh 13 years ago

Seems pretty clear to me. Now please excuse me while I rate this a 2 out of 100 on Criticker.

[–] sfrsez 12 years ago

no , you are switching the conversation around. and she does admit it.

[–] Der_Schnibbler 11 years ago

That's just your assumption. She might have been referring to her NYMPHOMANIA.

--
"Den Gleichen Gleiches, den Ungleichen Ungleiches."

[–] FeistyCadavr 13 years ago

Uh, she never admits to having it. When she is confronted by Franki and his bandmates, she goes on about how she was raped at such a young age and how that warped her perception of the opposite sex. Never once does she say, "I have HIV/AIDS." Are you sure that YOU watched the same film we're talking about here?

The point of her story, then going on to speak about how many men she slept with was indicative of her admission to having HIV and WANTING to spread it. It's not like this girl was a raging nympho and enjoyed having sex with lots of man. In almost every scene she is seen having sex she has a dull, bored, almost cold expression on her face.

Also there is the scene where she tells the older bald man that "Condoms are for homos" enticing him not to use one. That's more substantial evidence that she had HIV and was attacking men with her virus.

[–] Der_Schnibbler 11 years ago

It's not like this girl was a raging nympho and enjoyed having sex with lots of man. In almost every scene she is seen having sex she has a dull, bored, almost cold expression on her face.

So you're saying nymphomaniacs actually enjoy sex? You obviously do not know what nymphomania means.

--
"Den Gleichen Gleiches, den Ungleichen Ungleiches."

[–] shivareewaltz 13 years ago

During the Director DVD commentary Simon Rumley stated that Erica did know she had HIV and intentionally infected several men, including Franki.

[–] vlstyles 13 years ago

I think that a big clue to whether Erica knew she was infected was how she tried to convince the older guy (who picked her up after asking her for a light at the bar) to NOT wear a condom. One can infer that her behavior was not about the sex, it was about trying to infect those guys who only sought "easy" sex from a woman.

[–] Jaythestingray 13 years ago

I actually thought she was talking about the mental problems of being raped at such a young age also. It's nice to hear what the director said on the commentary. Thanks for clearing that up.

[–] chrisrocknroll 13 years ago

I also noticed that it didn't show Franki kill Erica. Is it possible someone else snuck into the room and stabbed her and Franki just took the blame because he was so sad about his mom. Also we never saw Nate grow his beard, maybe it was a fake beard. And when Nate skinned Franki, the camera editing never made it indisputable that it was Nate doing the skinning, so I think it might have actually been Nate's CIA contact that chopped off Franki's skin. Then at the end we see a photo of Nate and Erica at a wedding, but maybe it was just a gag photo. This movie left so many unanswered questions, I'm so glad it didn't spoon feed us like other terrible American cinema and I get to flaunt my intellect questioning everything and showing how subjective I can be.

"Don't unform, you're a great mob. We'll think up something else to get upset about." Moe Sizlack

[–] chickdr-1 12 years ago

Huh? It clearly shows Nate doing the skinning. You saw his face while he ran the knife around Franki's neck and you saw Nate struggling with exertion to remove the skin. When did you see anyone else?

[–] Dollhouse_89 10 years ago

I also noticed that it didn't show Franki kill Erica. Is it possible someone else snuck into the room and stabbed her and Franki just took the blame because he was so sad about his mom. Also we never saw Nate grow his beard, maybe it was a fake beard. And when Nate skinned Franki, the camera editing never made it indisputable that it was Nate doing the skinning, so I think it might have actually been Nate's CIA contact that chopped off Franki's skin. Then at the end we see a photo of Nate and Erica at a wedding, but maybe it was just a gag photo. This movie left so many unanswered questions, I'm so glad it didn't spoon feed us like other terrible American cinema and I get to flaunt my intellect questioning everything and showing how subjective I can be.

hahaha!!

yes I don't see how so many people can ignore a simple explanation that's right in their face only to concoct such *beep* theories that hold no weight whatsoever. there isn't much ambiguity here. at all.

erica has hiv. period. she definitely gave it to franki. franki's band mates being clean isn't alluding to or supporting anything else. it doesn't prove that he didn't contract it from erica. he was simply unlucky. the filmmaker made the mistake of thinking that more people these days knew how the hiv virus worked. she could have slept with 5 guys at once and all of them could walk away uninfected. she could do the same thing the next night and 1 of them would get infected while the rest are fine.

also, the disease of her mind?? seriously? just no.

why make an assumption that the film doesn't even support when your question is blatantly answered?

[–] georgegates 12 years ago

Jesus, don't play dumber than this movie!

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Life's too short for mediocrity.

[–] HippieDrillSealOfApproval 12 years ago

LOL at how many people are theorizing that Erica didn't really have aids. It's always funny when people opt for wacky explanations that they concoct over the simple explanation provided by the film. Not only did she admit to having it, but she was a prime candidate having also admitted to sleeping with well over 100 people, and on top of that she had (at least in her mind) a reason to hate men and want to pass the disease onto them. Sure it's possible that Frankie got it somewhere else but I'm sticking with Occam's razor here.

Conform or be cast out