strange film


The plot is not unrealistic in itself, but the pacing of the film makes it feel somewhat so. Specifically how quickly Jay seems to turn from kind, considerate to a total pig. Of course there are women all over who must be subservient to men, but in this film she went from being treated like a queen to basically a courtesan in what seems like no time. I found myself rooting for Trishna to find a way to empower herself somehow but in the end she was truly a victim of her circumstances. I think the film was at least successful in depicting that and it's a very important message to convey.

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Specifically how quickly Jay seems to turn from kind, considerate to a total pig.

The shift came as a result of Trishna's confession about her abortion. He was upset about how she hadn't told him in all the time they'd been together and as a result he left her to go to his family, with no way of contacting him and a lease that was about to run out. While he was away he saw that his father had become unable to run his business, so Jay was forced to take over (which, we know, from a scene earlier in the film, he didn't want to do). This probably made him feel frustrated and somewhat powerless. When he returns to India, he realizes that based on the circumstance (them having to hide their romantic relationship) he does have some power over Trishna, and he abuses it.

However, I would argue that he's never really kind and considerate. Trishna catches his eye in the beginning and he pursues her rather relentlessly. After their first sexual encounter, Trishna is clearly uncomfortable with what happened between then. We don't see what happened, but personally I have my suspicions that it might not have been totally consentual. In the novel Tess of the D'urbervilles (which the film is based on), the initial sexual encounter is rather ambiguous- it may or may not be interpretted as rape. Regardless, he continues to pursue Trishna after that, following her to the factory where she is not working. She opts to go to Bombay with him rather than stay in a job her father forced her to take. Things go well for a while because there is no real source of conflict. However we do see hints that he's somewhat controlling: for example he doesn't want her to be a dancer. At the first sign of conflict. We also learn that after he slept with Trishna the first time, he slept with two other girls. So it's not like he slept with Trishna, she disappeared, and he was so worried that he wouldn't rest until he'd found her and made sure she was alright. It wasn't even as if he was faithful to her! It seems as if he arrived in Bombay, screwed around a little bit, and then Trishna popped into his head and he thought "Hey, I wonder what she's up to?". However, I believe that the big shift in his attitude comes as a result of learning about her abortion.

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