A few days ago, a new movie starring Hu Ge was released, which caused extensive discussion on the Internet.
On a Q&A website, I was also invited to answer a related question: "Is there love between the characters of Gui Lunmeng and Hu Ge in "The Party at South Station"?" ”
My answer is as follows:
The answer received high praise, and it also pulled my mind back to 10 years ago.
In the winter of 2009, I was writing a novel on West Court Street; at that time, I needed a life-saving straw, both financially and emotionally, and I needed to grasp something. In the depths of the night, cigarette butts are hard to find; without nicotine, the fear, loneliness, and guilt of the uncertain future are difficult to suppress, and they eat their hearts and bones like ants.
That night, I watched "Leaving Las Vegas"; two people were acting lonely, lonely people watching off-screen.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, not love</h1>
In the press and on the Internet, the comments on "Leaving Las Vegas" are mostly the argument of "the love of two low-level characters" - this is the perspective that the average aesthetic ability of the general public can understand, accept and perceive, and naturally it is the easiest to spread.
Similar to this year's great new movie "Joker", probably 99% of people interpret it from the perspective of "the oppression and alienation of marginalized people", because the core of "independent film" and the theme of "the living state of antisocial personality disorders" are not popular with people.
The popularity of niche literary works is ironic in itself.
The film features Ben and Sera, an alcoholic and a J-woman.
From Ben's point of view, he was not in love with Sera.
Ben is a bad guy from the beginning of the movie. He was an alcoholic, his life was a mess, his wife was separated, his friends avoided him, and then he lost his job.
Whatever, he himself could not tell whether it was because of the predicament caused by alcoholism or because of the predicament that caused the predicament. In short, his body and mind were already devastated and terminally ill; he was at the end of the road.
Nguyen cried out in exhaustion, Ben had already passed this stage, and he decided to die.
Ben arrives in Las Vegas and meets Sera.
At the first sight of Sera, seeing the color of the mood, he wanted to piao her. Sera went home with him because of his zao leak, he entered "sage mode" earlier than the average person, and after that, he just wanted Sera to accompany him and be by his side.
This is common in life. When you swim in Momo or Explore, loneliness is true, and the need for companionship is also true; if you can't find it, you smoke to keep warm, and if you can find it, do AI for warmth.
You can be affectionate with J-woman too, but you know that's not love.
What was Ben's attitude toward Sera from start to finish?
A consolation to draw a line.
At first, he said, "Don't go, I just want you to stay..."
Then, to move in together, he said, "Never stop me from drinking, see?" ”
Later, when he brought the other J women back to Sera's house, he didn't feel guilty and walked away.
At the end, the last time bo up, it was Sera who helped him.
What is Ben talking about love?
He can refuse to care in front of the bartender, politely and logically, or he can make a "passionate" remark to strange women at the bar, bank tellers, or take other J girls to Sera's house without scruples – because he really doesn't care.
He could easily tell Sera that he loved her, or even that she was an angel, but as with rejecting the bartender, he refused everyone to persuade him to be kind to himself.
He says that any "love" is an attempt to grasp a glimmer of comfort; his last days are constantly searching for this comfort and for alcohol.
Only the refusal to survive is his true voice.
Is Sera love for Ben?
Unlike Ben's quest to die, Sera survived. But don't get it wrong for them to be different – they're all the way: Ben is the next stage of Sera, and Ben is Sera's more morbid future. But "at this moment," their hearts in need of comfort are already connected.
"It's good to be with you." Sera said this when she was first at Ben's hotel.
Later, she accepts Ben's all the way to death, and finally shows her understanding; even, she buys a wine jug for Ben, and her plan to die is not denied.
Ben's death, Sera is very uncomfortable: she has lost the straw, lost her kind, and is left alone.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > two, leave Las Vegas</h1>
Depart, Las Vegas.
A verb, an image.
Las Vegas: Sex, gambling, black, alcohol, violence.
Leaving: For Sera, it's breaking free; for Ben, it's going to heaven.
When Sera got to Ben's step, "leaving Las Vegas" was the same, meaning "going to another world."
Liu Xiaofeng explained in "Salvation and Escape" that in the face of worldly suffering, human beings have the spiritual qualities of detachment and redemption. Many people under the influence of Western culture and religion will take the road of accepting the facts of suffering, understanding the existence of God, and redeeming themselves and reconciling with God.
The reconciliation of the pioneers, like Russell's willingness to look down on purgatory; the reconciliation of ordinary people, more like the walking dead cultivated by religion, ran slowly or urgently to "heaven."
Sera has accepted the fact of the crucifixion, so she can still make a living on the flesh and skin after she is "free". Ben and his god have come to a rapprochement, and before the movie begins, he is already the walking dead, and we see the plot after he became the walking dead.
John O'Brien, the author of the original novel "Leaving Las Vegas," committed suicide shortly after writing the book.
You can talk about Ben's state as john O'Brien himself; of course, until then, they were all Sera.
This is reminiscent of Haizi, a poet who "dreams as horses".
Haizi's poverty and loneliness are deeply rooted in the marrow, but his works are full of hope—you don't even know whether "facing the sea and blossoming in spring" is his real hope, or his inability to reconcile with the difficulties of a lifetime.
The only thing that is certain is that when he is sure to die, he is the same as Ben.
Haizi, who used to "care about mankind", also gave up the struggle-
At the end of the prairie I was empty-handed
I can't hold a teardrop when I'm sad
Sister, I'm in Delhi tonight
It is a desolate city in the rain
……
Tonight I have only the Gobi that I don't have
Sister, tonight I don't care about humans, I only want you
Ben's "Delhi" is Las Vegas and "Teardrops" is Sera.
（END.）
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > wonderful article recommendation:</h1>
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