Friday, May 31, 2013
This is Irena's Arrested Development
While watching Cat People, I got the impression that Irena was being portrayed as very child like. From the first scene, where she is discarding paper without worry of what happens to it, you can tell she isn't quite right. She doesn't seem to have a care or need for rules. After Oliver leaves her place for the first time, she is seen on the balcony, looking down with a love struck look on her face. She looks like someone who has a schoolgirl crush. On their second meeting, she sits and watches Oliver sleep, right before admitting to him that she loves him. This is not something an adult does (I know Oliver then repeats the sentiment, but this could be for many reasons). She is told multiple times that she is living in the past. She believes a child's fable to be true (okay, so it is. Perhaps if she didn't give it power, it wouldn't come to fruition). I didn't catch it until we re-watched the bird scene, but while she is playing with the bird, trying to catch it, she looks JUST like a little child. I think it is when Oliver finally admits that it is too late for them that she finally grows up into an adult (and a panther). When she is seen turning on the lights in the pool, she is not the same little girl we had seen throughout the movie. She has finally grown up.
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She has learned that her curse gives her power. She has the power to instill fear into people - and the power to kill - to get what she wants.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that she is not evil, she has discovered a way to cope with her own fears and that is to face them head on. It may appear cruel but in some ways she is just having fun and playing with her prey, so to speak.
It is unfortunate she had to die at the end because I think the sequel would have been better executed. It would have been fun to see her develop her skill at frightening people as the cat. -PK-
The scene where Irena became jealous and had insecurities about losing Oliver to his secretary was obvious at the pool.She told Oliver never to make get jealous,now we know what she was implying because it bring cat intinct out of her.
DeleteIrena actual try drowning her She was frightened.
She really isn't evil. She did everything she could to not let it take her over. She even tells Oliver she wishes she didn't love him because then it wouldn't be so hard. I like how you mention she ends up looking like she is having fun, playing with her prey, because I thought the same thing. The pool scene especially, as she looks like she is having a very good time. It is probably a lot harder to try and control and do good instead of letting your natural instinct out.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you should point her out as childlike. I was thinking the same thing, and the fact that the curse would be onset with a kiss really kind of supports that as well. What I mean by that, is that at that point, she loses her childhood innocence and follows more adult feelings of deeper sentiment. Perhaps that was the big taboo on any sexuality between her and Oliver. It's almost like the tale is a nightmare come true for sexual superstition. Old world religious beliefs conflict with new age Euro-American reasoning, and win in this instance. Though this is a bit more rude, it's like the old superstition children were told about masturbation leading to blindness. Precautionary tales to lead towards a chaste life for the young.
ReplyDelete-Aaron Swaidner
She did seem childlike, but I think an equally good term to use would be "innocent". In that way, she is childlike but to say her beliefs were that of a child is to fall into the same trap of Alice and Oliver. If we think her beliefs are childish, then it is naturally to disregard them as make-believe and not legitimate. This is the mistake everyone in the movie makes, so I think it's important that we differentiate her innocence from actual childlike behavior. Yes she does seem to act like a child when she plays with the bird but she doesn't act like a child when she talks to Oliver about their relationship,struggles with her inner demons and when she sneakily follows Oliver to make sure he isn't cheating on her. In many ways she is a competent adult who sometimes acts innocently/childlike, but is it not unreasonable to expect adults to act childlike ways sometimes? I can't think of many people at Irena's age that do not act childishly at times or have some area of innocence they cling onto still.
ReplyDeleteMy question when I watched "Cat People" was, if female sexuality was a taboo at that time? I saw the film as a reference to how society saw female sexuality at that time. I enjoyed the film, though it did not scare me. I saw Irena not as a child but a victim. She was content before meeting Oliver. She was interested and focused on her sketch of a panther when she met him. She wanted to capture the panther in a specific manner. It just wasn't right. She meets Oliver and they immediately fall in love. He falls in love with her since she is something new, exotic, mysterious, different. She feels a close attachment to him since they bond and seem to get along. She finds companionship with him since she is not use to it and likes it. She mentions she doesn't have much friends. She keeps to herself because she does not want to hurt anyone. She believes in Cat People and the curse of her people inside her.
ReplyDeleteI think the moment she plays with the bird, we see her as a cat trying to catch the bird. But it dies of fright. Oliver says he loves her but then realizes he doesn't and something occurs with he and Alice. He pushes Irena aside and does not care about bringing Alice along to the museum or talking to Alice about their marital problems. I personally did not like Oliver.
It's interesting that "Cat People" is the response to Universal's "The Wolf Man" as mentioned in the Horror Noir text. There are moments of foreshadowing of Irena's fate. One, the panther drawing she drew. Two her dream. Third, the words of the doctor about a need to release evil. Freud talks about human ambivalence and having a love/hate relationship with things. I think that is what the doctor was trying to express to her.
While we know Irena dies from the fatal wound from the doctor and the panther that attacks her. The real question would be, who killed Irena?
Re-watching it, you could argue that the moment be when Oliver says "Let no one say, and say it to your shame, that all was beauty here, until you came" to Irena when she litters is dramatic irony. He tells her not to leave the world a worse place, but he himself (along with Alice and the doctor) drive Irena to act aggressively and ultimately commit suicide. It's rather hypocritical of him to not treat her with the same respect and understanding of someone who knows not to litter (because ultimately littering causes problems even though it's easy to prevent). And this is not the only time Oliver does not stay true to his word. He promises to love Irena and give her all the time in the world. However, eventually he does grow impatient. It's a very natural human thing to do, but it was cruel of him to make such a promise that he could not keep.
DeleteThis could tie in with your question "Who killed Irena?". By the actions of others around her, Irena's life goes from simple solitude to a life of jealousy, frustration, and betrayal.
Yes Melissa. I would have to agree with you. Oliver doesn't seem like a man of his word. I also agree with how the actions of others contributed to Irena's demise.
ReplyDeleteDuring the discussing I felt lost like I had watched a different film. I think a lot of things went over my head in the sense that if I wasn't told about the intense sexual regressions I wouldn't have read that much into it. But, I think it's hard to watch old films and understand them in the same context as we see the same issues today. I find some comments and such go right past me and others stand up and shout ( where others may not take it the same way). I saw Irena as timid and unsure of herself, which was only made worse by a husband that only saw her as silly, childish, and crazy. The impression that kept coming up was that Irena was going thru a transformation that resemble going thru puberty. Irena's hormones, emotions, etc. were changing like a child to a young adult (self-awareness) or an animal that is tame or meek until their "puberty". I also found it interesting the dichotomy of Oliver's beliefs. Even though he wasn't religious, he grabbed the t-square (cross) and told the cat to leave in the name of god, or some like it, but he couldn't believe Irena when she was trying to tell him she was a cat, because it went totally beyond all reality, not just his.
ReplyDelete