Monday, April 06, 2009

the Wrestler

intentional, consciously, or even came across the director's mind or not (most likely yes), the film readily becomes a metaphor of the decline of Empire.

• opens with shot of American flag
• the constant weight, fatigue of a once mighty being struggling to maintain a reckless, unsustainable lifestyle
• bad choices and burnt bridges from the past catches up: spitting in the wind
• violence and its spectacle; the behind the scenes planning and negotiating with the "enemies" - non of it is what it seems, but the blood and toll on human life is real.
• sharp devide and contrast between public persona and private, emotional life
• theme of dehumanization where bodies are reduced to commodities: meat
• the heart condition is like the deficit
• the addiction to the show which is killing him is like the dependence on oil
• instead of change when given the chance, the course is to plunge ahead on the suicidal path.

who's with me?

2 comments:

Karl said...

that's a good reading, the memory of the battle with the Ayatollah guy as a highlight of his career might be of importance? (I guess a chinese/indian/russian supervillain wrestler would have made the next empire clear...)

swan said...
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