Monday, September 5, 2016

"The Lobster" Review

Upon a friend's recommendation I watched a critically acclaimed movie, The Lobster, tonight with my favorite doctor. I liked the movie, but found it to be heavy handed and overly critical of modern society, relationship standards in particular.

The beginning of the movie will open up the viewers to a heartfelt disappointment from the main protagonist's point of view, coupled with an additional burden of having the clock started on him to find a new partner, as well as hunt fellow men and women in the process.

It doesn't take the viewer long to figure out that the popular society norm is for neither men nor women to ever be alone. Moreover, the wrinkle is to find some common disposition between the two partners. The main character finds himself in a remediation camp (hotel), whose goal is for him to either find a suitable match or be turned into an animal of his choice.

He witnesses two other men approach their predicament differently. One is willing to lie in order to forge a relationship, while the other appears to be resigned that there's no hope and time will run out. After the main character's attempt to get in line with societal norms falls apart, he runs out into the wild and meets up with the rebel group of loners.

The loners represent the counterculture group. They are the polar opposite of the accepted society norm, but just as stringent in their rules of remaining separate with no emotions or actions relating to another person. He cannot conform to this group either, as he finds a woman that represents his match, while also 'luckily' having the same disposition as him. Soon, their relationship is exposed to the leader of the group who proceeds to disable the main character's love interest.

Upon learning of his love's fate, he does everything he can for her to provide a better quality of life. But he knows that they can't remain in this counterculture group. Therefore, one night they execute an escape plan into the city. Their plan is to rejoin the popular accepted society as a couple. There's just one problem, they are no longer equals in their disposition. The movie ends with the main character faced with a choice - whether or not to disable himself in order to make him and his love interest equal.

The way I see it, the movie takes a vicious Kubrickesque swing with a baseball bat at what is accepted and not accepted in modern standards of dating and single lifestyles. There are two crude side points made by the author that are a direct critique of the accepted societal myths. One is the use of a child to resolve marital difficulties, which is obviously counter-intuitive. Second is that true happiness is more important than the happiness or well being of your partner, which is true to a degree. However, unless the partner is mentally disturbed, it is not a life or death situation. While I don't see the modern society as polarized or as radical as the movie portrays, it does bring a valid point of what acceptance by culture and counterculture today requires.

The movie's lack of resolution at the end is a rendered judgment upon society - that even though the main character has successfully fled both groups, he still remains a slave to the societal norms that seek a similar disposition between him and his love interest.

I give the movie a 4 out of 5 thumbs up! The movie is funny and contains a number of noteworthy performances. But while the satire is very nicely set up and executed, the societal critique that it deals is only partially justified and is usually not exercised to the abstracted extent.