tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post3977699556908226862..comments2023-11-28T05:28:18.563-05:00Comments on All Things Ken: Dan in Real Life: I'm not done yet....Kenneth R. Morefieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02492954693818444648noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15191330.post-47900715093993401272008-03-31T07:57:00.000-05:002008-03-31T07:57:00.000-05:00The more I think about it the more I like (rather ...The more I think about it the more I like (rather than just entertain) the deconstructive notion that the film is really just about a woman who sees a better catch and decides to seduce him from the get go.<BR/><BR/>Dan has a scene in the middle of the movie in which he accuses Marie of openly and deliberately coming on to him. We are meant to take this as projection, I think, but consider:<BR/><BR/>--She is the one who approaches him at the book store and flirts.<BR/>--She gives him her number afterwards.<BR/>--She leads the jazzercise and does the stretching when she knows he is watching.<BR/>--She is the one who literally throws him in the shower. Perhaps she is not too dense to ask the daughter to leave; perhaps she wants an excuse to arouse his attention when more indirect flirting has failed.<BR/>--Dan's daughters notice and mention that there is an obvious attraction.<BR/>--She confesses that she loves him (in the scene about his book).<BR/>--When she leaves and Dan doesn't come after him (as she hoped he would?) she almost immediately calls him.<BR/><BR/>The only thing I'm really on the fence about in this deconstruction is whether she knew who he was in the bookstore. Perhaps in talking to Mitch or being introduced to his family she had heard about Dan or seen his picture. Perhaps she went to the family vacation with a guy she already knew was a loser in the hopes of meeting his more attractive and appealing brother. (What the heck is she doing hanging around the bookstore alone anyway? Could it be that she finds the prospect of going to Mitch's house not merely nerve-wracking but unappealing?)<BR/><BR/>Other possible alternate castings: Julie Delpy, which might have evoked not Blue but White (another film about a female trying to rouse a hapless (in more ways than one) guy into being able to express his love. If not that, Glenn Close might have evoked enough of Fatal Attraction to at least provide a subconscious subtext for Dan's reluctance to pursue the relationship. (Hmmm....I can hear Marie in the bowling alley right now..."I won't be ignored, Dan!")Kenneth R. Morefieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02492954693818444648noreply@blogger.com