MovieChat Forums > Nell (1994) Discussion > The tavern scene

The tavern scene

posted 18 years ago by gatemouthrb
12 replies | jump to latest

I'm noticing a lot of dedicated Nell lovers here, so I thought I'd ask: Did you find the tavern scene realistic? I'm not necessarily talking about the male patrons "heckling" the Nell character's speech when she enters and tries to interact.

But at the conclusion of that scene, the patrons, all male, suddenly take on a "zombie-like" quality after they assume that Nell is 'retarded', and suddenly close-in all around her. It is clear from the director's portrayal of this scene that every single one of these male characters in the tavern is going to participate in raping her in a commercial establishment, in a town, in the middle of the day.

Was this scene accurately engineered to show man's animalistic exploitation of women? Was anyone else (male) more-than-a-little offended by this portrayal? It would be especially helpful to hear from anyone in the region of the country the film was supposed to be set in.

I wonder: If Jodie Foster and the director had thought about it for a little while longer, would they have found a less careless way to portray male exploitation better, like in other movies of the same period (90's), such as "Thelma and Louise", or "Kids", rather than the totally socially detatched, unrealistic, and irresponsible way that they did?

[–] Molly-31 18 years ago

They didn't close in. If anything, they backed off. The younger fellows looked completely stunned.

[–] gatemouthrb 18 years ago

You might watch it again. An ominous threat to Nell's well-being is implied just before she is "rescued", if you're open to seeing it.

[–] traccose 18 years ago

I've just watched it for the first time and was feeling sickened at the beginning of that tavern scene; it seemed it was going to lead to some sort of exploitation (or worse!) by the young pool players. Thankfully Dr Lovell came to the rescue just in time! I agree with the other poster who replied that the boys did not 'close in' on her at all, but were standing back, amazed at what they were seeing, stunned by the way she just copied the 'leading jerk' - they were even more stunned and appeared to me to be feeling rather ashamed at what had just transpired once Nell was taken out by Jerry. It seemed to me that the expressions on their faces and body language spoke volumes: "woah, what did we just do...that's not right". I could be eternally optimistic about that though ;)

As for the portrayal of male exploitation of females in this scene, I think the director/writer could have taken it much further and made it far more offensive. It is not out of the realm of 'reality' to anticipate that a group of older teenage boys would behave in such a callous, exploitative manner given the opportunity (and audience...would that one fellow have approached Nell at all if he had been alone? Likely not.) Don't be personally offended on behalf of your gender - the reality is, too many males do behave this way.

[–] gatemouthrb 18 years ago

Thanks, traccose. I have to admit, I haven't seen the movie in a few years. Did I really remember that scene incorrectly? I got the sence that impending doom was implied before "Dr. Lovell"(sorry, I don't remember character names!) came to the rescue, rather than the boys actually expressing mere bewilderment at Nell's condition and stood silent because they were embarrassed.

I HOPE you have the right interpretation, traccose. That would give me hope that the movie wasn't as heavy-handed against the American Male as I remember. I also agree that those people were realistic in the sense that they were initally rude to Nell. That part WOULD HAVE happened.

But I am still curious, did anyone else get a sense that the boys were about to do Nell wrong there before she got "rescued"?

[–] Littlemisschatterbox180 18 years ago

hey gatemouthrb.. im female so perhaps my interpretation may be different to the way a male sees this but...

i dont believe this scene to have been a direct attack at the entire male gender, merely a representation of a portion of the population.

i believe the boys may have done somethig ominous to Nell, had Jerry Lovell not come to rescue her, but this scene was more about those kind of boys (not saying all males) but a portion appear to be all talk.. for instance when the leader first met Nell, he was by himself. He saw her yelling and ran. He could've quite easily raped her there and then, but he didnt. When he went back to 'his boys,' he bragged about a wild woman. This may have been his way of proving himself to his friends. Proving that he was sexually perverted may've inticed his boys to see him in a more powerful and dominant light?
Maybe not.. just some ideas!

[–] ShizaMinelli 17 years ago

I saw it the other way. I think they thought she was foreign or something and didn't relaize that she had no idea what societal norms were and didn't know waht it meant to be "hit on" (which is how I thought it started with the lead guy, just trying to flirt in his way with the guys silently "cherring him on", so to speak). I thought they looked ashamed of themselves as well when they realized what was really happening, I never thought they were going to try anything. And for the record, I'm a guy as well :)

Roxanne
1993-2007
You'll always be with me

[–] valerieindashadowgallery 16 years ago

I've just watched it for the first time and was feeling sickened at the beginning of that tavern scene; it seemed it was going to lead to some sort of exploitation (or worse!) by the young pool players. Thankfully Dr Lovell came to the rescue just in time! I agree with the other poster who replied that the boys did not 'close in' on her at all, but were standing back, amazed at what they were seeing, stunned by the way she just copied the 'leading jerk' - they were even more stunned and appeared to me to be feeling rather ashamed at what had just transpired once Nell was taken out by Jerry. It seemed to me that the expressions on their faces and body language spoke volumes: "woah, what did we just do...that's not right". I could be eternally optimistic about that though ;)

I felt optimistic about the scene, too. After Nell is clearly just repeating what the redneck jerk is doing, all his cronies are titillated yet disturbed. Of course, it wouldn't stop them from hurting her, but after Jerry comes to get her they all turn to shame for degrading an innocent woman who had no idea of what she was doing in the public eye.

Forget about guns and forget ammunition, 'cause I'm killin' 'em all on my own lil' mission.

[–] fattymatty79 16 years ago

When I saw that scene, I thought the other hillbillies were laughing to please the ring leader. Then when she pulled up her dress, they became embarrassed and a little stunned. I don't think they had any intention of raping her. They looked uncomfortable to me.

[–] dustfrie 15 years ago

I agree, the discomfort on their faces was clear as soon as Nell pulled up her dress and started laughing innocently, before Jerry ran in and rescued her. I also do not believe that Billy could have raped or even gotten close to Nell when he was in the forest; the scene clearly shows that he saw Jerry fishing nearby and then go running to Nell when she started screaming about the missing bible. I believe that this scene shows that there is a portion of males who love to talk and act superficially sexual, but as their ultimate discomfort shows, is not physically threatening. The truth is there is a percentage of the population that is deviant and threatening, but that is not what this scene is about.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] minia 15 years ago

Although I do need for Jodie Foster to stay away from the bar scenes, I didn't see them closing in... They all looked confused to me...

The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.

[–] osopestoso 14 years ago

Oh, barf. Did any of your mom's kids live?

"They sucked his brains out!"