There are several recurring things in the film which I think are important, eg:
Beef- during the barbeque scene Devon's father is cooking up a load of prime steaks, and when he asks Trent if he is hungry he gets Devon to fetch the hot dogs. Obviously the steaks are only for the people within the gated community. Devon then later shoves her steak into the tool box in the garage, and in a later scene spits out her roast beef- presumably rejecting the 'prime beef' lifestyle.
Guns- I'm not entirely sure what the guns mean, is it too obvious to say there is something phallic about them? In particular I'm thinking of the scene early on where Devon shoves the barrel of the toy gun into the little boy's mouth, and later on she finds the gun in her dad's glove department shortly before being innappropriately groped by Brett. And of course Trent was shot by a gun, and in the end Devon shoots Sean. One gun that stands out in contrast to the others is the child with the bright pink water pistol who shoots Devon when they visit Trent's family.
Urine- when we first meet Trent he asks to use the toilet in the house and the owners ignore him, so he pees into the cup and pours it on their lawn as he drives away. Later, Devon pees on her father's car, and there is the river scene where Trent talks about how 'when you pee in something it is yours for life' and how free it made him feel as a child to pee in the river. I find it odd that Devon acted so disgusted by this story when she had not long ago peed on the car roof. Oh, and there was the scene where the turtle Trent gave Devon peed on the table, which seemed to distress the mother more than any relationship Devon might have with Trent at that stage.
Dogs/ hunting- Dogs obviously come up a few times- with Tracker and with Devon hiding in the dog house at several points. I think hunting like a wild animal was an important part of the story- Devon howls like a wolf early on, and when she spends the night with Trent they go out and catch and kill chickens. The climax of the film has 2 hunts- Trent and Devon killing Tracker, and the townspeople coming after Trent. While going after the chickens was fun by the end it has become dangerous.
Lovers in League Against Satan
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thenicotinefairy
14 years ago
Interesting discussion!
American flag: I was wondering if letting the American flag fly away had something to do with the American dream letting them all down or something. I wasn't really sure what to think of it though. I would love to hear if someone has a better idea.
Beef: The scene at the barbecue was very telling. I think there was even more to the scene where Devon spit out the beef. They were talking about how Brett had molested her, and her parents were practically nonchalant about it. The community was obviously full of corruption and dark secrets, but it was vital for them to keep up appearances and Devon's parents tried to drill this into Devon. In one scene her dad was complaining that she should just pretend to be happy even if she isn't, and he kept on telling her to be cute and smile when she was selling the cookies. When she spoke up about Brett molesting her, she was failing to keep up appearances. Being molested makes a person feel pretty sick, like they want to spit out their food. But when a well-to-do, upstanding young man in the town molests you, you are supposed to keep quiet and "swallow it down." When Devon spit out her food, she was refusing to swallow it down.
Guns: I'm pretty sure this was just Chekhov coming in to say hi before we got to the climatic scene.
Urine: I don't know what to think of this. I guess because it's a reality that everyone urinates, but as a society we try to hide this and pretend it doesn't exist? That makes a good metaphor for a lot of what goes on in the movie.
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14 years ago
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Seethergrrl
14 years ago
I believe the abundance of the guns (aside from the fact that it's America) was to show that these are people who believe they are protecting themselves from danger, but their fear is rooted in the wrong place.
Devon's father had a gun - presumably as protection for himself and his family, yet the predator in this film wasn't Trent but rather a greater threat to his family came in the form of Brett. It was Brett who touched Devon inappropriately and it was also Brett who was had something going on with her mother.
Be me, for a little while.
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