MovieChat Forums > Junebug (2005) Discussion > 'Mark Lane is Jewish'

'Mark Lane is Jewish'

posted 13 years ago by ppllkk
7 replies | jump to latest

Wark: Jew.

Madeleine: What.

Wark: Jewess, that lady. [Madeleine's gallery contact in New York.]
That wouldn't be what we want to do.

Madeleine: Mark Lane is Jewish.

Wark: What.

Madeleine: Nothing.

Madeleine is shocked by Wark's anti-Semitism and, in her surprise, blurts out that the person he may sign with in New York is also Jewish. Wark does not seem to understand what she has said, and she does not repeat it.

Madeleine will not stoop to using anti-Semitism to get what she wants even if it is equalizing the playing field and a simple statement of fact. (She could argue that Wark needs to know that Mark Lane is a Jew before he signs with him, but she still won't use it.)

Madeleine's behavior here reinforces the impression that I had that she is sincere throughout the film. Of course she is trying to sell herself to George's family and to Wark, but she means what she says.

Madeleine grew up in a variety of cultures, and she is quite aware of, and accepting of, cultural differences in a way that Peg is not. I do not detect the slightest trace of condescension either with George's family or with Wark. I don't think anyone could fake that.

Madeleine is very comfortable with physical contact. I assume she grew up in a family that easily expressed affection and emotion physically. (Perhaps she also got from some of it from the cultures that she lived in.) Her style should not be really foreign to a Southerner. Northerners may freak out. Maybe rural North Carolina is different, or maybe it is just this family. The only Johnsten who is physically expressive is the one who married into the family.

Madeleine is also quite comfortable with bodily functions. There is no door on Wark's bathroom. This does not seem to bother Madeleine, and she continues to talk to Wark while she is peeing.

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[–] Lemoen 13 years ago

Good observations, I agree.

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[–] scoochie9 13 years ago

I absolutely agree too! I only just recently saw "Junebug", so I haven't read all the threads. I'm assuming there are people who think Madeline is some kind of villian, when plainly she is not. She and Ashley are the purest, kindest characters in the story (well, the Dad's kind too, he just experienced more things and adapted to what was in front of him)!
If there's a "villain" at all (and there wouldn't be in this very open-minded film), it would be Peg, the mother. The actress was fantastic! During the artist's amusingly bizarre declaration right after Ashely's prayer at her baby shower, Peg shoots this completely hate-filled look at Madeline. Excellent acting, there! I pretty much hated the Peg character, and the damage she did to her family, but then you think about what her own childhood might have been like, so you can't hate her...
I kinda think that's the whole point of the film, and I say Bravo!

[–] daveoafc77 12 years ago

I thought maybe Mark Lane wasnt actually Jewish but Madeleine plants the idea into Warks head and doesnt repeat it again knowing he's heard it.
Given that signing Wark was the most important thing on her mind i think this is plausable, to show what lengths she would go to to secure the deal (though she restrains herself from forcing that Lane may be Jewish on Wark repeatedly)

[–] ppllkk 12 years ago

daveoafc77 wrote:

I thought maybe Mark Lane wasnt actually Jewish but Madeleine plants the idea into Warks head and doesnt repeat it again knowing he's heard it.

I don't see that at all. I think Madeleine is shocked by the anti-Semitism, and she responds without thinking. But I guess the question is what else is there in the movie that would cause you to believe that Madeleine is so practiced in deception that she would spontaneously come up with a lie, and instantaneously realize that the lie was more likely to be believed if she did not repeat it? That is a very sophisticated strategy to come up with automatically unless you do it all the time.Can you think of any other examples of Madeleine being deceptive or dishonest in the film? I think that she is notably open and forthright.

Given that signing Wark was the most important thing on her mind i think this is plausable, to show what lengths she would go to to secure the deal (though she restrains herself from forcing that Lane may be Jewish on Wark repeatedly)

But it only shows the lengths Madeleine would go to in order to secure the deal if there is at least a suggestion that Mark Lane is not Jewish, and there isn't.Before someone says that signing Wark is so important to Madeleine that she does not go to the hospital, let me make a few points. Madeleine tried to go to a hospital with the family, but was brutally rejected by Peg. It is clear that Peg does not see her as part of the family and does not want her at the hospital. Johnny doesn't want her at the hospital. There is nothing that she can actually do at the hospital to help Ashley. And, perhaps most importantly, George has never shown that he thought that family was important to him. Rather the opposite. For easy markup in Firefox & Opera, see http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/42255

[–] MaryPoppinPills 12 years ago

ITA with your post. I really like the points you made about Madeleine not going to the hospital. I think, in the end, George realizes that hs new family is Madeleine. He has moved from his birth family in terms of values even though he still loves them. I thought this was the point of his flip flop at the end when he says he's glad to be out of there. He's truly ready to move on.

[–] ppllkk 12 years ago

MaryPoppinPills wrote:

He has moved from his birth family in terms of values

My guess, and it is just a guess, is that George understood that he had little in common with his family before he graduated from high school. He is not the sort to rebel openly. He goes along to get along — given what his mother is like, that is a good decision — and he gets out as soon as he can. George hasn't been home in three years. He only goes because his wife is going to be in the neighborhood and really wants to meet his family.

His mother is impossible. His brother grew up being constantly compared to George and found wanting. (It is an old story. Cain killed Abel because "Daddy" preferred Abel['s offering]. ) Johnny is not going to get over that particularly given how successful George is and how unsuccessful Johnny is. Johnny hits George because George was "successful" in comforting Ashley in the hospital, and Johnny wasn't even able to try.

George cares about Ashley, but that is an explosive situation. Johnny grew up with his mother preferring George; if he ever has a suspicion that there is any closeness between Ashley and George, it would feel like the same thing all over again and would probably destroy him.

There's not a lot there for George in North Carolina. Ashley, but he has to stay away from her. I don't believe that there was ever anything romantic or sexual between between Ashley and George, but if Johnny picks up on any vibes between them, he's not going to be rational about the details.

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[–] boydigital 11 years ago

It really had a profound effect on me when Madeleine would not exploit the fact that her competitor is Jewish. (While I'm sure there's no connection but within my own mind, I recalled Embeth Davidtz' role in Schindler's List and that made the scene in Junebug all the more important.)

This was my favorite part of the film.

I thought it was understated and perfect. It communicates so much about human behavior and certainly about the character of Madeleine (and by extension the artist).