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Was John a selfish coward towards the end?

posted 8 years ago by The-Last-Prydonian
5 replies | jump to latest

Is it just me or did anyone else think John was something of a selfish coward towards the end of the movie? He eventually discovers to his shock that he was wrong about Melancholia hitting the Earth and sneaks away while his wife is asleep, pretty much tells his son that they're royally screwed before going to the stables and presumably overdosing on pills. Surely, the more unselfish thing to do would be if by they were going to dies, he could spare his son the knowledge of inevitable death by giving his son a drink which had been spiked so he'd gently drift away.

He couldn't necessarily to that to this to Claire as she was a grown woman and deserved to make her own choice as a mature, grown woman how she wanted to die. However I think he could have been with her so they could be and they could spend their last last moments together until the end came. That's unless they chose to take the ”easier way out” together with their son.

I suppose we could get in to a moralistic and ethical debate over whether either would ultimately have the right to kill their son even under those circumstance. However my main point still remains.

Interesting that the one who "man's up" so to speak and is there for them at the end is Justine who behaved like a self centred, ungrateful, attention seeking brat for the majority of the film. The one person she she's seemingly 100% nice to throughout is her nephew.

[–] Merrida 8 years ago

I was thinking the same thing about John. My personal opinion is that we should have the right and freedom to take our own lives if that's what we want to do. Our reasons are personal. However, the goal is that we build strong characters that learn to deal with adversity in advance.

That said, it did strike me because...did he kill himself out of fear? Fear of dying? Or that he was wrong and couldn't face that?

But as is usual in LVT movies, the characters often are juxtaposed and end up trading places in terms of protagonist and antagonist,...or even the characters' actions, views and dialogue.

It did piss me off that he did this rather than spend the time with his family. It's not his death that bothered me, but that he abandoned his family.

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Sic vis pacem para bellum.

[–] EmmaPopell 8 years ago

I felt John was the ultimate Control Freak. If he did not have control, he felt uncomfortable. So....at the end, he just couldn't sit and wait...for it. He controlled his own outcome. Yes, it was a bad thing to do, especially to his wife...but it was his true nature. Control Freaks are usually selfish, to a point.

[–] WileyDairyGnome 8 years ago

"Interesting that the one who "man's up" so to speak and is there for them at the end is Justine who behaved like a self centred, ungrateful, attention seeking brat for the majority of the film. The one person she she's seemingly 100% nice to throughout is her nephew."

You really didn't get this movie I see...did you miss the scene where she could barely get out of bed to eat dinner? She is mentally ill, hence her behavior. She tried to force herself to be happy at her wedding but you can't force yourself to be happy. She was the only one who could face death because a lot of people with mental health issues sort of feel like they're always preparing for the end...so to speak. I speak from personal experience. When everything feels chaotic in your brain 24/7 it is kind of a relief when chaos actually happens. "Normal" people are usually the first ones to panic in that type of situation.

Mental illness is awful and terrible but boy has it really saved me in some awful situations when I really needed to remain calm to help others around me. Depression is a terrible disease, so yeah I find it kind of simplistic to just write her off as a brat. Yes her behavior was wrong at times but there is a difference between being a douche who doesn't care about anyone's feelings and being sick. Sometimes I feel like I'd rather be a douche and live in blissful ignorance like John haha...sometimes.

[–] Meldove 8 years ago

I agree wholeheartedly, Justine suffered from mental illness, this doesn't make her a selfish brat. However, what John did was the epitome of selfishness, he took the easy way out when his family needed him the most.

[–] lovinlittles 8 years ago

I thought he was a coward actually. He figured out that there was an error and that the planet was to collide with earth and then he goes to the horse stable and takes a slew of pills to end it. He should've been around for his wife and son, stuck it out to be there for them, no matter how frightening the inevitable would be. There was his wife left and in sheer panic of dying. Worse was her trying to possibly save the life of her child by going to the village for perhaps a place of safety or a solution. It would've been awful for her in that situation. The husband was an idiot and perhaps like Justine, he had issues himself..