The ear peircing....did it symbolize her losing her virginity?

Yes...and the next thing she says is do the other one....meaning anal.

I didn't catch this the first time, but I saw the movie again last night, and that scene happened, and I thought the same thing. Symbolically, of course. It's not eye-rolling to think the that - I genuinely think that was the intent.

is just a fishhook earring.

What a shame you've lost all concept of innocence, if ever you had one. He gave her a gift which required ear-piercing. If she had lost her virginity, the point would have been made. Doesn't anybody remember first, adolescent love? In this day and age, maybe not, sad to say. For 1965, this was entirely appropriate.

I'm only in Show Biz by injection

Losing his/her virginity symbolizes ear piercing.

The ear piercing does symbolize sex, but not between Sam & Suzy. The relationship of Sam & Suzy is a metaphor for the relationship between Captain Sharp and Mrs. Bishop ... hence the reason we never learn their first names. The portrayal of Sam & Suzy's relationship demonstrates all the feelings of love and innocence that are awakened in Captain Sharp and Mrs. Bishop. The sexual innuendos between Sam & Suzy symbolize sex between the two adult characters involved in an illicit affair ... not sex between two kids.

Hi, Monetteb6!

I've never seen it that way, but I can see your point. However, I do not think they got that far. The whole dancing scene, with the kissing and boob-thouching, looked really awkward to me. I do not remember if they even kiss again at all later on in the movie. I think they felt it was something that had to be done considering the circumstances (the "elopement", the two of them alone in a romantic atmosphere), but that they were not ready for. It was done more because they perceived it as mandatory rather than because of the urge for it.
I think it was all part of the game where they were playing a traditional adult couple (he would protect her and provide her with food and a place to live; she would take care of the house and the kitten and read novels out loud after dinner).

The ear pearcing might just symbolize she has started walking down the path that will lead her to lose her verginity some day. She discovered some sort of physical attraction towards him. She liked to be close to him, to talk to him.

The pearced ears made her feel older and mature. I know little girls often have their ears pearced, but in this case she did it by her own decision. Maybe for the first time she got to decide over her own body. Even more important, it is him who pearces her ears. I think it has to do with an ideal emancipation from her parents and the discovery of the rest of the world through her own body. This implies a sexual aspect too, but I think the director's intentions were more subtle: before meeting him she used to reject everybody through her own body, with an aggressive/violent behaviour. And now everything was slowly changing.

Yet again, this is just my opinion.



- Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues -

I thought that was a reach at first, but it makes sense, when I remembered the blood. This was a symbolic movie.
And knowing this makes it funnier when her mother wonders how to remove the hooks - like all teen mothers wish they could undo their daughter's decisions.