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Perhaps the OP just wants to reach out for some sense of community.
Not sure of the significance, but I thought we see Michelle notice a tattoo of the word "Elle" above the breast of her son's girlfriend while she is breastfeeding right after giving birth at the hospital.
shareI'm fairly certain the tattoo said Éric, most likely the name of an ex-lover, which further plays into Michèle's dislike of her son's girlfriend and her suspicions that the child isn't his.
shareHa yeah that would definitely make more sense. It was only an brief glimpse, and I thought that it might have said Elle.
I'm starting to think the significance of Elle is surely that it means "She" in French. I think Verhoeven also loves consciously playing with dual interpretations of his films. In Total Recall - is it a dream or not? In Starship Troopers - is it fascist or not? In Basic Instinct - is she the killer or not? In Elle - is it feminist or not? I think you see a lot of reviewers with opposite opinions, which I think only adds to the appeal of this film and naming it "She" calls out the feminist questions at root here.
It's pretty clear that Starship Troopers is fascist, and that she is the killer in Basic Instinct.
shareYes, the tattoo says "Éric."
share"Elle" means "she" in French. The idea is that Michelle wanted to control in her own way every aspect of the social roles that women play, including that of rape victim. There may even be a connection to the title character of H. Rider Haggard's "She," a novel popular in French translation as well as in its original English. That character is referred too as "She who must be obeyed."
shareInteresting! I didn't know that it was adapted from a novel.
share"Elle" means "she" in French. The idea is that Michelle wanted to control in her own way every aspect of the social roles that women play, including that of rape victim. There may even be a connection to the title character of H. Rider Haggard's "She," a novel popular in French translation as well as in its original English. That character is referred too as "She who must be obeyed."
share