Overstimulated: an analysis of 'Carnal Knowledge'

This is an analysis of Mike Nichols' film 'Carnal Knowledge' 

Mike Nichols' Carnal Knowledge is about best friends Johnathan and Sandy and their philosophies on sex, women, and happiness. Johnathan (Jack Nicholson) is a bachelor whose idea of happiness is relating to women physically. Sandy (Art Garfunkel) is also looking for the perfect sex partner and the perfect marriage.  Both men end up desensitized and enslaved to the urges of the flesh, Johnathan turning to scripted encounters with prostitutes and Sandy marrying a woman half his age. Sandy and Johnathan are 2 sides of the same coin: Sandy is the type of man women say they want—he’s a gentleman, accommodating, patient, follows the rules, etc. Johnathan is the type of man women really want— he knows what he wants, he’s direct. But most importantly, he’s a bad boy.

We wear masks

When I go to work, I am a professional; when I visit my mother, I am her son; when I’m with the guys, I’m macho; when I’m here, I swear but when I attend church, I don’t; when I’m over there, I’m that way and when I am over here, I’m this way—who am I? Throughout the course of a day, we hide our real identities behind masks that we change whenever it’s convenient. The masks we wear reflect our ideal selves and what we would like others to think of us. Who we are when there are no laws or morals restricting us, are who we really are. In this exchange, Susan is speaking of herself in the 3rd person but Sandy doesn’t pick up on it:

Susan: This is the 1st time I’ve ever been to a college mixer.
Sandy: Me, too, I hate them.
Susan: I hate them, too.
Sandy: Such a phony way of meeting people.
Susan: Everybody puts on an act.
Sandy: So even if you meet somebody, you don’t know who you meet.
Susan: —‘Cause you’re meeting the act.
Sandy: That’s right, not the person.
Susan: I’m not sure I agree.
Sandy: With what?
Susan: With what you said.
Sandy: No, I don’t either.
Susan: You don’t agree with what you said?
Sandy: How do you feel about it?
Susan: I think people only like to think they’re putting on an act but it’s not an act, it’s really them. If they think it’s an act they feel better because they think they could always change it.
Sandy: You mean they’re kidding themselves because it’s not really an act.
Susan: Yes, it is an act but the act is them
Sandy: But if it’s them, how can it be an act?
Susan: ‘Cause, they’re an act.
Sandy: But they’re also real.
Susan: No.
Sandy: You mean I’m not real?
Susan: No.
Sandy: I’m an act.
Susan: It’s all right. I’m an act, too. Don’t you behave differently with different people?

Sandy doesn’t realize that Susan is talking about herself because he hasn’t been with many women. She isn’t the strait-laced coed she appears to be. While she is talking to Sandy, she peeks over his shoulder at Johnathan who is the film’s bad boy.

Women are from Venus

Johnathan has had sex with so many women that he develops a sixth sense enabling him to understand their alien alphabet, that when they say something they really mean something else. Sandy hasn’t had a lot of sex and hasn’t acquired the power to understand the opposite sex.

For example, Susan—speaking in code—tells Sandy that she isn’t the girl he thinks she is but he doesn’t catch on to her meaning. He thinks that she is the girl next door but she is trying to tell him that she isn’t which becomes evident when she dates Johnathan:

Susan: “You’re the only boy I know that I can talk to.”
Sandy: “I can’t see you being quiet for any guy.”
Susan: “Not quiet, but if you know somebody’s not going to approve of what you are—”
Sandy: “Whatever that is.”
Susan: “Whatever that is. Well, you just don’t tell him. I mean, if I like a boy and I want him to keep liking me and I’m brighter than he is I have to not show it or I’ll lose him, so it’s hard.”

Control

Sandy and Johnathan are 2 sides of the same coin: Sandy is the type of man women say they want—he’s a gentleman, accommodating, patient, follows the rules, etc. Johnathan is the type of man women really want— he knows what he wants, he’s direct. Most importantly, he’s a bad boy.

On title 4 on the DVD, Sandy and Susan are on their 2nd date.  Sandy wants to kiss Susan and asks her permission. She smiles modestly and insults him in a nice way: “You’re the only boy I know that I can talk to.” She tells Sandy how to kiss her and he obeys gratefully. He brags to Johnathan. On the next date, Sandy tries to put his hand on her breast. Susan resists and gives him a hand-job. Sandy reports back to Johnathan who sets up a date with Susan. They speak code to each other, saying things that really mean something else.  A week later they meet to have sex because she has no control over the urges he brings out of her.

On their 3rd date, Susan says to Sandy that he’s the only “boy” she can talk to because he doesn’t arouse her and, as a result, she is able to discipline her sexual urges and exercise control of her mind. 

Slavery

A man or woman who is forced to do something against his or her will is a slave. Matt. 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” In this case, the slave master is the urge for sex and the slave is man’s higher mind: his intellect, morals, and principles. When Johnathan takes Susan out on their 1st date, she asks him “Do you always date your best friend’s girlfriends?” as though she is dating him against her will. Her lower urge for sex has  enslaved her superior intelligence and principles. 

Loss of principles

Johnathan’s better judgement is clouded by his sexual urges. At 43:50 on the DVD, he is having dinner in an upscale restaurant with a model named Bobbie, his ideal woman because of her large breasts. She reads his palm:

Bobbie: You have a long lifeline. You’re difficult to get along with. You always know your own mind. You won’t stop going after what you want until you get it. 

In the cab, he asks her if she can cook and she says no. She asks him if he’ll marry her and he says, joking, that he’d marry her in a minute. He asks her if she’ll take him for every cent he has if he divorces her; again, she answers yes. She even tell him that she’s a gold-digger. The fur coat could have come from a former husband she took to the cleaners. Johnathan’s lust for her clouds his better judgement and he pays the price for it later.

Like Adam who becomes wise after eating the forbidden fruit, having sex with many women opens Johnathan’s eyes up to the flesh side of women that results in him receiving a sentence of death (like Adam) in the form of ED (erectile dysfunction).

An analysis of Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal'

An analysis of Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal'

The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish fantasy written and directed by Ingmar Bergman based on his play called Wood Painting. The film follows Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), a 14th century knight from Sweden who goes off to fight in the Crusades and returns home to a country ravaged by the Plague. The film’s epigram, Revelations 8:1, describes a half hour of silence after the opening of the Seventh Seal; it is within this half hour that Block and Death play a game of chess that Block uses to buy time to search for the meaning of life and the existence of God.

The themes of the film deal with universal questions pertaining to God, life after death, and destiny. 

Life after death

The question of whether there is life after Death torments Block and he seeks this answer from the church; a possessed woman condemned to burn at the stake; and from Death himself. No one, however, can answer his question. 

Amidst the threat of danger and death, there’s Joseph, Mary, and their son, Michael, who represents life after death. Michael’s connection with Jesus is supported when Joseph sees a vision of Virgin Mary. Later in the film, Michael and his parents become the target of Death as Block leads them through the forest. The film ends on a hopeful note as Death spares Michael and his parents, taking everyone else. 

Does God exist? 

Block seeks the existence of the Devil in the hopes that proving this will also prove the inverse, the existence of God. Block poses this question to a woman who is to burn at the stake for being possessed by the Devil, Block, however, is not convinced that she is possessed and he leaves disappointed.  

Matthew 11:25, “At that time Jesus said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children'." This scripture is expressed in this film by the fact that of all those in the film, the only person who Death passes over can see not only Death and the dead, but also the virgin Mary—Joseph. His child-like qualities exemplify the above verse. This may also explain why Joseph’s family is spared death by not making it to Block’s castle at the end of the film. 

The inevitability of death

A traveling performer named Skat avoids death at the hands of a blacksmith whose wife he steals and seduces. Skat pretends to stab himself in the heart with a fake knife and tricks the blacksmith. Skat is happy with himself afterwards, and climbs a tree only to look down and find Death at the bottom sawing away.  Skat begs Death, listing all of his obligations. Death continues sawing until the tree falls, killing Skat. 

It is no coincidence that Skat plays a clown in the theater, a clown being someone who laughs or takes things, in this case life and death, lightly by running off with another man’s wife. He believes that climbing a tree will protect him from any kind of danger but he learns that death is inescapable. Climbing a tree is symbolic, representing man’s belief that he can transcend the dangers of life today such as wearing seat belts, eating healthy, exercising, etc. But no matter what we do to distance ourselves from the dangers of living, death is certain and though it can be delayed it cannot be denied. This episode is also connected with Block, himself, who survives war and death in the Crusades in Jerusalem only to return to the plague and death in his own country. 

False prophets

The Bible speaks of false prophets deceiving the entire world. Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” In this film, that false prophet is Raval, the divinity student who persuades Block and Jons to fight in the Crusades promising them that doing so will lead them to salvation; it doesn’t. Raval is characterized as a thief and rapist in the film who is warned by Jons—playing God’s vengeance—who, ultimately, takes his knife to Raval’s face, marking him as a hypocrite. In another example of false prophets, priests, holding aloft a statue of Jesus on the cross, lead a procession of plague-infected villagers flogging one another with whips from the belief that the plague is punishment for man’s sins. The head priest then goes on to use fear to get more villagers to join his congregation. A friend and I had a discussion about this the other day. There are more churches in economically distressed areas than there are in affluent areas. In North Saint Louis, there are some city blocks with 5 or more churches. Taking a drive through Clayton or any of the many economically stable areas west of Skinker, you’d be hard-pressed to find 2 churches within miles of each other. I once took a half-mile stroll in Clayton starting from Forsythe at Brentwood Blvd to Forsythe and Hanley, counting the banks along this stretch which came out to be around 20; twenty banks or other financial institutions in a 5 block stretch! By contrast, I took a quarter-mile stroll in North Saint Louis from Union and Natural Bridge to Union and Dr. King Blvd and counted at least 30 churches. Even though the obvious problem up north is blight (and most of it around the churches themselves), you’re more likely to see a church, instead of a business, open up.

Is there life after death?: 'The Seventh Seal' Plot Summary

This is a plot summary of director Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film 'The Seventh Seal'. 

The Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish fantasy written and directed by Ingmar Bergman based on his play called Wood Painting. The film follows Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), a 14th century knight from Sweden who goes off to fight in the Crusades and returns home to a country ravaged by the Plague. The film’s epigram, Revelations 8:1, describes a half hour of silence after the opening of the Seventh Seal; it is within this half hour that Block and Death play a game of chess that Block uses to buy time to search for the meaning of life and the existence of God.

Crusader Antonius Block and his squire Jons wash up on the shore of Sweden, both having fought long years in Jerusalem only to return home to a country  ravaged by the Black Plague. When they awaken, there is a chess board set up and also Death who has come to take Block; Block is not ready to die, however, and challenges Death to a chess match with the stipulation that Death spares him if he wins. They begin and 2 horses materialize out of nowhere to take Block and Jons inland to Block’s castle and wife, Karin. Their 1st encounter with death is a corpse ravaged by the plague. 

Next, the scene switches to a small wagon with actors on their way to Elsinore to perform at the Saint’s Festival.  There’s Skat who plays Death, Joseph who juggles and plays man’s immortal soul, his wife Mary and their child, Michael. Joseph sees a vision of the virgin Mary.

Block and Jons stop by a church. Inside, they find a man painting the Dance of Death on the wall. The plague, the man believes, is punishment from God. High on a hill within the painting, a procession of human figures are joined by hand behind Death.

Block enters the confessional booth and speaks to the priest who listens patiently on the other side. Block bares his soul: he wants to see God for himself; he is tormented by faith; he needs to know whether or not there is any meaning to life? The priest reveals his face and is actually Death. Block is enraged at being tricked and they continue their chess match.

Some guards outside the church prepare to burn a woman at the stake who they believe is possessed by the Devil. In a barn, a man robs a corpse. This priest, whose name is Raval, had persuaded Block and Jons to go off to fight in the Crusades, promising them that doing so would lead to their salvation. Raval attempts to rape a young woman but Jons intervenes, saving the woman and warning Raval not to cross his path again.

Joseph and his fellow actors perform in small village but they are not well-received. The show is interrupted by monks bearing a large statue of Jesus on the cross followed by a procession of villagers afflicted by the plague, whipping each other in penance. The priest warns the village of impending doom for their sins. An angry blacksmith named Plog searches for his wife. The priest whom Jons warned earlier tells Plog that his wife ran off with Skat—one of the actors —and then the priest goes on to humiliate Joseph by making him dance on a burning table in a pub. Jons enters the pub and rescues Joseph. Jons grabs the priest, reminds him of his earlier warning, and fulfills his promise by taking out his knife and slashing the priest’s face. 

Later, Mary consoles Joseph who is still upset about being forced to dance on the burning table. 

Block sits with Joseph and Mary and they share their milk and strawberries with him. Block recalls his beautiful wife and how he left her to go fight in the Crusades. Joseph plays the lute. 

But Death is nearby and when Block sees him they continue their chess match. Death takes Block’s knight and falls into a trap, Block checks and threatens Death’s king. Block is confident but this confidence changes to uncertainty when Death takes an interest in Joseph, Mary, and their baby, Michael whom Block has agreed to escort through the forest. 

Jons befriends Plog, the blacksmith who lost his wife. Plog joins Jons and Block on their journey through the forest. Plog spots his wife with Skat. The blacksmith and the actor square off and trade insults. Plog and Lisa kiss and make up; she turns against actor who plays on Plog’s sympathy, concedes his wrongdoing, and stabs himself in the heart with a fake dagger. When everyone leaves, Skat climbs a tall tree, looks down and sees Death with a saw. Skat pleads with Death but it is no use. Death saws down the tree. 

Block and the others stop to watch knights burn a witch at the stake. Block wants to know whether God exists and asks the possessed woman to put his question to the Devil. The girl’s hands are broken and Block asks one of the monks who did this but the monk turns out to be Death. The girl’s eyes are wide-open as the flames wrap around her and Block asks Jons what she sees and Jons says nothing. They leave. 

A man dying of the plague stumbles into their camp begging for water. Joseph stops Mary from giving their water to the dying man. Block and Death resume chess game by a tree but it looks like Block is playing chess by himself. No one but Joseph can see that Block is actually playing chess with Death. Their game is almost finished. Death takes Block’s queen and Block looks worried and “inadvertently” knocks over the chess pieces to buy more time from Death who is ever more impatient, promising to end the game at their next meeting. Block asks Death for his secrets hoping to get some clue as to what happens on the other side. Death cannot answer. 

There’s a storm and Mary senses Death behind them. Block finally makes it to his castle and his wife whom he can’t remember or recognize. She prepares a meal and reads revelation 8:1 as they are eating. Block hears a knock at the door and sends his squire Jons to answer it. It is Death. Everyone rises from the dinner table to greet him, all except Joseph, Mary, and their child Michael whom were left behind. Block prays but Jons mocks him, saying that there’s no God to hear his prayer. Death takes them all.

Later, Joseph, his wife, and their child wake up their wagon which is alone in an empty field. Joseph sees the shadow of Death leading Block and the others by hand on the horizon. Mary cannot see this vision. The film ends. 

An analysis of Francois Truffaut's 'Fahrenheit 451'

An analysis of Truffaut's 'Fahrenheit 451'

Here is a plot analysis of Fahrenheit 451 I want to share with everyone. Thanks. 

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 British film directed by Francois Truffaut who co-wrote the script with Jean-Louis Richard. In an unspecified dystopian future, individuality is denied, conformity is the law, and firemen are paid to burn books. Based on the 1954 novel by Ray Bradbury after the book burnings in Nazi Germany, the film stars Julie Christie as Clarisse, Oskar Werner as Guy Montag, and Cyril Cusack as the Fire Captain of Engine House 451. 

The dominant theme in this film is censorship in literature and speech. The film is also about a future where people are more engaged with technology and gadgets than each other; this future has arrived. Today, you see people in public places, on packed on buses, in malls, etc, oblivious of each other on their “smart phones.” People zoned out of the real world, involved in fatal car accidents, etc. Social interaction is incrementally shifting out of flesh and blood situations and into artificial environments where friends are digitized and reduced to numbers, just like the characters in this film (Montag’s number is 813). Technology is pulling us further and further apart everyday and now, with virtual reality, we will soon be able to go to the public parks, zoos, museums, etc, from the comfort of our homes. 

The film depicts a society that is dehumanized, a society that has lost its ability to feel. Texting and emailing have stripped communicating down to black characters, numbers, emojis, and white, dry, lifeless space.

The people in this film have no memories of the past because those memories are preserved in the books that are burned. Do you notice how fast things become old now? Everything from movies, to music, the cars we drive, our homes, our relationships, smartphones— in every area of our lives, change is outpacing our ability to adapt, being born and dying faster than ever. This explains the high rate of turnover in our society and the irrelevance of the elderly and history to this and future generations. 

Director Francois Truffaut uses actress Julie Christie to play Montag’s wife Linda and Clarisse. Truffaut did this because he wanted the characters to be 2 sides of the same coin. Linda is numb and distracted preferring to talk to her television than with her husband. Director Luis Buñuel employs an inversion of this technique in his 1977 film That Obscure Object Of Desirewhere he uses 2 actresses—Carole Bouquet and Ángela Molina Tejedor to play a single character named Conchita who is involved in a dysfunctional relationship with an older man named Mathieu played by the great Fernando Rey. In Fahrenheit 451, Christie’s characters are contrasted against each other with Linda playing the closed-minded follower and Clarisse the open-minded thinker and the attitudes they both have in regard to the system of government they live in. 

Books preserve history, memories, and feelings

• Montag asks his wife when they got married and she can’t remember
• He argues with Linda and her friends and reads from a book he rescued from old woman’s house. One of the women actually cries: “I’d forgotten about those feelings,” she says
• Early in the film, Clarisse asks Montag if it is true that firemen used to put out fires instead of starting them and he can’t remember

Citizens are non persons 

• Faber addresses Montag in the third person: “Montag has 1 quality I appreciate greatly; he says very little.”
• Montag is identified by his number (813)

Books are people

• The Book People become the books they read which is a way of them regaining the individuality the state took from them
• Montag is introduced to Plato’s Republic, Alice in Wonderland, The Martian Chronicles, Pride and Prejudice (twins volumes 1 and 2), and others
• Old lady wants to die with her books

Sports and other activities promote “group-thinking”

Sociologically, there’s a latent and manifest function built into most group activities, particularly sports which promote teamwork but which also discourages individuality. Here is 1 of many examples I’ve taken from the film:

The firehouse Captain tells Montag to increase the dosage of sports and other group activities for the recruits to keep them happy and busy.

Clarisse is different

• Clarisse is fired from her job as a school teacher for not sticking to the timetable and having fun with the students
• The school’s staff is afraid of Clarisse and old woman because they are different
• She doesn’t watch television like everybody else and prefers to talk with real people
• She asks questions and talks a lot

Intolerance

Racial intolerance

• The Native Americans
• African Americans
• Jews in Nazi Germany
• President Trump’s immigration policy

Idealogical intolerance

• The demonization of Islam
• In 1634, the Catholic Church put Galileo under house arrest after he discovered that the Sun, and not Earth, is the center of the universe
• The Salem Witch trials, etc.

The safety of silence

What do Martin Luther King, The Dixie Chicks, Jesus Christ, Fidel Castro have in common? They were all demonized, penalized, and, in some cases, assassinated for bucking the norms of their time and saying things that offended the status quo. It is safer to go with the flow than to go against the grain which is why there are more followers than leaders. When it comes to offending the beliefs of others, the safest thing is to not say anything at all: 

• At around 9:00 into film, Montag asks Clarisse if her parents ever warn her not to talk to strangers
• In a training class at the fire house, the instructor separates 2 classmates who like sitting beside each other
• Faber, the Fire Captain: “Montag has 1 quality I appreciate greatly; he says very little.”
  Montag looks uncomfortable when girl on monorail strikes up a conversation with him

People fear and censure those who are different

• They go to school and a boy in hall sees them and runs away. Clarissa wants to believe that the boy ran away afraid of Montag’s suit. Montag hides and leaves Clarisse alone in the hall. The boy comes out again and runs away when he sees Clarisse
• Clarisse and old woman are fired for having fun with the students

Conformity

• Faber tells Montag that destroying books makes people the same. Books, in this film, are people and ideas that are considered different
• There is a report box for citizens to anonymously report on fellow citizens who own books
• Independent thinking carries a stigma. Clarissa is fired for deviating from the coursework and when she returns to the school to pick up her things, one of her students runs away from her

Books give people back their feelings

Montag argues with Linda and her friends and reads book he rescued from old woman’s house. One of the women cries, touched by the words he reads from the book
“I’d forgotten about those feelings,” she says

People put down ideas they are not familiar with

Clarisse asks Montag why he burns books and his answer is that books are rubbish and they make people unhappy. She asks him if he’s read a book and he says no. This illustrates the power of propaganda and how it feeds off of ignorance. Think about Montag’s answer to Clarisse’s question as to whether he has read any of the books he’s burned. He says that he hasn’t; therefore, he doesn’t know what he’s burning. He’s been TAUGHT that books are bad without reading one for himself. 

Depersonalization 

• Faber, the Fire Captain, addresses Montag in the 3rd person
• When Montag is killed, only the back of his head is shown
• Linda plays a TV game where she is questioned by the show’s hosts. Montag disappoints her by reminding her that there are hundreds of thousands of people with her name