Sexual tension between young Charlie and old Charlie?
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laurapamer — 18 years ago(September 23, 2007 02:19 PM)
It might be revolting, but it seems nonetheless quite accurate to me. I watched this movie for the very first time last night, and the "more than just uncle/niece" dynamic was very uncomfortable to watch but very hard to ignore.
If anything, the reality of the 1940s ADDS to the dynamic. Young Charlie does things like walking into her uncles bedroom and closing the door behind her. She is only going into the room to talk with him, but in 1943 the idea of a young woman entering an adult male's bedroom and closing the door behind her - leaving just the two of them alone, in private - would be very taboo, even if he is a relative.
And if this thread were started back when the movie was made, most people probably would not have TALKED about such a thing, but I'd be willing to bet that on some level they would be THINKING about it. -
jumbo-gumbo — 18 years ago(November 23, 2007 03:16 AM)
Uncle - niece is one of the most common forms of reported incest. In Tamil Nadu state in Southern India it is customary for maternal uncles to marry their nieces. In the state of Kerala also in Southern India people marry their maternal cousins. This however is practiced in many western countries as well, Ashley Wilkes was Melanie Hamilton's first cousin in Gone With The Wind ? Wasn't he.
I think as society evolves the definition of Incest is changing a lot. And yes theres definitely signs of a close relationship between Charlie and Young Charlie in this movie. May be he abused her as a teenager thats how many of this relationships start.. -
maraudertheslashnymph — 18 years ago(March 25, 2008 08:13 PM)
"This however is practiced in many western countries as well, Ashley Wilkes was Melanie Hamilton's first cousin in Gone With The Wind ? Wasn't he."
Both the book and the movie say that they're cousins, but neither specifies which kind. They could be first cousins or they could be more distantly related.
Holding out hope for The Front Runner. -
Noir-It-All — 17 years ago(September 22, 2008 04:45 PM)
/"This however is practiced in many western countries as well, Ashley Wilkes was Melanie Hamilton's first cousin in Gone With The Wind ? Wasn't he."
Both the book and the movie say that they're cousins, but neither specifies which kind. They could be first cousins or they could be more distantly related./
Another character in Gone With the Wind, Mrs. Tarleton, did not like the Wilkes' inbreeding at all. A avid breeder of horses, she saw that it weakened the descendants of the clan. She said quite a lot to Mr. O'Hara when they ran into each other on the way to the barbecue at the Wilkes house.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne -
Trippetta10 — 16 years ago(April 11, 2009 09:36 PM)
I don't think there was anything sexual between them at all. The problem is that, thanks to the time we live in, an adult male can't talk to a young girl for more than a few minutes without someone suspecting he wants to get (or has already gotten) into her pants.
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Scott-101 — 14 years ago(May 01, 2011 04:34 PM)
It's precisely because it's such a taboo territory and that it can't really happen on any textual level, that it's fascinating how Hitchcock plays with the subtext.
In other words, on any textual or realistic level, there's no way this is romantic.
But it's fun to misread it, I suppose, and Hitchcock likes playing around with the symbolism and subtext, so he's inviting us to misread it too and at that point, if Hitch and us are reading it the same way, who's to say that's not really the implication.
It still never makes sense on any realistic level, that the two are really attracted to each other.
www.examiner.com/x-3877-dc-film-industry-examiner -
chlo0912 — 13 years ago(May 26, 2012 11:47 AM)
Just because we're saying there's sexual tension doesn't mean Uncle Charlie would be stupid enough to act on it. But there is sexual tension, Hitchcock was a meticulous director and certainly intended it. You can cut through it with a knife in many scenes. Anyone who's attributing it to the closeness of families back then is foolish. I'll bet you anything that audiences back then had the same uncomfortable reaction to Uncle Charlie and his niecethey were simply too close for comfort.
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cold_sky — 11 years ago(June 09, 2014 10:49 PM)
I think it is revolting that anyone would imply sexual tension between the uncle and niece
Funny, coming from a girl whose last post [edit:actually a bunch of them] appears to be copyright infringement. In other words, you're not so innocent yourself. -
thebigmouth — 9 years ago(January 04, 2017 11:04 AM)
I think it is revolting that anyone would imply sexual tension between the uncle and niece.
Then you don't know Hitchcock lol.
TV:
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LOST:
http://eyemsick.blogspot.com -
atlantean54 — 18 years ago(December 12, 2007 08:01 PM)
From watching the film again this morning, I couldn't help but feel a slightly "Poe-esque" tension between the two charactersThat kind of tension which was felt strongly between the two twins Roderick and Madeline Usher in Edgar Allan Poe's famous short story,
The Fall of the House of Usher
Remember the conversation between Uncle Charlie and the young Charlie in the kitchen about being "like twins." Having said this, the themes of inscest, murder and insanity fall clearly under the ruberick of Poe's ouevre and it couldn't simply be thought of as coincidental on Hitch's part. After all, in several interviews Hitch claims to have been quite taken with Poe's work and it seems only natural for such themes to filter their way into his craft. -
mrplankton — 18 years ago(December 14, 2007 02:49 PM)
my word! i didnt think of it as sexual tension. i thought she rather worshipped her uncle at first, tho i admit there did seem to be something going on. i merely thought the tension was due to her believing her uncle was a killer! i had better have another viewing and pay closer attention.
cheers.