Trent touching the scar: Pedophilia or acknowledgement
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Niknack — 18 years ago(January 22, 2008 02:06 PM)
Back to the original post
I didn't come away thinking that Devon had a crush on Trent. I thought it was just that she was looking for company, and she felt comfortable with Trent, rather than with the pretentious community she was living in.
And I thought that when she asked Trent to touch her scar, she was telling him that she trusted him completley. She wouldn't let anybody else touch, or even see it. And his (reluctantly)touching it was an aknowledgment of their friendship, rather than pedophillia.
That's just what I thought. -
fran-emily1 — 17 years ago(June 16, 2008 10:44 AM)
it was clearly a friendship,some people are to cynical to understand that,
obviously in real life there are situations that are less innocent.
but everyman that has contact with a child that is not there own should not be considered a peodophile, some people are just nice. -
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porzstar — 16 years ago(August 18, 2009 02:55 AM)
I think that sums up perfectly, without offending at all. This film can be uneasy to watch in parts but I dont think its meant to be peadophillic in any wayIts just a very good example of the interaction between a child and different adults, and the childs realisation of how she can manipulate certain adults (parents)but at the same time maintains to a certain degree innocent child like qualities (i.e. not realising the effect of running to her parents after the dog was killed etc and end result of this) The fairy tale end is left unexplained and thats what makes this such a tgood ending. Sometimes a films ending is best left unexplained.
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ExAxLxPx12 — 16 years ago(December 09, 2009 04:50 PM)
i completely agree with the OP with the exception of i don't think Devon ever had a crush on Trent. they were friends, plain and simple. letting him touch and see her scar was just her wanting him to know her. her parents wouldn't even look at it. and she recognized that the scar was a part of her, her parents tried to ignore or shove that part away, Trent had a scar as well and she felt that they had that "damaged" thing in common, she trusted him and thought that he would accept this part of her. which he did. they were friends, nothing sexual about it.
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Mousuke — 15 years ago(September 02, 2010 05:56 AM)
Firstly I just want to say that I don't think for a moment that Trent was supposed to be some kind of paedophile, I didn't find anything in his actions to suggest he was.
That said, I think paedophillia was a major part of this film and in particular that scene with the scar. I liked this film because although they had an innocent relationship it was filmed in such a way that you could interpret it in a much more sinister way. For example, there were several longish shots of Trent looking at Devon, such as when he is watching her talk to his mother- this is perfectly innocent, of course he is going to look at her every now and then- he is not going to walk around staring at the floor all the time, but in films if the camera shows lingering looks for a long time it is usually to communicate some kind of romantic feeling. Again I stress, this is not what I think the character was thinking, but just a choice the director made to possibly make the viewer think that. Maybe I am reading too much into shots like that, but I think it could be not to show that Trent is a paedophile but to make viewers (some not all) feel uncomfortable at the situation and perhaps confront their own hang ups. Likewise the scar scene was innocent, and we can clearly see from Trent's reaction to her unbuttoning her shirt that he is uncomfortable with what she is doing and definitely does not have some kind of desire to see her naked, but there are still elements of that scene which a cynical viewer could read too much into, like the way he runs his fingers down the scar and the 'I'll show you yours if you show me mine' aspect of it, and Devona sking slyly 'can I touch it?' Plus the positioning of the scars is quite important- across Devon's chest, and right above Trent's belt line- they could just have easily been on arms and legs but they are on parts of the body which you would not normally show someone unless you were in some kind of romantic or sexual relationship.
While I think the film was mainly about two lonely and out of place people forming an unlikely friendship, there is definitely something there to fuel this debate, but I think people who genuinely think that Trent had unsavoury feelings towards Devon should perhaps rewatch the film with a more open mind.
Lovers in League Against Satan -
babz12 — 15 years ago(November 30, 2010 03:53 PM)
I think it's more just acceptance. Both were outsiders and finally found someone that was an outsider like themself. Since the scar was part of Devon, she wanted this other person to accept her for who she was. Trent realized this and touched it to make her know he accepted her and her "flaw." Besides if Devon's scar was on her shin and she asked him to touch it, would it be as big a deal? Probably not. Unless he caressed it or something
Anyways, adults and kids can be friends. I was "friends" with 20 somethings when I was 10. We didn't call each other up, but our parents were friends and we'd all go camping together, and the kids, teens, and 20 somethings often hung out together. I never found it weird when the 20 year olds would hang out with us, I found it weird when they would sit around talking with the 40-50 year old parents. -
thenicotinefairy — 15 years ago(January 01, 2011 09:41 PM)
What brought this on? Are there seriously people saying this scene was sexual? If so, were they actually watching this movie?
My theory is that she asked him to touch her scar because that was her way of having someone acknowledge that she wasn't perfect.
I don't think for a second that she accepted those ideas of "perfection." She didn't see her scar as a flaw or an imperfection. She was proud of it. She thought it was cool.
It is obvious that she has a crush on him.
Whoa, that's an unusual interpretation of the movie, and would completely change the entire movie. What led you to that interpretation? -
HogwartsBean — 14 years ago(July 07, 2011 08:51 AM)
I like that everyone has differing interpretations but personally I didn't see anything in the movie that suggested sexual attraction from either of the leads. For me Devon was seeking a friend and a father figure, she clearly hated her parents so she sought out an adult to fill that gap in her life.
Similarly I would have suggested that Trent reluctantly took her on as a sort of younger sister, more than anything. And I don't think there was ever a time where he thought of her as anything other than a child.
The comment referring to the lingering looks, I see your point, but for me those were looks of affection in a different sort of way. You highlighted the look he gives her at his parents house, but to me that was just a look of pride. -
mr_bennett — 14 years ago(September 07, 2011 01:34 AM)
Exactly Trent was a father figure to Devon and Trent could relate with Devon. At every moment where sexuality was hinted, Trent felt disgusted and said no. Yet no-one mentions the paedophile guy who put his hand up her top? (Well maybe someone said it but I couldn't be bothered reading every post).
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lombano — 14 years ago(October 27, 2011 09:22 PM)
I think they're more like a good uncle-niece relationship, he's not quite a father figure but it's not, because of the age difference, a regular friendship between peers. To me Trent's initial disgust in this scene makes it obvious he's no paedophile, he has no ulterior motives for hanging out with Devon.
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TheMachinistSleeps — 14 years ago(February 07, 2012 05:29 PM)
Early in the movie the father, referring to selling bags of cookies, says something like "People aren't buying what's in the bag - they are buying your smiling face".
In other words: it's not what's inside that counts but how pretty you look. He further enforces that by being disgusted with her scar, wanting her to get plastic surgery, and mentioning to the mother that it will be a huge turn off for boys.
So she feels bad about the scar. She is a loner. Even her parents don't fully accept her. At the beginning of the scar scene she says to Trent "We're best friends right?" which tells us, again, that she has no friends except for him.
She doesn't go around showing her scar to everyone she shows it to Trent because that is something they have in common. They both almost died and have scars. She may also be doing it to test him - to see if he will accept her for "what's inside the bag".
Obviously that is all just my opinion though.