2: Possession. Primarily because the voice that talks to Gordon is the
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Session 9
Werner_Herzog — 11 years ago(April 14, 2014 02:59 PM)
2: Possession. Primarily because the voice that talks to Gordon is the
same
voice that comes from Mary on the tape. Also because all of Mary's personalities live in parts of her body but not, finally, Simon, who lives in the "weak and the wounded" indicating that he inhabits different people. -
joshdestardi — 11 years ago(July 07, 2014 12:26 PM)
As I previously voted a couple of years ago, it is not #1.
It is number 2.
How could anyone possibly write "there is nothing that really connects Gordon and Mary? Why is Gordon sitting in her hospital room with pictures of his own family on the wall? Simon connects Gordon and Mary.
Read around the internet; it is very clearly meant to be a surprise ending with Simon invading NOT JUST MARYbut he lives in "the weak and the wounded".
That definition implies not just one individual. He's like a contagion that infects many people. he didn't say "I live in this weak and wounded woman, Mary".
Geez.
Not very original, but 'We accept the love we think we deserve.' Brilliant. -
westside_wiipa — 11 years ago(July 25, 2014 01:21 PM)
Wow, are you kidding?
IT'S CLEAR that Simon represents a psychosis, someone snapping. It's not meant to be that they are both POSSESSED. It's meant to show they were both gettinga psychosis.
Did you know that some people actually hear voices in their heads? Do you mean it's a ghost possessing EVERYONE who's "weak and wounded" .. ? No, it's meant that those that are mentally weak and wounded (for example schizos or someone just temporarily like Gordon after all that stress) sometimes snaps and kills someone. -
Lovelitaxoxo — 9 years ago(October 28, 2016 06:24 AM)
I've watched this movie more than a dozen times over the years and have always felt it was option 1. I feel as though Simon is a metaphor for mental illness, not a demon. But I can see how it's a viable option for others. It's ambiguity is what makes it such an amazing movie. I'm shocked it's rating isn't higher.
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devotee-2 — 9 years ago(November 06, 2016 09:16 PM)
1, obviously.
Gordon kills his wife, daughter and dog the same day he got the job (we didn't know about Mary Hobbes at that point). He was already stressed by his situation (a newborn, work difficulties,) and being accidentally burnt by his wife just made him snap. And the rest of the movie is about himself dealing (or not wanting to deal) with what he did, by dissociating from the reality (trying to call her wife several times, in the end the phone is even broken).
Mary Hobbes is just a side story to explain what is happening. We see how events unfold with each session, until the 9th session, where Simon is finally revealed, along with the real situation of Gordon.
The line "I live in the weak and the wounded" is not about possession. Is about the weak and wounded people being more prone to suffer a mental breakdown at a given moment. Gordon was "weak and wounded" because of his family and work situation.
That's the most terrifying fact about this movie, it doesn't need a supernatural element. It's something that happens everyday, we see it all over the news. There's a Simon in each and everyone of us. He just needs the right scenario to break free. -
soggybottom — 7 years ago(February 10, 2019 07:28 AM)
I guess I'm on my own on this one as I think it's a combination of #1 and #3.
When I first read through these options, I was like "Yeah, it's got to be #1", and then I read #3, and I was like "Yeah, that one too". And then I read through all of the replies on this thread, and no one has said what I thought. They all just pick one answer.
It has to be all in his head (
#3
) because none of the movie makes a damn bit of sense…- Gordon says he can get the job done in one week because he really needs the work, but they had already agreed to two weeks, so there's no reason to put all of that extra stress on himself and the crew. I know that they talked about getting a bonus, but that was after the agreement to do the job was already made.
- If they're supposed to be busting their butts to get it all done in record time, we surely don't see it. Mike spends all of his time listening to tapes. Hank spends all of his time looking for coins. The nephew Jeff just wants to rock out. And we're constantly seeing them all take breaks, eat lunch, and chit-chat. Where's the rush?
- Hank finds all of these coins everywhere? How is it possible that nobody else ever found these over the years?
- Then Hank leaves for good with his loot and then comes back out of the blue without anybody seeing him? And now he's a completely-different person? What's the explanation for that? Phil talked to Amy and verified that he went off to Vegas. If that wasn't true, why would Phil lie?
- When Phil is standing over Hank's dead body as Gordon comes in, Phil is about as nonchalant as you can be. Why wouldn't he be furious and calling the cops?
- Had Gordon really killed his wife and kid early on in the movie, the cops would be all over the scene, and asking him (and everybody who knew him) a billion questions. We don't see any of that.
I really think that these characters are all just the multiple personalities in Gordon's own head, mirroring the story of Mary and her alter-egos (
#1
) as the movie is trying to give us hints every time that we hear the tapes.
Simon is (of course) the bad one who only comes out to do the dirty work.
I don't know that I agree with the end representing the fact that he's killing the other personalities off. I think that they probably all still reside in his head. I think it's just showing us that Simon is taking over Gordon's head at that particular moment so that he can do his evil deed on the wife and kid.
Is it the exact-same Simon in both Mary and Gordon as some sort of possessed demon permanently residing in the institution and infiltrating people's heads to do his bidding (
#2
)? I don't think so, but I guess it's possible. Anything is possible in this crazy tale.
So therefore, it could really be a combination of #1, #2, and #3.
I'm officially going with #4 ("All of the above"). How's that for my vote? Who says that you have to be limited to only one answer?