The Mezzanine Trailer

Here's our creative project for the semester!

Directors/Editors: Maddie Nelson and Lauren Monahan

Actor: Andrew Stelzer*

The video couldn't fit so I'm posting the youtube link.

https://youtu.be/L8gOrD0uzCM

Enjoy!

*In the video, we accidentally spelled it Steltzer. Sorry for the confusion.

And IIIII Will Always Love Youuu

*NOTICE: I started this blog with a clear idea in mind but it kind of switches by the end. This may or may not have been influenced by my intent to include song lyrics.*

What is love (baby don’t hurt me)? According to Hagar, it is her relationship with Milkman. Her love for Milkman is so all consuming that she can’t imagine living without him, and when he decides to leave her, she refuses to accept it. Hagar’s attempts to kill him is to prevent him from leaving her and ruining her chance at love. This bad romance (Rah rah ah-ah-ah!) is certainly inspired by Milkman’s poor decisions, but I think there’s more to Hagar’s love that makes this whole relationship more complex.

At first, Hagar is the one with control over Milkman. When that control is gone, she becomes dependent on Milkman. Especially considering the times and the common standard that women should marry young, it is easy to understand why Hagar places so much importance on Milkman. Yet, we already know Milkman is incapable of recognizing this due to his selfish nature and inability to empathize with other people. It seems Hagar might remain a single lady (so you better put a ring on it) forever. While her violent reaction to this is definitely not okay, her inability to actually kill Milkman suggests that Hagar is almost incapable of killing him due to her love for him.

Personally, I don’t find Hagar a sympathetic character. Trying to kill someone for breaking up with you is just outrageous but I can see why some might find her in that light. Yes, Milkman is dumb. There’s no getting around that, but Hagar has the potential to be strong. Yet, somehow she has transformed her love into this all consuming thing that is entirely selfish and doesn’t actually help her. There’s no way this relationship is going to work out well in the end and it will only lead to someone’s death. Instead, she should focus on getting her own sexy back (take him to the bridge) and move on.

Anyway, going back to the complexity of this relationship, the love Hagar has for Milkman is definite. It’s something that is directly tied between Hagar and Milkman. Meanwhile, if we examine Ruth and Milkman, there is a distinct difference in their relationship. While there is definitely selfish intent in Ruth’s love for Milkman, she loves him more for what he represents. To her, Milkman is a symbol for power over her husband and the last time she experienced passion. This contrasts sharply with Hagar’s love in the sense that Ruth only cares for the idea of Milkman. You could argue whether she actually loves Milkman the person but I won’t go into that. What’s more important is the common theme between Ruth and Hagar is that both love Milkman so much that it distracts them from focusing on themselves. At this point, there are only two options: Milkman mans up and works it out with both women OR Hagar and Ruth can be like N’Snyc and say “Bye, bye, bye”.

Extra Credit: The Man Who Wasn't There

Recently, I watched the Coen Brother's The Man Who Wasn't There and I must say that Ed Crane shares a remarkable amount of similarities with Meursault in The Stranger. In the first five minutes of the film, there is already a substantial amount of evidence that allows me to make such a claim.

1. Ed’s job as a barber was never a conscious decision that Ed made. It was more he married into it and just never bothered to seek out something he enjoys. Like Meursault, there isn’t any attachment to what he does with his life.
2. Furthermore, when he describes his job, he compares himself to his talkative brother-in-law and states that he prefers to just cut the hair without much chit chat. In The Stranger, Meursault never goes out of his way to say more than what needs to be said. The way the dialogue is written almost parallels the same way Ed speaks.
3. The way Ed describes his home is very similar to Meursault’s description of his apartment. Both talk about the small things they like about their living spaces but never explicitly state their love for the place or whether they’d prefer to live elsewhere. They both seem content to just have a place that provides a bed and a roof over their head.

Later in the film, excluding all the weird parts like the UFO and Ed's relationship with Birdy, there are several parallels between the end of the film compared to The Stranger.

1. One of the final scenes, there is a moment that strikes as very familiar and that is the last intervention with the priest and Ed. It’s a very short clip but I couldn’t help but remember Meursault’s last conversation with the priest.
2. The accident with Scarlett Johansson (I know it’s Birdy but I only see her as Scarlett) is another important scene which can be easily translated into The Stranger. Specifically, the scene with Meursault and when he murders the Arab. In the film, Ed says time slows down which allows him to process his thoughts. Of course, immediately after the murder in the book, we don’t see Meursault's thought process but there is a pause in time when Meursault is staring down the Arab right before the murder. The gap of time between when Meursault meets the Arab and when he shoots the gun is very similar to the time after the accident in the film.

There’s plenty of other similarities between the two and I would have loved to hear what the group talked about after the movie night (especially the role of the UFO). Overall, the Coen Brothers do a remarkable job of creating a film noir and, even though they both have very distinct features, are able to capture what it means to be a "stranger" to society.