Almodovar’s Immoralism(Chapter 2)

By Laura, Ryan and Sameer

Immoralism

A system of thought or behavior that does not accept conventional moral principles.

O ‘Talk to her’- reviewers continually refer to Benigno and Alicia as a ‘couple’ and to their relationship as a ‘love affair’. It is inappropriate to refer to a rapist and his victim as a ‘couple’. It is a surprise that the reviewers fail to mention rape because it is the central event of the film’s drama.

O She after all is in a state of unconsciousness; she is unable to give consent. There is good reason to believe that she would not so consent were she conscious.

O When we consider the facts of the narrative, it seems obvious that Benigno is first a stalker, then a rapist, and that Alicia is his innocent victim.

O “We get along better than most married couples”- Misperception on his part, for Benigno just doesn’t know what a couple is. Alicia is nothing more than a blank screen for the projection of Benigno’s fantasies and he appears to neither desire nor expect that the relationship should be in the least reciprocal, a feature that becomes disastrous when he takes things to a sexual level. Difficulty for the viewers is that at many points the film aligns itself with Benigno’s woefully distorted point of view.

O Rather than showing Benigno’s entry into Alicia’s body, the film offers the lava lamp as a visual metaphor for the merging of bodily fluids in the sexual act itself. It would be brutal to see a man take advantage of a unconscious hospitalised woman.

O In place of intercourse we are offered a soothing visual metaphor accompanied by romantic music that encourages us to think of the sexual act as flowing, tranquil and some what beautiful.

O The sexual act is enhanced by the parallelism with the silent film (“Shrinking Lover”), which tells the story of a genuine couple in love. The silent film also proclaims the acceptability of sexual intercourse with an unconscious women.

O Benigno- Its not that he presents a benevolent, altruistic and caring persona through most of the film; he is also the pathetic victim of an abusive childhood, being forced to devote most of his life to inappropriately intimate care for his mother.

Criticism’s of the essayO We believe the essay didn’t bring anything

new to the table in terms of analysis of the film, as the ideas in the essay were ones that had been already discussed.

O His essay was not academically up to par, he rambled on about his own opinions about rape and he marginalizes his moral position on rape.

Aesthetics and EthicsO Aesthetics deals with the nature of

beauty, art and taste, with the creation and appreciation of beauty.

O Ethics deals with systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. Normative Ethics deals with the moral course of one’s actions.