Subject: Re: CITR and Six Degrees of Separation
From: Suzanne Morine (suzannem@dimensional.com)
Date: Mon Apr 02 2001 - 18:32:33 GMT
I forgot to mention, I also disagree with the movie that Holden is "only
hateful." That is ridiculous. I find him endearing -- adorable, even. While
he may speak of chopping someone with an ax, he is never violent -- in
fact, it's him getting beaten up by others. Although he daydreams of
filling a vile person's guts with bullets, he sneaks out the back way. The
most obnoxious things I can think of that Holden does are a few lies (that
poor mom on the train), blowing smoke in nuns faces without thinking,
laughing in Sally's face when she's furious at him, and worrying his
family and friends with his struggles (which he can hardly help and they
are not much help -- more later). His calling Maurice and Stradlater names
was in self defense (ok, he took a shot at Stradlater).
Also, the idea that Holden "only lies to others" is a gross
over-simplification. He has his persona, Jim Steele, but he lets that mask
down all the time. He is honest to Phoebe and Sally and Antolini about why
he hates school. In fact, the reason he got beaten up twice was his being
*too* honest.
And the assertion in the movie that he is completely self-involved is also
overdrawn. He thinks of Phoebe a lot -- gets her a record, visits her,
wants her to be in the play, and, as Jive Monkey pointed out, cares about
her enough to not leave her. He worries about Jane enough to get beaten up
for caring about her. I think he visited Spencer out of sympathy and
appreciation. He helps the little kids on the see saw. He gives to the
nun's collection. Sure, he seeks out people, wants people to listen to him,
but he is in crisis and that is what friends (and the community in general)
are supposed to be good for.
I was just wondering if anyone had some thoughts on the movie that they had
put on the Web or had wanted to post. Here are mine, in brief. I think it
just expands on the idea in the movie.
I found the idea of imagination as the gateway to solutions interesting and
compelling. Holden rails against phoniness, against the removal of
imagination to the entertainment realm (and the realm of snowing others).
Yet he is unaware that imagination is his friend.
Imagination reveals itself in a number of ways. He tries on phoniness (Jim
Steele) to fit into his world, but is too earnest and inexperienced for
that to really take hold. He fantasizes along the lines of his problem
(where do the ducks go, will I disappear, do I have cancer/pnemonia), yet
is too realistic to imagine solutions and parallels that might help (except
perhaps that crazy rye field's cliff). He also fantasizes along Hollywood
lines (escape fantasies and revenge fantasies) and connects them only
superficially to reality (his friend has a car he can borrow).
He seeks people out, wants a listening ear, but everyone around him is
similarly paralyzed. They care about Holden and value him (they don't
generally say he's just a loser -- they engage and try to help to some
degree). But all they can offer is some platitudes and yell at him
("Daddy's going to kill you," "I'd like to put some sense in that head of
yours, boy" "You always do everything backasswards"). Phoebe can only
observe that Holden doesn't like anything. Antolini likewise sees that the
world isn't offering Holden what he needs. Antolini did make a few other
abstract, wise observations. Still, people lack imagination in their
approach and steer Holden *away* from imagination: get realistic, be
patient, hurry up, grow up, get psychoanalyzed.
Holden is only more depressed to see, each time, how others are unable to
help him.
In the thesis, Holden is engaged in his struggle but does not have the
effective use of his most powerful tool for this struggle: imagination.
Holden's fantasies of danger, of disappearing, of unbearable encroaching
phoniness, are and are about the last gasps of his imagination trying to
help him. He is falling, he is dying. In his world, imagination has been
relegated to the inconsequential, so he only observes his fantasies and
does not see them as anything more than scary mental stimulation. This
"madman stuff" becomes an anecdote to him, just something he's
remembering, something that upsets him and amuses him, but is nothing
meaningful.
Of course, I'll have to read the book again to be sure. :-)
Suzanne Morine
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