1. Read the blog entry on Talk to Her and write a reaction to an element of the film within the context of the class discussion. At this time, simply explore your personal reaction: what did you think of the film and of the way director Pedro Almodovar explores the issues of stereotypes of masculinity and femininity and of the challenges of modern vs. traditional expectations in the modern world. Use specific scenes or the development of specific characters to explain your reaction. Your piece should be 300-700 words and should be incorporated to the blog in the form of a "comment" to the blog entry on Talk to Her. The comment is due Tuesday BEFORE class.
2. Please read the article below before tomorrow's class. You will be asked to incorporate the information into your next blog comments due on WEDNESDAY
before class. Please wait until we have watched and discussed the film in class
before you post it. The article is:
"Death of a Cyclist: Creating Modern Spanish
Cinema," by Marsha Kinder:
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me via e-mail.
Iván Chinchilla
ReplyDeleteHable con ella
Quizás una de las escenas más importantes de la película, en mi opinión, fue la violación de Alicia por su enfermero Benigno. Durante el curso del discusión sobre la película y las varias temas que reflejan la historia española el tema de la dictadura de Francisco Franco surgió. En ese momento estaba pensando sobre la violación de Alicia y se me hizo relacionado porque Benigno esta encargado de ella y debía de tener su salud y buen estar en mente antes de todas otras cosas. Un político con la posición mas alta e importante dentro del gobierno de su país, como la de el dictador Franco, tiene que tener los interés del país y su gente antes de sus deseos personales. Entonces aunque Benigno solamente es un enfermero, ocupa las mismas responsabilidades de alguien en cargo de un país como el dictador Franco. Y de allí viene la relación entre ambos personajes y la violación que cometieron.
Para poder entender la relación y violación que cometieron ambos personas, primero tenemos que revisar y narrar la situación y relación entre los personajes y sus cargos para poder entender el crimen. En el caso de Alicia y Benigno, Alicia es una mujer que por varios anos años ha estado en una coma causada por un accidente automovilístico y por eso Benigno fue contratado para cuidarla con la esperanza que un día se levantara de su coma. Desafortunadamente Benigno no es el santo que parece ser y una noche sola con ella la viola. Después de dos meses sin su periodo se descubre que Alicia esta embarazada y empieza la buscada por su violador. En el caso de Franco y España la historia de su relación empieza con la guerra civil entre los Republicanos y los Nacionalistas, después de la victoria de los Nacionalistas Franco quedo como el líder total de la nación. Durante su casi cuarenta anos en poder uso ideales conservadores como pretexto para mantener y crecer su poder.
Después de esta explicación sobre la historia de ambos personajes podemos ver una tema común entre los dos. Esa tema es la ilusión de tener los mejores interés de sus cargos en mente cuando en realidad solamente quieren satisfacer sus ambiciones personales. Esto se puede ver el la alegoría político que la película intenta de demostrare en la forma de el cuerpo inconsciente de Alicia. Ambos personas en una posición de poder abusa de ese poder pero de una manera que deja el victima sin conciencia de lo que paso. Por lo cual se me hizo una reflexión muy buen hecha por el director Pedro Almodóvar. Fue una película muy bien hecha por un director vivo en la épocas de Franco, la transición, y la España moderna todavía tratando de enfrentar y superar estas temas.
Alex Willis
ReplyDeleteIn Pedro Almodovar’s film Hable con ella, the audience is presented with a story full of both traditional and modern ideologies accompanied by various feelings of emotion. The actors in this film represent several different unorthodox characters whose personalities contradict traditional roles of men and women. It is apparent throughout this film that the director wanted break away from the traditional morals established by Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.
Benigno is the first example of a character with a seemingly feminine role as he spent much of his life at home taking care of his mother, as well as working as a nurse in the hospital caring for Alicia. He doesn’t seem necessarily insecure but certain qualities of his make him appear less masculine than what might be expected of a man. For example when the psychiatrist questions his sexuality and orientation Benigno lies to him and announces he could be slightly homosexual. Putting homosexuality aside it showed a lack of self-confidence for him to answer this was just to hide his affection towards Alicia, a woman he only talked to once before. It seems as if Benigno could have raped Alicia just to prove a point to himself, but he didn’t consider the repercussions and this concept in general is quite disturbing. Lidia is another character whose role contradicts the traditional persona of the past. Even though she is young and attractive, as well as having a flamenco dancing mother, she chose the path of becoming a bull fighter. In public Lidia carries herself with a dominant and fearless prowess but it seems as if Almodovar wanted to show that this was still a farfetched role for woman to play. The reason I say this is because her softer side was shown when she found the snake in the kitchen, as well as when she got ran over by the bull. Fighting six bulls would be a tall task for a man, but it appeared Lidia was overwhelmed by emotions or pressure resulting in her getting run over and put into a coma. One particular thought she might have had at this point would have been dealing with Marcos after breaking up with him. Marcos is the last main character but he plays a fairly masculine role for the most part. The only question I have regarding Marcos is why he was always so emotional. I suppose it could be Almodovar presenting the idea that it is acceptable to show abundant emotion in this modernized Spanish society.
Aside from this main point I got from the film several other aspects that struck me were the music, and time spent away from the main storyline. In my opinion the music selection was great, and it truly enhanced the emotion and significance of each scene, especially the scene with the live band. One part of the movie that I did not understand too well was why large portions were dedicated to the background story of Benigno and Alicia and the silent film. I suppose it provides the audience with some insight towards Benigno’s thoughts towards her but I think it could have been done with a more succinct explanation.
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ReplyDeleteIn Pedro Almodovar’s movie Talk to Her, the audience observes an interesting commentary on the gender roles in modern Spain. Although the majority of the dialogue is carried out by the males in the film and there is little female perspective, some male and female stereotypes are indeed challenged. Benigno is a male nurse and it is insinuated that that he may be homosexual. Lydia is a bullfighter, a classically masculine occupation. Marco is seen as a more sensitive type and many mention the fact that he cries often. He also appears to be the most progressive out of the bunch, especially when it comes to sexual orientation. I feel that Alicia is the only individual who seems to fit society’s mold of femininity since she is a dancer and is relatively helpless during the entire movie. She also plays the role of a victim.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the movie offers a dual perspective on gender roles, it does not promote the breaking of said roles. It instead illustrates the stagnation in progress towards modern ideology and gender equality. For example, although Lydia is a bullfighter, she fears the snake in her kitchen and must be rescued by Marco. Benigno is a male nurse who has interest in things like hair styling, cosmetology, and the arts but speaks for Alicia during their entire “relationship”. Though she is an a coma for almost the entire time, he completely fabricates the relationship, even going to the theatre and then coming back and “discussing” it with her. He calls these four years the “richest years of his life.” He is later accused of raping Alicia, usually a crime committed by men against women. Although put in jail for a crime we are not sure if he actually committed, it is interesting to note that he is constantly taking care of Alicia when he is in her room. In almost every scene he is rubbing her skin with moisturizer and massaging her. He later makes a comment to Marco about how dry Lydia’s skin is, which is perhaps indicative of their less intense relationship. Both relationships are heavily one-sided. Marco monopolizes the conversation with Lydia’s to such an extent that she is unable to bring up the fact that she is back with her ex boyfriend and Benigno’s obsession with Alicia is apparent throughout the film.
After reading the blog entry on Talk to Her and taking some time to digest the film, I seem to have the strongest personal reaction to how masculinity and femininity are portrayed and manipulated in the film. Throughout the entire picture, Almodovar consistently goes against the status quo with all of his main characters, perhaps with the exception of Alicia.
ReplyDeleteThe character Benigno throughout the film is portrayed in a very feminine way. He is unassuming, soft-spoken, and has a typical “female” job as a nurse. He appears to be very sensitive and well-liked by all the other female characters he interacts with in the film. Still, of all the protagonists, Benigno follows the archetypical male behavior more closely than say, Marcos. The way he has no issues with his possessive stalking and violation of Alicia is adherent to the most chauvinistic and misogynistic ideals I would imagine permeated Franco’s Spain.
Marcos and Lydia are also both very interesting detours from the status quo. Lydia, a female bullfighter, a woman competing in the most masculine profession available is criticized on TV for an affair. Most male athletes are either applauded or merely ignored when they have affairs. She also becomes involved with Marcos, a man who is very in touch with his emotions. In every way her character is the most masculine and heroic, but she is still afraid of the snake in her kitchen and fighting to be taken seriously in her profession, so desperate she was willing to fight six bulls at once. Marcos seemed to be the toughest, most masculine guy but ended up being the one with the most empathy and compassion for almost everyone he encountered.
I really enjoyed the way that Almovodar used his characters to show a reality of what modern Spain may be like. I think that he wanted to say that progress is good, but growing pains are inevitable. By demonstrating how difficult it is for the viewer to put one of his characters in a box a commentary is opened about the pros and cons of traditional gender roles and ideas about masculinity/femininity and how they affect us today in the modern world.
A.Warren
Jason P. Halliwell
ReplyDelete“Talk to Her”
In 2002, Pedro Almodovar shared with the world his juxtaposition on gender roles, codependency & loneliness through his story of two strange men who have never met, but share much in common. The film begins with our two protagonists, Beningo and Marco watching a performance of Café Müller, notably we see Marco moved to tears by the performance. “Talk to Her” not only illustrates a world that defies gender roles, but allows its audience to explore the outcome of a life which is lead outside of the predefined norm.
Our characters simply put, do not fit into any one typical predefined mold. We have a male nurse, a female bull fighter, a journalist/ travel writer lost on his own path of life and a comatose dancer unable to move or express herself in anyway.
The film depicts the lives of two very different men who form an odd friendship as they both deal with a love interest lying in a coma.
For the majority of the film, we watch Beningo Martin, a male-nurse who takes care of his beloved Alicia Roncero, a former dancer who lies in bed comatose. Through flashbacks, we learn that Beningo’s obsession with Alicia began innocently as he watched onto her dance class from the window of his possesive mother’s apartment. Beningo took to his sick mother as both her nurse & beautician. Beningo’s sexuality is constantly in question as he exhibits many homosexual tendencies. Oddly enough, Beningo’s passion for Alicia escalates well past obsession. Beningo looses all ability to determine between right or wrong. Although not shown, we learn that Alicia is raped by Beningo and left pregnant in her comatose state. When I watched Beningo’s scenes with Alicia, I couldn’t help but see Beningo basically playing dress up with his favorite porcelain doll, as he washes her hair and changes her paper dress.
Beningo’s only real life interaction is with his new friend Marco Zuluaga, who is also dealing with the comatose stasis of his love interest Lydia Gonzalez, a famous female matador recently gored by a bull. Lydia Gonzalez exuded confidence, she is healthy, active and fit as she steers her opponent, the ferocious bull, holding only a red cape for defense. To me Lydia is everything that Beningo is expected to be as a man in a traditional society. When Marco drops Lydia off at her home, she has an unexpected run in with a snake in her kitchen. Almodovar shows us the vulnerable side of Lydia, as she would rather burn the house down than go back and face a snake. When Lydia is gored by a bull, she is left in a coma as Marco begins his own travels down a road of loneliness and lack of intimacy with anyone, but Beningo.
Lydia sadly passes away. Alicia was awakened from her coma during the labor of her still born baby. Beningo is eventually sent to jail for the rape of Alicia Roncero, only to end up taking his own life by an overdose of Valium. (he thinks he is going to reunite himself with Alicia in the afterlife)
In the end, Alicia begins her own personal recovery through rehabilitation, and begins to walk and dance. I loved that the movie ended in the very place in which it began, the theater where Marco cried as he watched Café Muller. We see Marco and Alicia meet, and the rest is up to each audience member to decide what happens next.
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ReplyDeleteTo my mind, the most directly allegorical figure in the film is Alicia’s father. If Alicia represents some kind of icon of desire, and if Marco is the “New Male” of modernity, then Alicia’s father seems to be the authority of the past. In his office when interviewing Benigno as a prospective client, the audience gets a window into this man’s significance.
ReplyDeleteHer father looks conservative. He wears a suit, combs his hair neatly, and has a phrenology head on his shelf. As a psychiatrist it is believable that he would keep such a relic around for sentimental reasons, but it also suggests that he has a taste for the past. Spain’s nationalist past, perhaps?
He mandates that his comatose daughter be well taken care of and indeed she is dressed at one point in the film in a ritualistic and seemingly reverent way. Alicia is literally an icon that Benigno has beliefs about throughout the movie. Alicia would seem to represent, at least partially, a kind of iconic/spiritual/religious desire. An icon that her father seeks to protect in the hopes that she will return. Nationalist longing for a religious revival anyone?
He also seems to adhere to a highly controlled and ordered lifestyle. Her father is the first one to vocalize a question about Benigno’s sexuality. He forgot to note it, like it’s a conservative interest that he forgot to fill out on the form. In a fascistic sense, he wants to peg Benigno into a category, one that would not have been acceptable in Franco’s Spain.
Benigno, meanwhile, seems suspended between the positions of Alicia’s father and Marco. He lingers in the void between the past and the present, not quite interested in making his own decisions, or having the kind of potency of Marco of the father. In short, he is not self-actualized. Benigno’s sexual “awakening” brought on by watching a movie is evidence of his limbo of self-denial.
Eli P.
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ReplyDelete“Nada es sencillo” dicho por Katerina, la profesora de baile, abarca la película “Hable con Ella” de Pedro Almodóvar en su totalidad. Esta frase es prácticamente la última en la película por una razón. La película se centra en metáforas en las relaciones; cada persona representa un aspecto de la complicación de ideas de la sexualidad. Almodóvar complica todas relaciones con una mezcla y confusión de la feminidad y masculinidad y también con el trasfondo de la homosexualidad.
ReplyDeleteDurante todo de “Hable con Ella”, la idea de la masculinidad tiene un aspecto de confusión y totalmente desafía los estereotipos y prejuicios de hombres y mujeres. Los dos caracteres principales, Benigno y Marcos en la primera escena están mirando “Café Muller” de Bausch en un teatro, es esto empieza el conflicto de géneros. Es muy probable que Benigno siente la necesidad ser más masculino, pero durante la primera escena, él está curioso de por qué Marcos está llorando. El la realidad individual de Marcos, el tiene razones a llorar pero no está claro a ni Benigno ni el espectador. En comparación, Benigno tiene más aspectos de masculinidad de Marcos.
Benigno demuestra su masculinidad en su capabilidad a pensar y hablar para Alicia. Aunque Benigno es un enfermero, una profesión en esta sociedad está considerado más femenino, hay un cambio en su carácter durante la pelicula. En principio, Benigno no podía decir nada maleducado y era tranquilo. El primer cambio se puede ver en Benigno es cuando él mintió al padre de Alicia sobre su sexualidad. Esto también demuestra la masculinidad de Benigno, porque el puede decir “soy homosexual” cuando también en la sociedad hoy, esta mentira no es normal.
El carcel es donde hay un gran cambia en “Habla con Ella.” Durante toda la película, Pedro Almodóvar escribe los nombres de las relaciones en la pantalla del cine, como “Marcos y Lydia” y “Benigno y Alicia”, pero nunca escribe la relación entre Benigno y Marcos. En esto, el espectador puede notar la verdadero esencia de los caracteres. Que, aunque es la relación principal en la película, la relación no es tan real o importante como otras en la pantalla. Pero, también puede representa que hay un cambio en la relación de Marcos y Benigno en el cárcel cuando Marcos le da permisión a Benigno para estar llamado el novio de Benigno.
La película no es sencillo, los personajes son sorprendentes y continuamente cambian. Los detalles pequeños y escenas que actúan como una escena de relleno para una transición también representa la necesidad para restringir el género incontenible, como la escena con un hombre con muchos músculos está nadando en la piscina. No era necesario pero era una demostración de la masculinidad que es en los hombres de la película. En cambio, el espectador ve más fuerza física de una carácter femenina. Aunque la película representa mucho del régimen de Francisco Franco después de 1939, la mayoría de la película es un foco en las relaciones, malas y buenas, entre hombre y mujer, hombre y hombre y también como las relaciones cambian las perspectivas de géneros. Nada sobre los caracteres de Almodóvar es sencillo.
Rashel Gandhi
Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her” is a great film. He really challenges gender roles through the development of his characters. You can really see the progression of Spain after the Franco era and how much they have grown in the acceptance on opposing gender roles. He creates this character Benigno who throughout the film possesses a lot feminine qualities as well as being a male nurse. He also mentions that he took some hairstyling, makeup, and manicure classes to help his mom out. So off the get go it feels like Benigno is either homosexual or just very feminine. His sexuality is actually questioned by Alicia’s dad and he lies to him and tells him that he is more inclined to men. Throughout the film it is evident that Benigno is in love with Alicia, but towards the end of the film, when he is in jail, he asks Marco if he can call him his boyfriend. This is when you can really see the progression of Spain because Marco says he does not mind if he calls him that. In traditional Spain you would never see a man let another man call them their boyfriend. You would also not see so much acceptance to the idea of Beningo being gay. Moving on to Marco, who is also a very intriguing character, he is a journalist which is a male role but he shows a lot of emotion by crying a lot throughout the film. His emotion, some would say, is something only a woman should show. He openly cries often and people ask him about it. He mainly does most of the talking when interacting with Lidia and he is really open with his emotions. It is almost like switching roles with Lidia, and him essentially playing the woman in the relationship. Normally men are expected to not show emotion or talk about their feeling. He talks about his feelings so much he does not even listen to what Lidia has to say. Lidia being a female bullfighter is very controversial because bull fighting was just something men used to do and now we see this fierce female killing bulls. That is the only thing we really know about Lidia and that she is afraid of snakes. I would have likes to see more of what the female characters were like and how their gender roles were challenged. This is a very male centered film and I feel like that has to do with Spain still trying to move away from the old ideologies of women being lesser than men. This is portrayed through Benigno’s care for Alicia as well. He makes decisions for her, he talks for her, he even rapes her while she is in a coma and cannot make decision for herself. I fell like this is a lot how traditional Spain used to be, men made decisions for their wives and told them what the could do and couldn’t do as well as what they could and couldn’t say. This is very well represented in the “relationship” between Benigno and Alicia. Overall, it was a great film full of emotion and great insight into Spain’s history and progression.
ReplyDelete-Kassandra Yanez