Maria informed Matthew, "I'll marry you if you admit that respect, admiration, and trust equal love." He nonchalantly agreed and responded, "Okay, they equal love."
I interpreted this scene as kind of a big joke. Right off the bat I was annoyed by the fact Maria gave Matthew an ultimatum for as to whether or not they were one-going to get married, and two-the definition of love! I have grown up in a society in which marriage is a big deal, and weddings are huge events for people to enjoy. So when Marie and Matthew took marriage as a casual act to do, I was slightly taken aback. As for her definition of love, I disagree with her!! I believe love is something one cannot express in words. It is a feeling that overcomes one with a plethora of emotions, and is much more complicated than just three simple words. Love is more than just respect, admiration, and trust. I acknowledge that those three factors definitely are a part of love, but not the entirety of it! So it was quite humorous to take in that scene. However, I was annoyed as well because Marie was portrayed as such a naive young girl, filling such a typical stereotype. It was the 90's so our progression was not as full fledged as it is now, but it was upsetting watching the stereotype of a typical dumb teenage girl be naive in the face of the world. There are intelligent and driven young women out there in the world who are still being undermined for their sex, which is so unbelievably frustrating. The stereotype of a young woman acting dumb is hurtful, and does not help with the ongoing gender gap our world has.
I was also drawn to reflect on Matthew's response to Maria. It led me to immediately think of The Stranger, when Marie asked Meursault if he loved her. Meursault responded the same exact way Matthew had, with blatant submissiveness and calmness, which displays their simultaneous lack of interest in societal standards. Neither of them are interested in going above and beyond to fit into society, but are indifferent in what life brings them. Matthew and Meursault are not completely alike, but definitely possess some of the same qualities.
I completely agree with everything you're saying! I feel like it's so hard to relate to this movie just because our concepts of love and trust are totally different to those in the movie.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the fact that Maria is seen as a naive teenage girl really upsets me. Obviously we have seen such a progression is women's rights, but it's so sad to think that this used to be the norm; people would watch this movie and not think twice about how Maria was portrayed as an innocent, and sometimes dependent, teenage girl.
I agree. The movie's casual tone to major concepts like "love" was frustrating. I do see parallels between Meursault and Matthew. They both go through life, not really caring about what happens. At least Matthew cares about other people. He did care for Maria, but was just realistic about certain things.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there are parralles between "The Stranger" and the film " Trust". I think that in the novel 'the stranger' the casual and lack of emotion in major scenes is similar to that of the movie. However, I think that the tone is similar but not necessarily the characters. For example, Mersault believes that no matter what happens everyone has the same fate, so what you accomplish in life is meaningless. Whereas Matthew values Marie and what she ends up doing with the baby, showing how he values people's decisions in life.
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