Kelly and the female groupie
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:13 am
I watched LiT just the other night (on my iPod) while flying back to New York from California. (It was pretty neat to watch it at night while passing over cities of glowing lights below.) I made a little connection that I hadn't really made before.
When we first meet Kelly in the Park Hyatt outside the restaurant area, John immediately diverts his attention to her and away from Charlotte. He only turns back to her ("Oh...this is my wife, Charlotte") after an awkward lull in the conversation with Kelly. He then defends Kelly's stupidity in the ensuing conversation with Charlotte.
By contrast, the (also blond) female groupie approaches Bob near the film's end in roughly the same location in the hotel. However, as soon as he sees Charlotte, he says to the groupie "I have to go now" and heads right over to Charlotte.
It's not much, but I think this shows us a succint comparison of John and Bob's respective relationships with Charlotte. John is easily distracted from his wife (cf. also the early scene in the hotel room in which Charlotte asks whether he thinks the scarf she is knitting is done) while Bob is ready and attentive to her presence. Of course, having already caused a bit of a (temporary) rift by sleeping with the Jazz Singer, Bob may want to be sure not to appear in any compromising situation in front of Charlotte.
In any case, it seems there's always something new to find and enjoy in this film with each viewing--the mark of a fine work of art, I'd say.
When we first meet Kelly in the Park Hyatt outside the restaurant area, John immediately diverts his attention to her and away from Charlotte. He only turns back to her ("Oh...this is my wife, Charlotte") after an awkward lull in the conversation with Kelly. He then defends Kelly's stupidity in the ensuing conversation with Charlotte.
By contrast, the (also blond) female groupie approaches Bob near the film's end in roughly the same location in the hotel. However, as soon as he sees Charlotte, he says to the groupie "I have to go now" and heads right over to Charlotte.
It's not much, but I think this shows us a succint comparison of John and Bob's respective relationships with Charlotte. John is easily distracted from his wife (cf. also the early scene in the hotel room in which Charlotte asks whether he thinks the scarf she is knitting is done) while Bob is ready and attentive to her presence. Of course, having already caused a bit of a (temporary) rift by sleeping with the Jazz Singer, Bob may want to be sure not to appear in any compromising situation in front of Charlotte.
In any case, it seems there's always something new to find and enjoy in this film with each viewing--the mark of a fine work of art, I'd say.