is Charlotte cheating on her Husbend?

Discuss the fabulous movie Lost In Translation!

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jml98
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#21 Post by jml98 » Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:48 pm

thanks! it was a DVD screenshot i found from scarlett's fan site scarlettjohansson.org...

...scarlett's staring out the window, overlooking the whole city, like shes looking for someone thats miles away...my "location" is "miles away from Charlotte"...i thought it worked well together...is she looking for me?.... I WISH!! :shock:
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CHris!
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#22 Post by CHris! » Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:55 am

I think in this case, it shows that its easier to be really honest about yourself and your life with a person who could be considered a stranger, knowing that what ever happens during the time you are with that person will never really matter, as you'll probably never seen that person again, although I do think there was more in bob and charlotte's relationship than this alone.
theres nothing more than this

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jml2
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#23 Post by jml2 » Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:51 pm

habits and expectations form and certain walls build themselves with people we've known for a long time. They get in the way of that kind of honest self-expression and they don't exist with a fresh new person.

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#24 Post by hull_street » Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:27 am

jml2 wrote:habits and expectations form and certain walls build themselves with people we've known for a long time. They get in the way of that kind of honest self-expression and they don't exist with a fresh new person.
Yeah, I recall reading somewhere that people you know expect you to act in a certain way, and when you defy that expectation, you make them uncomfortable. Building the walls is a form of maintaining that comfort-level, but at the same time, it can be very damaging. That was Lauren's reaction to Charlotte during the phone call. Lauren didn't know what to make of Charlotte's breakdown, and rather than address it, she chose to ignore it completely.
jml98 wrote:ps: hull i like ur avatar image...whered u get it? anyone know how to make a "moving image" or wutever like hull's icon...?
Wow, 2 jml's in one post ! I created my avatar by cutting and pasting frames from the dvd, resizing and cropping them, then converted the frames to gif format and used Alchemy Mindworks' GIF Construction Set Professional to assemble them into a moving animation. A very labor-intensive project, but a labor of love.

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#25 Post by jml98 » Tue Nov 23, 2004 12:14 am

hmmm... do you happen to know of any free programs that will allow the pics to be assembled into a moving animation? im guessing that program you mentioned isn't free (?)
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#26 Post by Beery » Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:36 am

I see it as an affair, but as a friendship-love affair rather than a sex-love affair. It is cheating in a way because these two characters build up a love that neither has in their own marriages (Murray's character seems to have lost it, while Johannsen's hasn't yet found it), but their commitments to their marriages force their relationship to be short. So in a sense it's cheating, but in another sense it shows a deeper commitment to their marriages. Life is complicated like that - sometimes things happen that can't be defined perfectly with words like 'cheating', and this balance is something that the movie achieves perfectly.

In the end, the two character are true to themselves, and I think that is one point in this multifaceted movie. The thing that makes the movie so perfect is that we want so much more for each of them, but that is not available to them (nor should it be, because that would cheapen the truth that's in the movie).

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#27 Post by Guest » Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:25 am

For me, she did cheat on John. There is a simple test to find it out: it will not be easy for her to tell him the story with Bob, to describe it honestly as it was more than a companionship or even more than friendship. The same is with Bob. Do you imagine Bob telling his wife of the whole thing? I don't and I think it's not needed. Not everything is to be disclosed between spouses, otherwise you provoke jealousy humiliating for both. That is why I am sure Bob's whisper was not about telling her husband of this. That would sound insincere...

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#28 Post by Beery » Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:45 pm

Guest wrote:For me, she did cheat on John. There is a simple test to find it out: it will not be easy for her to tell him the story with Bob, to describe it honestly as it was more than a companionship or even more than friendship. The same is with Bob. Do you imagine Bob telling his wife of the whole thing?
I once had sexual feelings for a woman I worked with, and I found it hard to tell my wife. Does that mean I cheated on my wife? By the way, I did tell her.
You want more mysterious? I'll just try and think, "Where the hell's the whiskey?"

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#29 Post by Witness » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:46 am

No, you didn't.
However, to clarify my point: imagine yourself being married to a dreamy and smart and honest etc. girl whom you take along when you are sent on assignment. You work hard, she stays at the hotel. You've really got no time for talks on existential philosophy that she likes so much. In some time, she tells you that she spent a night with a man whom she picked up in a bar (without sex) while you were making money for the family. Remember, it was Charlotte who started that by sending Bob a glass of wine. So she tells you he is a friend, he is so nice, her relations with him are so innocent and forth. How will you react on such confession?
I can only assume that this would produce a crack in your united family, so was it needed? It would surely hurt your other half and we don't know if you'll ever be able to trust her as fully as before.
My second point was whatever people say, those nice people were balancing on the edge of adultery. I'm not sure but it may be seen as sort of a game that they enjoyed (subconsciously) in the beginning before they fell for each other seriously bad. They allowed themselves to spend time together but ended being together that is became parts of each other (although without sex). And it's hard for them to part, really hard. I don't wish anyone to get into such situation, to people who want to have such an encounter I can only say from my experience - don't play with fire. After you'll have to tear the person off yourself, it's like a loss, a true loss of the one who became a part of you.

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#30 Post by jm » Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:32 am

"[quote:644a42e714="Witness"]However, to clarify my point: imagine yourself being married to a dreamy and smart and honest etc. girl whom you take along when you are sent on assignment.[/quote:644a42e714]
I don't imagine that John [u:644a42e714]took[/u:644a42e714] Charlotte. I imagine he wishes she'd get a professional life so that he can enjoy his. I imagine that she came to Tokyo with him in the same way that she went to the bar to meet Anna with him. I see him again saying, "Oh, you wanna come?" in a disappointed voice.

But she has nothing to tell her husband, and Bob has nothing to tell his wife. If they have any goddam sense at all."
Last edited by jm on Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#31 Post by Beery » Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:57 am

Witness wrote:I can only assume that this would produce a crack in your united family, so was it needed? It would surely hurt your other half and we don't know if you'll ever be able to trust her as fully as before.
If I reacted poorly to her confession, then it's not like I trusted her to begin with. If she says nothing happened, why would I doubt her?
You want more mysterious? I'll just try and think, "Where the hell's the whiskey?"

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#32 Post by Silk » Tue Apr 12, 2005 7:14 am

I've been reading all the posts on the topic at hand, and I'm not sure if the case is closed since it has not been discussed in four months, but I thoght I'd just give you my point of view.

We could all agree that Bob's relationship with his wife is not what a marriage should be like - all relationships have their ups and downs, but what Bob has with his wife is loveless and they probably keep together because of the kids. Of course they loved each other in the beginning! They had fun and all that. But I have the feeling that he is cheating on his wife rather regularly - just look how easily he ended up in bed with Readhead!

About Bob and Charlotte though, I tend to agree with most of you.

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Bob and Lydia... normal married couple

#33 Post by LipYourStocking » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:59 am

I am not sure why everyone thinks Bob and Lydia are having huge issues. Sure, Bob is a little lost, however Lydia seems to be acting the way a normal wife acts. Here's why:

1) She uses sarcasm to make her points about Bob forgetting birthdays, being away, etc. This is very normal. Its when these comments stop that you have to worry.

2) Bob phones his wife drunk, feeling a bit guilty. So what if she dost say "I love you" at the end of a call. When you are "checking in" with each other while on the road, it sometimes is lost. Again quite normal. Lydia is comfortable enough in the relationship to not think it such a big deal. Bob, being a little off balance, takes it as a big deal when he shouldt.

3) Of course Lydia will be sarcastic when finding out that Bob is having a day off in Tokyo. Looking after kids is hard and my wife tells me off for having coffee breaks when at work saying "gee.. I wish I could take breaks".

4) Now, the "Do I have to worry about you" comment is a little unusual. However, Bob just attacked their whole lifestyle, and was in general being a bit freaky over the phone, so of course she will feign indifference.

5) It is also normal to ignore the husband a bit when kids arrive. Kids take over your life, and the motherly instincts are strong. Bob must realise he is no longer the center of her universe. It is sorta up to the husband to "up the ante" and make life a bit easier for everyone and keep things interesting. He obviously cannot do this while on the road.

I love Bob's character. I feel like him all the time. But I think the mid-life chrisis thing is starting to look more likely in Bobs case. Even though Lydia seems at first to be a little harsh, but after watching the movie quite a few times, I am warming to her.

Any comments?

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#34 Post by sooner77 » Thu Apr 21, 2005 1:03 pm

The whole Bob/Lydia thing was poorly constructed by Sofia Coppola in my opinion. Bob is probably in his 50's and has been married for 25 years, but that one kid on the phone sounds awfully young. So unless Lydia was 15 when they got married Coppola was clumsy there. She also gets the time difference hopelessly wrong when Bob calls Lydia after the night out at around 4 in the morning Tokyo time and the kids are supposedly getting ready for school.

Then, after all the angst of their prior phone conversations, the final one about their daughter's recital is very upbeat, relaxed and positive, almost as if nothing had happened in the previous hour and a half of the film.

Charlotte was clearly more tempted by Bob than Bob ever was by Charlotte. Sure, he admits he doesn't want to leave in the post fire alarm scene, but almost immediately seems to realize he's going too far and he spends the next day before he leaves trying to tie things up neatly.

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#35 Post by Beery » Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:45 pm

sooner77 wrote:The whole Bob/Lydia thing was poorly constructed by Sofia Coppola in my opinion. Bob is probably in his 50's and has been married for 25 years, but that one kid on the phone sounds awfully young. So unless Lydia was 15 when they got married Coppola was clumsy there.
We just recently had our first kid after being married for 13 years, and my wife was 38 when she gave birth for the first time. Any 50 year old can adopt a baby, and from what I've heard in Hollywood (where Bob works) it seems quite common to do so.
You want more mysterious? I'll just try and think, "Where the hell's the whiskey?"

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Re: Bob and Lydia... normal married couple

#36 Post by Silk » Fri Apr 22, 2005 6:57 am

LipYourStocking wrote:normal married couple
I tend to agree that you are probably right
(though it does depend on how you see things)

He still cheated on Lydia you know.

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Re: Bob and Lydia... normal married couple

#37 Post by LipYourStocking » Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:17 am

Silk wrote:
LipYourStocking wrote:normal married couple
I tend to agree that you are probably right
(though it does depend on how you see things)

He still cheated on Lydia you know.
Oh yeah.. the singer :) How annoying would it be to wake up next to her.. especially if you have charlotte knocking on your door.

I accept the arguement in other posts that he nailed the singer because she ment nothing to him, and didnt nail charlotte because she ment everything. But you are right, he cheated on his wife pure and simple.

Another flawed male.. I apologise on behalf of us all.

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#38 Post by Silk » Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:51 am

Oh well. Don't be to harsh. Women aren't that pure and innocent either.
I come to think of Eddie Murphy's stand up show when he talks about this issue. :lol:

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#39 Post by You Make it Easy » Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:19 am

Now i want to go buy the Eddy Murphy stand up and watch it :) He was a better stand up comic than actor.

But yah women cheat on men just as easy as men cheat on women. Damn society today!

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#40 Post by Guest » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:22 pm

Cheat is a strong word in this case, but yes, I would call it cheating. It was obvious that Bob was smitten with Charlotte when they were in the bar after the fire alarm. And remember the way they were stealing glances at each other in the elevator afterward? Somehow it almost seems that sex would have been an anticlimax after what they were feeling. But how do you control who you fall for? Go to church? Take a cold shower? That's why I say cheat is a strong word. I think they did an admirable job of reigning themselves in. Maybe that's why Bob let the singer pick him up.

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