Friday, 28 November 2014

Roommate


Also Known As:
Unknown
Year:
2011
Country/ies:
US
Predominant Genre:
Thriller
Director:
Christian E Christiansen
Outstanding Performances:
None
Premiss:
Female college student finds that her new roommate has an obsession with her, which quickly turns violent.
Themes:
Alienation
Destiny
Emotional repression
Grieving
Identity
Loneliness
Narcissism
Self-expression
Sexism
Sexual Repression
Social class
Solipsism
Totalitarianism
White culture
White guilt
Similar (in Plot, Theme or Style) to:
Single White Female
Review Format:
DVD

Erotophobia & Lebensraum

Bizarre White film suggesting White men can only get sex from White women if they find an odd excuse to talk to them; eg, spill beer down their pert chests or abuse their power as university lecturers to fondle teenage students.

The rampant White sexism here is not muted by context since all the men are inadequate with women; leading to an unsurprising lesbianism among women who are socially freer with each other than they are with the inappropriately-aggressive jerks presented here as representative of White masculinity.

The girls all look nice in their sexually-bland Caucasian way; eg, trying hard to look as though they have no deep-seated emotions. But the lack of both character differentiation (although socially accurate about Whites) and dearth of and character motivation makes for weak drama.

Unable to identify with any of the characters and, thus, care about what happens to them creates a catwalk of a movie rather than a fully-fledged story. The central character studying fashion and style at university becomes a perfect metaphor for the inherent formalism of the piece; mocking its absurd attempt to appeal to feminists.

Ultimately, a movie about Whites’ inability to get on with other Whites enough to be able to share the same space - other than politically. A thankfully short exercise in would-be audience manipulation.


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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.