Comments on: “F*** Everyone. Amen”: Thoughts on the Depressing and the Weird in Synecdoche, New York http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2009/04/03/f-everyone-amen-further-thoughts-on-synecdoche-new-york/ Appreciation and Criticism of Cinema Through Heartland Eyes Tue, 22 May 2012 04:11:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Andrew http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2009/04/03/f-everyone-amen-further-thoughts-on-synecdoche-new-york/comment-page-1/#comment-4017 Andrew Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:48:35 +0000 http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2009/04/03/f-everyone-amen-further-thoughts-on-synecdoche-new-york/#comment-4017 Madeleine's foot problems--redness from the too-tight straps of her shoes, blisters, Band-Aid--suggests a reflection of Caden's own medical problems. Thus, while she offers advice to Caden, her feet suggest that her advice is untrustworthy; she doesn't know what she's talking about. She is afflicted just as he is. Her too-tight shoes are also suggestive of her personality: Someone constrained by social convention and decorum to the point of irritation, rawness, wounding, but keeps that wounding beneath the surface (below the hemline, as it were). Given that Madeleine is very thinly developed in a film of thinly developed characters (indeed, her main role in the story is one of comic relief), I think we should take Kaufman's metaphors at face value and just chuckle along at how absurd she seems. I think it's readily apparent that Kaufman has a lot of loathing for both doctors and therapists. :) Madeleine’s foot problems–redness from the too-tight straps of her shoes, blisters, Band-Aid–suggests a reflection of Caden’s own medical problems. Thus, while she offers advice to Caden, her feet suggest that her advice is untrustworthy; she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She is afflicted just as he is. Her too-tight shoes are also suggestive of her personality: Someone constrained by social convention and decorum to the point of irritation, rawness, wounding, but keeps that wounding beneath the surface (below the hemline, as it were). Given that Madeleine is very thinly developed in a film of thinly developed characters (indeed, her main role in the story is one of comic relief), I think we should take Kaufman’s metaphors at face value and just chuckle along at how absurd she seems.

I think it’s readily apparent that Kaufman has a lot of loathing for both doctors and therapists. :)

]]> By: filmdr http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2009/04/03/f-everyone-amen-further-thoughts-on-synecdoche-new-york/comment-page-1/#comment-4014 filmdr Sun, 05 Apr 2009 17:26:59 +0000 http://gatewaycinephiles.com/2009/04/03/f-everyone-amen-further-thoughts-on-synecdoche-new-york/#comment-4014 Nice summary. Why does Madeleine have a band-aid on her foot? I can't help but wonder about particulars like that, even after our extended discussion. Nice summary. Why does Madeleine have a band-aid on her foot? I can’t help but wonder about particulars like that, even after our extended discussion.

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