Let The Right One In

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

Finally today, Bits reader Michael D. e-mailed yesterday to say that he recently purchased a copy of Magnolia's Let the Right One In on Blu-ray from Amazon.com, and he received the corrected version with English theatrical subs. Which means the retailer now has them in stock, and you should have no problems getting your hands on a copy though them.

[picolas]

what about .ca???

[modage]

Still hard to believe after my months-long odyssey of looking for this it's this easy to obtain.  I ordered a copy, we'll see how it goes...

[MacGuffin]

I ordered a copy, we'll see how it goes...

And...?

[modage]

Oh, it was correct!  So I re-gifted my DVD to my cousin and the saga is officially over.

[pete]

I never liked this film because I thought the bullies were too cartoonish and took up too much screen time.  I just never found the Coming-of-Age angle ring true, and was disappointed because I'm a pretty big sucker for coming-of-age stories and it seems like one of the genres that just keeps on giving.

but in this movie, the bullies operated similarly to the ones in Drillbit Taylor - they're kids outside of the character's sphere, who pull violent pranks on the hero day after the day.
a bully, as I understand it, is never the outright enemy - it's usually someone of power, in the circle that the victim either wants or needs to be a part of for survival, like any abusive relationship.  the victim has to feel like he needs the bully on some level, and the bully makes everything like a game that everyone plays, so when the victim protests and can't keep up, he feels weak and stupid for not being able to take, what is essentially, torment.  then the bullies can pile on and laugh at the kid for not being able to take a joke or whatever context.  but the tricky thing about the bully is that he'll never outright antagonize a child.  that's why they call it "teasing", but it's devastating to a child.

I mean there are instances when a child is legitimately antagonized- like the recent string of gay kids who are ostracized by the entire community.  but more often you have instances like the college student who killed himself because he was outed by people who were supposed to be his friends.  the bullying that takes place in Let the Right One In feels like neither.

most famous movies don't have good characterization of bullying either - the karate kid, for example, had a terrible bully.  he was much more akin to a gangster than a bully, but it's fine for that movie because it existed in a sports film/ martial arts movie world.  Let the Right One In had more nuanced acting and details, but totally missed the point in one of the biggest parts of the story.  Sixth Sense had a way better bully, and he only had like four scenes.

[modage]

I disagree. I thought it was fairly clear that the bully was picking on Oskar in the same way the bullies brother was picking on him.  Oskar was an easy target: a weird kid who wouldn't fight back who the bully could make himself feel a little better in front of his friends. 

[pete]

what did you disagree with?

[polkablues]

Your oddly specific definition of bullying, I presume.

[Stefen]

I think there are many different versions of bullying. I don't think bullying is so cut and dry.

You have the physically abusive bullies who throw you on the ground, sit on your chest then do that thing where they have a string of phlegmy spit dangling from their mouth then they suck it back up right before it hits your mug or they grab your fists and use them to punch you in the face then ask you, "why are you hitting yourself?!" That one always bothered me the most.

Then you have basically the narcissistic bullies who just use people who are weak as a means of showing how awesome they are. They're usually verbally abusive but not really physically abusive. They always leave the threat of physical abuse there tho so you don't get any big ideas. "What did you say, faggot? Look at this dork wearing a life vest. Thinks he's gonna drown!"

Those are just two examples. There are plenty more. Bullies are believable in every movie because they come in all shapes and sizes.

[Pas]

I think there are many different versions of bullying. I don't think bullying is so cut and dry.

You have the physically abusive bullies who throw you on the ground, sit on your chest then do that thing where they have a string of phlegmy spit dangling from their mouth then they suck it back up right before it hits your mug or they grab your fists and use them to punch you in the face then ask you, "why are you hitting yourself?!" That one always bothered me the most.

Then you have basically the narcissistic bullies who just use people who are weak as a means of showing how awesome they are. They're usually verbally abusive but not really physically abusive. They always leave the threat of physical abuse there tho so you don't get any big ideas. "What did you say, faggot? Look at this dork wearing a life vest. Thinks he's gonna drown!"

Those are just two examples. There are plenty more. Bullies are believable in every movie because they come in all shapes and sizes.

You guys ever had that bully who's a really good friend one-on-one and becomes a huge jerk whenever others are around? Those are pretty terrible. After a couple times you decide to stop hanging out with him altogether and he gets really mad, more like a small baby than a kid would. Mine even cried, and he was like, 14. Must've been a pretty troubled kid.