Scene Still: The Lisbon Girls

Friday, May 6th, 2011

http://raveenaj.glogster.com/lisbon-sisters/

*The annotation of a scene still*

Virgin Suicides: Books vs Movie

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Throughout watching the movie, I could not help but always think about how I read or interpreted particular scenes in the book and whether or not what I am watching is matching what I have read. When you read, the interpretation is all up to you. You can think anything about the person, scenario, setting etc. However, when you watch a movie, your interpretation is cut because everything is shown to you and your  "thinking cap" is taken away. There were many characters that I could say were different throughout the movie and particular scenes that were different than the book.

Trip Fontaine:

Trip Fontaine 

Trip Fontaine was quite the same in both the movie and the book. His attitude, his look was exactly the way I envisioned it to be. He was the ultimate heartthrob and in the movie you could see how easily his charms worked on the girls. For instance, there was one scene when Trip was late coming to school and he had to go to the office to get a slip. A young girl was sitting at the chair and he basically proved why every girl in the school drooled over him. All he did was go up to her and say "Hey beautiful. I'm late again." Then he pushed a strand of her hair back and she blushed. That's it! That's all it took for him to get a slip for being excused for being late. Fast forward to the scene when Trip is at the assembly with Lux. In the book Trip says "I'm gonna come over and ask your old man if I can take you out." The way Trip said it in the book made it seem like he's doing her a favour by asking her out or rather issuing an order. However, in the movie he seemed genuinely interest in asking Lux out. He said "I'm gonna ask you out. I'm gonna come to your place Sunday then I'm gonna ask you out." Just the way the dialogue was said in the movie by Trip seemed more sincere. Another scene where Trip seemed different was when he asked Mr. Lisbon if he could take Lux to homecoming. The reason for that is because the way the dialogues were delivered just made it seem like Trip was head over heels in love with Lux and she was the only one he'll ever want. The way he said "I just want you to know that my intentions for your daughter are completely honourable.'' He made it seem like a marriage proposal and I guess that was the reason why Mr. Lisbon hesitated with saying "No" and eventually gave into Trip's request. The one scene which I found was the most different compared to the movie was the scene when Trip and Lux have sex on the football field. In the book Trip said "I just left her. I didn't care how she got home." In the movie Trip says " I don't know why I left. I just got up and left, not caring how she got home." Trip Fontaine regrets leaving Lux a lot more in the movie than in the book. He seemed more heartless in the movie about doing so. When I read this exact scene in the book I was so mad at Trip for doing that but when I saw the exact same scene in the movie I wasn't mad because this time I could understand his emotions. It seemed as if Trip was scared about how hard he fell for her and leaving her was the only solution he could think of at the time. In the movie I felt bad for Trip because it seemed he was confused about his feelings for Lux. 

Mr. Lisbon:

Mr. Lisbon

He was one character I really despised in the book but once again I had a change of heart when I saw the movie. In the book Mr. Lisbon seemed as equally if not more responsible for the girls' suicides. He seemed rude and strict in the book but his character in the movie was different. In the movie it seemed as if Mrs. Lisbon wore the pants in the house and in their relationship. For instance, when Trip asked Mr. Lisbon if he could take Lux to the Homecoming dance, Mr. Lisbon said "Oh I don't know. I'll have to run it by my wife first." Which means Mrs. Lisbon makes all the big decisions and not Mr. Lisbon. However, if you look at the time period of the movie, 1970's, the men were considered to have more power over woman. However, in this case it was the opposite. When Mr. Lisbon came home that day and told his wife about the events prior in the day she replied "Girls your father and I will discuss this later." Then she gave Mr. Lisbon a good stare which could interpret into "I will have a very detailed and lengthy conversation about this with you!"It seemed as if Mr. Lisbon was a blind person and needed Mrs. Lisbon to take care of him and guide him, kinda of like those dogs for blind people. When Lux Lisbon won the award for Homecoming Queen at the dance Mr. Lisbon seemed very proud. His facial expressions revealed he was thinking "That's my girl." When the girls were getting ready for the dance Mr. Lisbon came in and took a photo but all Mrs. Lisbon did was say "Drive carefully" or "We normally don't allow this." Not once did that lady say "Girls, you look stunning today. I love you." Kids, especially girls want and need to be told that they are loved and look beautiful especially when they dress up. Mr. Lisbon just seemed more caring and loving in the movie than in the book. Just by the way his face turned stoneless when he held Cecilia's dead body in his arms showed his deep love for her. Mr. Lisbon emotions gave me a new perspective of him in the movie.

Lux Lisbon:

Lux Lisbon

There was one significant scene about Lux and Trip that was different than in the book. There was one phrase that Trip said to Lux and that was "Your a stone fox". After the both of them have sex, they do not speak to each other again. That was the same in both the movie and the book. What was different was when all the girls were taken out of school and were in their rooms, that Lux replayed that sentence in her head while sitting on the window seat. For me, that changed the relationship dynamic between them. The repeat of that phrase proved that Lux still cared about Trip but more importantly still thought about him. That dialogue was never repeated in the book and therefore I was sad that Lux and Trip never got together or never thought about each other. That phrase was repeated at a very crucial time in the movie. It was right after the girls were taken out of school and right before Lux started sleeping with many faceless men. She was at her lowest point when she was thinking about him and it could be that she was comparing herself to him and thinking well if he can charm his way into sleeping with girls then why cannot I charm my way into sleeping with guys. 

*Side Note*

Cecilia Lisbon

I noticed in the movie that when the Italian exchange student jumped off his relatives house in order to prove his love for a girl, Cecilia was right there. Shortly after, she used the same technique to kill herself. The major difference between the two scenarios is that when the Italian kid jumped off he fell into a bush and then got up, unharmed, put his shades back on and walked away as if nothing had happened. The point is that Cecilia could have wanted to just scare her parents again with doing the exact same thing the Italian kid did. Maybe she thought she could survive as well and come out unharmed but instead she landed right into the fence. I think she probably just wanted to scare her parents again, in order to get them to loosen up a bit. On the contrary when she slit her wrists the girls got a party out of it. If Cecilia had jumped and come out unharmed then maybe the girls would have been allowed to do more things.

First Reaction

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

This was my absolute first time watching the movie Virgin Suicides and I enjoyed it very much. I thought the director did a very good job at the casting. Almost every actor was portrayed exactly how I thought they would be. I found that Trip and and Mr. Lisbon were extremely different than how they were portrayed in the book.

One difference between reading a book and watching a movie is that in the book interpretation, imagination is all up to the reader and in the movie everything is pretty much laid out right in front of you. I found I could describe the characters a lot better than the book because in the movie I could study their facial expressions. In certain scenes such as the scene when Lux is sitting on the rooftop after having sex with yet another faceless man you could tell what she was thinking. You could see various emotions on her face such as being fed up, feeling worthless, and so much sadness. When reading a book emotions could be told but not seen. When emotions are seen, the passage or book is taken to a whole new emotional level.  The one part where I absolutely loved to see the emotions on the characters faces was when Cecilia died because in the book the circumstances were discussed more than how everyone was feeling. Also, it was interesting to see the reactions of the Lisbon girls' once they returned to school after Cecilia's death.

In the book the setting of the story was left to our imagination. Sure, a description was given but every person will have a different description. Seeing where the Lisbon family lived and where the story took place reminded me of California. It reminded me of a town in California that consisted of a rich families. The flowers and landscaping all reminded me of Bakersfield, California.

I wanted to make a quick note of how perfect Kristen Dunst portrayed Lux Lisbon. I have never really liked Kristen Dunst but for some reason I loved her in this movie. She did a fantastic job playing Lux. The flirty, wild and carefree side were all expressed very well. After this movie my opinion about her has definitely changed as an actress.

Overall, fantastic movie accompanied with a fantastic book. It was great to see that the movie and book went along together and that they were not something totally different. The movie touched my heart and to me that is what made it better because in order to make me really feel for a movie, takes a a lot of work! I usually do not get caught with the emotional drama in movies because I know it's fake but the case was totally different for this movie. Maybe because suicide is very delicate topic and a very sensitive one. I loved the movie and I am extremely glad I chose to read this book.