Review of The Lobster (2015) by Bholland2014 — 12 Jul 2016

SPOILERS!!! Commentary on intolerance--an absurdist metaphor.

Imagine a partnership whose success hinged solely on the mutual enjoyment of vanilla ice-cream. And instead of feeling hopeful (or doubtful) of its longevity the pair simply agreed, emotionless, that this common trait would be enough to sustain them. That's The Lobster.

This is a world of extremes and intolerance. One in which independence (read: the single life) is punished by exile. However, the exiled, known as 'loners' are so dangerously independent that they are intolerant of partnership. The middle-ground is to be turned into an animal of choice if one doesn't find partnership within an alotted time limit--which can only be extended by capturing loners. I infer that this middle-ground is imposed by the enforcers who seek out and ask for lone people's 'papers' during the scene in the mall. This scene is the first glimpse (if little more than suggested) of a societal intolerance of independence. Up to this point it could have been argued that this middle-ground was self-imposed.

In this world, partnership is based on the shallowest of commonalities (only one is required for pairing), so "acquiring" children is considered a cure for the inevitable strains of incompatibility.

Though, there seems to be hope for true love between David and the shortsighted woman beyond both being shortsighted, however, their love is forbidden--therefore, secret--as they are both loners. Eventually, David's secret lover becomes blind, thus, they lose their shared trait of shortsightedness. To David's credit, he really does make an effort to find a new shared trait to overcome their need for a trivial common ground. After all, being different in this world is intolerable. We're left to answer these questions: Can he simply accept their differences and love her? Or is his love great enough that he's willing to blind himself to be with her? We don't know. What does this say about him?

"This relationship isn't going to work if you don't enjoy vanilla ice-cream.".

What does it say about society?

"Settling for a partner, at any cost, is better than independence.".

What does it say about the nearsighted woman that she is now blind and still able to love him? Love is blind. Literally.

*Speculation on the beginning of the movie: Who are the donkeys (asses)? Perhaps the ass is "the animal that nobody wants to be".