{"id":8830,"date":"2018-02-14T15:28:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T20:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=8830"},"modified":"2018-06-28T13:32:08","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:32:08","slug":"anti-valentines-day-with-adrian-lyne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/anti-valentines-day-with-adrian-lyne\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Valentine’s Day with Adrian Lyne"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the Fifty Shades of Grey<\/em> trilogy, the director most\u00a0commonly associated with getting down was Adrian Lyne. His films \u2014 Foxes<\/em> (1980), Flashdance<\/em> (1983), 9 1\/2 Weeks<\/em> (1986), Fatal Attraction<\/em> (1987), Jacob’s Ladder<\/em> (1990), Indecent Proposal<\/em> (1993), Lolita<\/em> (1997), and Unfaithful<\/em> (2002) \u2014 have received their fair share of bad press, but underneath the sex and glitz is a message: Relationships are the pits. So, before you question why anyone would find the Fifty Shades<\/i> series sexy, let\u2019s explore the filmography of Adrian Lyne, who reminded us that sex can be amazing but that catching feelings is your downfall. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lyne has courted controversy with his skewed depictions of love. Susan Faludi cited<\/a> Fatal Attraction <\/i>as evidence of the late \u201880s backlash against ambitious women. A 1986\u00a0New York Times<\/i>\u00a0article<\/a> criticized Lyne for pushing Kim Basinger toward a mental breakdown during the filming of 9 \u00bd Weeks<\/i>. <\/span>But while the subtext of his features and off-screen tactics are worthy of criticism, Lyne’s goal is to remind the audience that sex always involves a relationship, and that through that relationship, with its various expectations, a good thing is ruined. <\/span><\/p>\n

Seven of Lyne\u2019s eight films feature the prototypical narrative of \u201cboy meets girl\/boy loses girl to a rival.” This rival can manifest as another male, another woman who threatens the male\u2019s domesticity, or an intangible object the male cannot provide. What makes Lyne\u2019s films different than other \u201cboy loses girl\u201d movies is that, more often than not, boy and girl don\u2019t end up together. In fact, parting is often the only way to end up truly happy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lyne\u2019s antipathy toward romantic relationships comes through clearest where the rivals are physical persons. Indecent Proposal<\/i> and Unfaithful<\/i> both follow two men competing for the love (or at least lust) of one woman. The film\u2019s females \u2014 Diana (Demi Moore) in Proposal<\/i> and Connie (Diane Lane) in Unfaithful \u2014\u00a0<\/i>are supportive of their husbands. They have their own careers and personalities, but there\u2019s never a hint of competition with their significant others. The point is that the relationships may be stagnant, but the couples keep to their separate spheres, and if anyone is compromising, it\u2019s the female. <\/span><\/p>\n

The male rival is what turns the relationship on its head because he offers women a fantasy specifically geared toward them. Robert Redford\u2019s billionaire John Gage may offer David (Woody Harrelson) a million dollars to sleep with Diana, but once John and Diana spend time alone she realizes he\u2019s a kind-hearted, lonely man who genuinely cares for her. Connie in Unfaithful<\/i> gets a chance to be seduced by the passionate Paul (Olivier Martinez) who doesn\u2019t expect her to be the wife and mother she is at home. The female becomes the controller of the relationship. And for Lyne, it\u2019s not just this skewed power balance that causes problems but the long-term relationship that precedes it. Lyne points out that what makes brief flings so intoxicating is their brevity, and anything longer than that only brings pain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fatal Attraction<\/i> takes this in a different direction, turning its controlling female into a monster because of societal expectations of what marriage and monogamy should look like. The affair between Dan (Michael Douglas) and Alex (Glenn Close) starts because of Dan\u2019s staid relationship with his wife. Alex is strong, confident, and Dan\u2019s equal. But Alex\u2019s drive for a legitimately acceptable relationship as dictated by society \u2014 one that includes a home, a child, and a husband \u2014 turns sex into the enemy. For Lyne, it\u2019s the devil you know that’s preferable, and Dan finds more comfort and stability in his tried and true wife \u2014 who knows her place \u2014 than in a woman with her own desires and expectations. Regardless of Dan\u2019s intentions, Alex is driven mad by what a monogamous relationship is meant to provide. In the end, Dan is left with what he started out with, Alex is dead, and no one wins.<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea of being \u201cdriven mad\u201d by love \u2014 or at least one\u2019s interpretation of it \u2014 is also seen in Lyne\u2019s adaptation of Lolita<\/i>. The audience is not meant to sympathize with Jeremy Irons\u2019 Humbert in his quest for the heart of the young girl, Dolores Haze (Dominique Swain). Unlike Indecent Proposal<\/i> or Flashdance<\/i>, where the age difference is pronounced but legal, the interactions between the two in Lolita<\/i> is wholly wrong; Humbert is the only one who attempts to justify it. For him, it is society who says their relationship is wrong \u2014 this despite the fact that the audience sees Dolores sobbing and making numerous attempts to escape him. Where Lyne\u2019s films perpetuate the idea that love and relationships are dangerous and traumatizing, he clearly indicates they are between consenting adults. Humbert\u2019s \u201cmadness\u201d over Dolores then becomes the deranged rantings of a man who doesn\u2019t understand how dangerous he is and that he\u2019s traumatized someone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Lyne\u2019s films, love is trauma. The psychological drama Jacob\u2019s Ladder<\/i> follows a Vietnam vet, Jacob (Tim Robbins), as he copes with the loss of his young son and other mental instability. Jacob\u2019s seemingly normal relationship with a woman named Jezzie (Elizabeth Pe\u00f1a) lacks emotional punch and stands in the way of Jacob\u2019s real love for his child. It is only through death \u2014 the longest relationship we all have \u2014 that Jacob finds true peace and contentment. Romantic love and sex don\u2019t hold the same satisfaction as love for a child. Though other Lyne characters have children who aren\u2019t placed at the forefront, Jacob\u2019s relationship with his son is also a sharp rebuke against the conflict of sex and family found in Lolita<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trauma through love also manifests in 9 \u00bd Weeks<\/i>. As in nearly all of Lyne\u2019s films, sex is a liberating way of discovering a different part of yourself. The sex games between Elizabeth (Kim Basinger) and John (Mickey Rourke) give Elizabeth a sense of unpredictability. She feels she\u2019s capable of new things, but it comes at the expense of her sanity as John becomes more domineering in his control of her, which leaks out of the bedroom. John refuses to learn anything about Elizabeth as a person or open up to her. Unlike Lyne\u2019s other sexual dramas, 9 \u00bd Weeks<\/i> sees the long-term relationship as the only way to sustain Elizabeth and John\u2019s passion. John\u2019s inability or unwillingness to let his guard down puts Elizabeth in the position of walking away. Unlike what happens in\u00a0Fatal Attraction<\/i>, Unfaithful,<\/i> and Indecent Proposal<\/i>, Elizabeth leaves John and ends the film on her own, possessing the knowledge about what she truly wants out of a commitment. 9 \u00bd Weeks<\/i> is one of the few positive films in Lyne\u2019s oeuvre, saying that long-term commitment can be beneficial and that refusing to take that step can cause true love to disappear.<\/span><\/p>\n

The passion that endures the longest is one free of sex entirely. The two earliest Lyne films,\u00a0Foxes<\/i> and\u00a0\u00a0Flashdance,<\/i> focus on women who find love, respect, and commitment in relationships that lack men entirely. In Foxes<\/i>, all of Jeanie\u2019s (Jodie Foster) friends find themselves enamored with sex and boys, and how the two can provide independence. Jeanie doesn\u2019t want any of those things, becoming an adult by acting responsibly even when her own parents won\u2019t. For Jeanie, having a fruitful life and trying to care for her close friends is more important than the fleeting lust that accompanies chasing boys. And after the death of her wild bestie Annie (Cherie Currie), Jeanie finds the strength to live her own life on her own terms. <\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, though the ending of Flashdance<\/i> sees Alex (Jennifer Beals) united with her boss boyfriend Nick (Michael Nouri), it lacks the punch that comes from watching Alex achieve her dream of dancing for a professional ballet company. As with Foxes<\/i>, the enjoyment Alex derives from achieving her dream holds\u00a0 greater weight than a relationship that might not last beyond the end credits. <\/span><\/p>\n

With the decrease in explicit sex in mainstream cinema, Adrian Lyne has disappeared into the filmic ether; he hasn\u2019t directed a film in over 15 years. But his view of romantic relationships \u2014 that they\u2019re traps, constructed by our fantasies and society \u2014 still resonates. So while watching the latest Fifty Shades<\/i>, don\u2019t be surprised if your significant other looks at you askance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Kristen Lopez<\/a> lives, laughs, and loves in Sacramento.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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