Hey, I don’t know if I am alone in how I feel, but…
The ending of Romper Stomper did not sit well with me. Maybe I misunderstood the characters from the film, or maybe I did not connect with certain characters as I was supposed to (as it pertains to the intentions of Geoffrey Wright), or maybe my experience of the film was affected by watching Proof immediately beforehand. I had a feeling that Russell Crowe’s character would die before the end of the film, and throughout the film I definitely read Hando as a tragic hero of sorts. While I understood that Hando must be punished for his flaws, I nevertheless found that I was rooting for him to murder Gabe in the closing moments of Romper Stomper.
Maybe I misunderstood her character, but I could not connect with Gabe. Considering how her relationship with Martin is portrayed, I assumed that Gabe suffered from bad parenting and endured sexual abuse. Nevertheless, I could never sympathize with her character. Toward the end of the film, I thought that Gabe was especially painted as a character who had earned her death. I was praying that Hando would throw Gabe into the burning car or, at the very least, drown her in the ocean. I think that I might have been okay with Davey murdering Hando had Hando at least murdered Gabe first… but this is just a guess at best because I also had difficulty sympathizing with Davey.
I could not understand Davey’s attraction to Gabe, and everything that Hando had to say pertaining to Gabe (being an unnecessary burden) made sense. Given the disposition of his character, I figured that Davey would be the only one of the three remaining at the end of the film to survive… but Gabe’s survival does not sit well with me. I had more invested in the mateship between Davey and Hando than I had invested in the confusing relationship between Davey and Gabe, so maybe that’s why I was left with a sour taste in my mouth when the confusing relationship prevailed at the cost of the mateship that I was favoring. I don’t know…
I don’t know how I would’ve re-written the ending of Romper Stomper. I am okay with an emotionally-jarring conclusion, and I’m okay with killing main characters. Maybe I would’ve had Hando killed by the “gooks” that he tormented throughout the majority of the film, and maybe I would’ve had Gabe commit suicide (as she did seem to be her own worst enemy). Considering Gabe’s noted history of drug abuse, it would not have been fitting for her death to be the result of an overdose. Gabe’s mental and emotional status by the end of the film certainly had me convinced that her suicide was imminent. Gabe could have potentially (and realistically) overdosed on the medicine that was supposed to prevent her seizures to add a bit of poetic irony to her death.
I don’t know how I would’ve re-written the ending, but I can guarantee that it would not sit well with me unless it involved Gabe’s death. I’m sorry if this post didn’t offer much intellectual insight as it pertains to Romper Stomper, but we didn’t have time to discuss the film in class, and I needed to get this off of my chest. This is the first film that we have screened that I have had such a strong negative reaction to in terms of its conclusion. So, I guess I will ask: Am I alone in disliking the ending of Romper Stomper (and/or at least Gabe surviving)?
Here are some links I found while searching the Internet to see if I'm alone in disliking Romper Stomper's ending:http://www.hdfest.com/rosie/romperstomper_rosie.html
I couldn't figure out how to embed this link, but it's a link to a review of Romper Stomper. At the end of the review, the reviewer confirms my suspicion that the homage that Peg mentioned in class was indeed paid to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.
http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-night-that-davey-hit-the-train-lyrics-russell-crowe-30-odd-foot-of-grunts.html
This link, which I couldn't embed either, is a link to the lyrics of a song about the suicide of Daniel Pollock (who plays "Davey"). It is written by Russell Crowe, and performed by his band (30 Odd Foot of Grunts). Apparently, Davey was dating Gabe in real life as Pollock was dating Jacqueline McKenzie. If I ever find the song itself, I'll upload it so that we can all listen to it.
8 comments:
I am in total agreement, I found myself wanting Gabe to die and Davie to have a real reason to kill his best friend and mate. However, their relationship seemed more Hollywood because the mateship between the two men was less important than the relationship between each man towards Gabe. The female was the driving force to break up their friendship, but the audience wasn't able to understand how big of a break it was because we were unable to see their friendship before the female came into their lives.
I'm not surprised that many people did not like the ending, however I am also not surprised that Hando was killed at the end of the film. As a skinhead it seemed that he was the leader, and never would have changed his mind, where as Davie was a more sympathetic character and the audience could root for him even though he held beliefs most people disagree with. When we see Davie at his grandmother's he is in a button down shirt to hide his tattoos; this scene helps ease the audience onto Davie's side because not soon after Davie, Hando and Gabe are committing crime after crime. The audience now sees Davie as a follower of the all controlling Hando, and thus the audience can pick sides between the lesser of two evils.
When Hando gets killed, the audience is more likely to root for Davie because of the previous examples of how his character can change.
In retrospect, I agree. Most of the time I found Gabe pretty intolerable, but somehow by the end I would have rather seen Hando dead than her. I really can't pick out where the sympathy came from - definitely not from simply knowing about her abusive childhood. Perhaps it was how she brought out some home in Davey.
I don't think we're off the wall for wanting Gabe to die. Though she had a toxic upbringing and struggles with epilepsy, I can only offer so much sympathy. There was something very manipulative about her. Some scenes that come to mind is her admiration of the jacket in the mall. Maybe its my imagination, but it's like she knew she could get Hando to steal it for her. I don't think she was just making an innocent observation of how pretty it was (which it wasn't--that's not my imagination!)
Also, when Hando and the group are attacking the Vietnamese men, does she not make some sort of cathartic cry? It looked like she was in awe, or actually enjoying this violent experience in some parts.
Putting out the cigarette on Davie's arm seemed strange. I mean, this is the only guy who showed her any real love or tenderness. He left his mates, home, and lifestyle behind for a chance to be with her. He even risked his life to retrieve that ugly jacket during the brawl! I'm not saying she has to love him back, but using him as an ashtray after all that is pretty callous.
Of course, we can't forget her background. A bad childhood doesn't provide an EXCUSE for her actions, but it can provide an explanation.
You have to admit: Jacqueline McKenzie is a pretty good actress to provoke so much discussion and frustration! You can catch her next in the upcoming series "Mental" on Fox. She plays the competitive, sexy psychiatrist in a scandalous LA hospital.
Also, did you guys know that Daniel Pollock was in Proof as well? IMDB says he played a "Punk." I'm guessing it's one of the ruffians at the drive in?
I am not surprised by any of the above reactions to Romper Stomper, however, mine seems to be from a completely different standpoint.
If anything, I sympathized with Gabe's character throughout the entire film. Our first encounter with her is at the hand's of an abusive drug addict and clearly has some substance abuse problems herself. She then joins the skinhead gang only wishing for a trustworthy companion and some sort of family. Granted, she may be looking in all the wrong places but she still maintained a sense of innocence to me throughout the entire film. I felt bad for her, even when she was beating up the Vietnamese man because it was so obvious that her motivation was only to fit in and to avoid yet another rejection from a group of people in her life. She has no other people in her life that care about her. I'm not by any means saying this is an excuse for her actions or that she isn't accountable - quite the opposite. But I do think her character was one that could easily sympathize with.
On the note of the ending to the film, I was a bit surprised myself but thoroughly enjoyed it, unlike the majority of the class' responses. Russell Crow's character, Hando, angered me throughout the entire movie and by the end I just couldn't be happier that he was killed - even at the hand of his best mate. With clear parallels to Edward Norton's character in American History X (I still see the connection to A Clockwork Orange as well) I felt a great deal of resentment towards him because of his deliberate ignorance towards preserving the Aryan race. Such prejudice and Hitler esk thought patterns, like those of Hando's character, made me anticipate justice - and I think he got it with that particular ending. He did nothing but manipulate everyone who was around him to believing the same thing he did and created such unnecessary violence. I say good riddens, great ending.
The review links below believes that giving the characters a positive change (maybe that's a possible alternative ending if our main character wasn't killed?)
would have ruined the film completely. They also make an interesting argument in disagreeing that the film is anything like Clockwork.
Justice in Romper Stomper
Avoiding the Cliche in Romper Stomper
It is my understanding that Pollock's suicide was due in part to depression he suffered after Mackenzie broke off their relationship once the film was wrapped.
I totally agree, I felt Gabe deserved to die for calling the cops which caused bubs to die.
I viewed Gabe very differently in that she wants to be rescued and loved but she has a warped sense of what love is. Her protector or mother was taken away and she deeply feels the abandonment stemming from this. She seeks Martin's help in the beginning scene and asks why he can't just do something for her because its what you do for people, especially caring in a parental way and she is faced with the fact that every kind act has its price. She knows she will be having a sexual encounter with Hando and the jacket is her price for that. Davey helps get the jacket and in her eyes it is a kindness without an expected reward. This further demonstrated when Davey retrieves the jacket as they flee.I think she is very conflicted over this and it goes against her experience of men using her. She has learned to use them for her needs as well and manipulate relationships to reinforce the idea that Martin presents in the scene of being tied to the toilet. He says she wanted these things to happen to her as a child and puts her in the role of a seductive girl who causes the hurtful experiences to happen. She lashes out violently at him after this and punishes him for the hurt and rejection.
She is punishing Hando in the same way by revealing the location of where they stay when she leaves. Gabe is in conflict between two men, one treats her as she expects to be treated and the other is her rescuer. Her survival instincts eat up Davey, not knowing how to be loved by someone and Hando is the reinforcing idea that she doesn't deserve any better. Her internal emotional struggles are played out externally in the relationship she has with these two best mates. Davey stabbing Hando is the ultimate act of love towards her and despite her manipulation I felt Hando's death was killing the past abuse and there was hope for both Davey and Gabe in the future by ridding themselves of Hando and the self destructive ideas/acts he represented in both of their lives.
Anyway who feels Gabe should have died is projecting their own sexist highly threatened cheauvanistic attitudes onto this character. Hando was a menace and she was a broken, abused girl who WAS NOT being manipulative in any scene. They deserved to have the cops called on them. He discarded her like garbage. It's scarey to me that people like you lot exist....soooo lacking in insight!
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