Thursday, December 3, 2009

Me and You and Everyone We Know by Ashley Akunna

ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW

Miranda July’s film, Me and You and Everyone We Know is a film that is ultimately about the connections human beings make. The film deals with the theme of the odd reality of human connections, through an ensemble cast of characters who cross paths with each other throughout the course of the film. The film also addresses the issue of loneliness, and how it enables the characters to do unusual things.
Throughout the film there is a theme of the fear of interacting and making visual connections with people. Instead many of the characters in the film take to other ways of communicating with each other. Andrew played by Brad Henke is a shoe salesman who begins a relationship with two teenage girls. However, the relationship only exists through written messages the trio writes and post to each other from a distance. For instance, there is a scene when the girls catch Andrew staring at them from his window, and he quickly falls to the floor in order to hide from them. The relationship within itself is odd because the girls randomly pick Andrew as a “guinea pig”, and Andrew readily follows their lead. However, the “relationship” becomes purely illusory, with both parties being afraid to meet with the other. At one point, the girls even knock on Andrew’s door, and instead of answering the door he hides. Which alludes to the fact that Andrew did not want to engage in sexual intercourse with the girls, despite what his vulgar messages said. It seems that he is just a lonely man, looking for some excitement.
The film deals with people who are looking to pass time. There is a scene where Miranda July’s, Christine, character is driving an older man home. The pair spot a car with a goldfish in a bag, accidently left on the roof of the car. The scene turns into such a dramatic escapade for the pair. They are truly worried for the fish, and the emotional distress the owner will eventually go through. The smallest of events, is turned into the most important, because this is a mechanism the characters use to pass time.
Christine’s character is an example of the loneliness we all feel, and how sometimes we rush into a connection just to have one. She meets a shoe salesman named Richard, and it is clear that she is instantly smitten with him. There is a scene where Christine and Richard are walking down the street and they begin to talk about a relationship between them, that has yet to have occurred.
At the end of the film Richard’s son Robby, goes outside to investigate a noise he’s been hearing repeatedly over and over. He finds a man standing outside tapping a coin onto a post. Robby asks the man what he is doing, the man responds, “Just passing time.” I think this statement ties all the characters together. None of the characters really with motivation, in fact it seems to be quite the contrary. They seem to just act. Like the two teenage girls who begin a sexual relationship with Peter. Throughout the whole movie they harass him, and then end up performing fellatio on him, not because they like him, but because they are simply passing the time.

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