MAY
Fan Review by Tanya
Despite it's meager financial backing, May, a macabre film that
features Angela Beattis as a psychologically aberrant Avoidant
Personality with an inordinate fondness for body parts -
particularly the hands of the local mechanic, Adam (Sisto) - both entertains
and intrigues. The movie utilizes a number of literary conventions,
including symbolism as typified in May's porcelain doll, to convey
the protagonist's protracted descent into behavioral
psychopathology.
Gravely injured as a child, May learns early on the societal
expectations of conformity and the subsequential rejection and
associated pain that results from individuality. When her eye is
traumatically cut by shattered glass, a young May is required to wear an eye patch to school, the obtrusive object eliciting jeers and taunts from her fellow classmates. Although she eventually receives the critical operation required to restore the appearance of her eye, she is never able to see herself clearly again. She retreats into social isolation in order to avoid the anxiety and fear that accompanies intimacy and the possibility of being hurt. In lieu of human relationships, she prefers animals over people (she's a
veterinarian) and chooses an inanimate object (the doll) as her
best friend.
While the doll ensures May's psychological preservation and
survival, it also propagates her unrealistic perception and expectation of
herself and others through false self-other relationships. The
doll serves as a fundamentally perfect companion, the object that
receives all of May's projected emotions and passions. The doll is, in
fact, the unblemished reflection of what May needs to believe about
herself. Thus, when May first discovers Adam and his flawless
hands, the doll provides the necessary encouragement May requires to
pursue a relationship with him.
Unfortunately, Adam is not the perfect companion "the doll" has led
her to believe. Years devoid of social interaction have left May
bereft of fundamental social skills. Her eccentric behavior and
unusual mannerisms reach a crux when, in her attempt to be the
perfect girlfriend, she unwittingly bites down on Adam's tongue
during an attempt at foreplay. Not surprisingly, Adam is turned
off by this move and rejects her, leaving the audience wondering if
this act wasn't some covert form of self-sabotage to avoid intimacy.
Regardless of her subconscious motive, May nevertheless is traumatized by the event, leaving her open to the subtle manipulations of her lesbian coworker, Polly. Sharing a mutual love of masochistic behavior by pricking their fingers with knives,Polly and May embark on a relationship that appears to be more emotional than sexual, at least for May. In fact, May remains smitten with
Adam during the entirety of her relationship with Polly as is
evidenced by her playful consideration of Adam's cigarette
(representative of his manhood) during a conversation with her
friend.
It is Polly's unfaithfulness, however, that is the catalyst for
May's psychosis, not Adams. When May discovers Polly has spent the night
with another woman, her psyche begins to crack along with the face
of her doll. The final blow comes at the hands of some blind
children, who by destroying the doll destroy May herself. With the rejection
of blind children (who should have been sympathetic to May who once
was blind), the spurning by Adam and the unfaithfulness of Polly,
May is unable to maintain her self-delusion any longer. She recognizes
the truth about herself (that she is broken) and others (that
imperfect people love imperfectly), and in her rage externalizes
her anger by demanding a perfect companion, even if she must construct
one herself.
Ironically, it is at this point that May's internal strength
becomes manifest. No longer at the mercy of others, she is liberated by
her newfound independence and resolve. Unfortunately, such a goal,
however initially empowering, is destined by its nature for a
tragic ending.
Angela Beattis does a terrific job playing May, educing all the
sympathy and compassion such a character should evince, at least
initially. It's not hard to see why she falls head over heels for
Adam either. Perpetually fondling his cigarettes, a tall, slender
Jeremy Sisto embodies all the latent sexuality of a young Jim
Morrison.
If there is weakness in the movie, it lies with the script itself.
At times the character's sentence structure is over-simplistic, "I
think that they are beautiful", leading one to question the
intelligence of the writer rather than the character. The movie
also contains awkward moments of silence that seem representative of an
inherently weak dialogue as opposed to an intentional strategy on
the part of the director.
Despite these drawbacks, the psychological depth of the characters,
particularly of the protagonist, is a compelling argument for
seeing the movie. For those with an appetite for cult movies with a
literary edge, this film will completely satisfy.
