Sweet Tooth
Deep. W i d e.
I realize there's a thread about this movie in the Weight Boards, too, but I felt like we needed a different forum to discuss it as well.
The basic premise is that there's this house in an otherwise average American neighborhood that has a life of its own, quite literally. The house is tied to the soul of a human who died, and so the house basically becomes the body to this soul - the red hallway carpet becomes the tongue, the windows the eyes, the front door the lips, etc. The kids realize that the house is alive even after the cranky old geezer who lives there is taken to the hospital. It's Halloween, and they decide to do something about the house so it won't "eat" the kids who go up to it for trick-or-treating.
There are rumors that the guy killed his wife. When the kids finally get into the house, they walk past some of the photos on the wall where it shows the much younger geezer and his SSBBW wife. One of the kids comments about how there's a rumor he fattened her up and ate her. Some other things happen to show that she was indeed dead, buried in the basement floor, and encased in her circus cage. (Yes, she was the side show fat lady.) Later, when the old guy gets back from the hospital, he explains a little about how he met her. Essentially, she's treated poorly at the circus. Stuff is thrown at her, and she's caged. He rescues her. Then, when they go to build a house, some kids start throwing stuff at her which reminds her of the abuse during her circus time. She gets angry and, through a series of events, falls into the basement as the cement is being poured for the floor. Her house persona mostly gets upset when people throw things at the house or kids leave stuff on the lawn.
So, Tef and I went to see this but have differing views on how to take it. I think we both agreed the director didn't want some preachy movie about poor treatment of others and the consequences. I was more sympathetic about how the SSBBW was portrayed, thinking that people will realize she was protective and lashing out because of how she was treated in the past. He thought it portrayed her as a pitiful character at first, and then an evil one to be hated. Obviously questionable messages there.
Has anyone else seen it? Thoughts on the portrayal of the SSBBW house/wife?
The basic premise is that there's this house in an otherwise average American neighborhood that has a life of its own, quite literally. The house is tied to the soul of a human who died, and so the house basically becomes the body to this soul - the red hallway carpet becomes the tongue, the windows the eyes, the front door the lips, etc. The kids realize that the house is alive even after the cranky old geezer who lives there is taken to the hospital. It's Halloween, and they decide to do something about the house so it won't "eat" the kids who go up to it for trick-or-treating.
There are rumors that the guy killed his wife. When the kids finally get into the house, they walk past some of the photos on the wall where it shows the much younger geezer and his SSBBW wife. One of the kids comments about how there's a rumor he fattened her up and ate her. Some other things happen to show that she was indeed dead, buried in the basement floor, and encased in her circus cage. (Yes, she was the side show fat lady.) Later, when the old guy gets back from the hospital, he explains a little about how he met her. Essentially, she's treated poorly at the circus. Stuff is thrown at her, and she's caged. He rescues her. Then, when they go to build a house, some kids start throwing stuff at her which reminds her of the abuse during her circus time. She gets angry and, through a series of events, falls into the basement as the cement is being poured for the floor. Her house persona mostly gets upset when people throw things at the house or kids leave stuff on the lawn.
So, Tef and I went to see this but have differing views on how to take it. I think we both agreed the director didn't want some preachy movie about poor treatment of others and the consequences. I was more sympathetic about how the SSBBW was portrayed, thinking that people will realize she was protective and lashing out because of how she was treated in the past. He thought it portrayed her as a pitiful character at first, and then an evil one to be hated. Obviously questionable messages there.
Has anyone else seen it? Thoughts on the portrayal of the SSBBW house/wife?
