What “The Lobster” Taught Me About Love
The Lobster is a grotesquely critical analysis of love in our modern societies. It exists in a world where love isn’t a longingness between two people but a byproduct of compatibility.
The plot of the movie revolves around Phil’s search for a partner. After his wife leaves him, a heart-broken Phil checks himself into a hotel where singles go to find a new partners. The hotel is a fancy chateaux surrounded by woods and would make for a great honeymoon location if not for the indoctrination that takes place within.
Everyday Phil, and all the other guests, are subjected to activities that remind them of how lonely they are; they eat in a room full of single tables whilst watching couples eat through a window, they watch sketches showing life being better having a partner and they’re given guns and told to hunt loners (people who don’t want partners) at night. And if the guests do not find a partner by the time their stay has elapsed, they are turned into an animal.
Using this concept, where the hotel is a metaphorical representation of society, The Lobster can expertly critique and explore the many nuances involved with love.
According to the scientific method, researchers have to regulate as many variables as possible in order to get viable results. Only one thing can be tested at any one given time. The Lobster takes the same approach to love.
When guests check into the hotel they have to conform to the hotels norms. They leave their clothes at the door and are given a standardized wardrobe to choose from. They get haircuts at the same barber within the hotel. They eat the same food that is served to them. They practice the same sports. They have the same hobbies.
What this creates is a world where love is supposed to prosper without any societal or environmental influences; there is nothing to fall in love with but the person themselves. And what this movie does so well is show how that infact is basically impossible.
With all societal influences limited, guests at the hotel begin to find love for the simplest reasons. There is a couple in the movie that get married because they are both very prone to having nose bleeds. Phil is married to his partner as they have “being heartless” in common, and further on in the movie, another woman because they are both short-sighted.
Spoilers, these marriages are based on lies. The man in the nosebleed relationship only gets nosebleed because he hits his face on the nearest hard surface just before his wife arrives. And Phil isn’t heartless, but just needy enough to pretend to be. The short-sighted relationship is the only true one that is featured in the movie.
Ultimately, the film pushes the idea that there is no bigger influence on love than the society we live in. Society dictates everything.
The film also illustrates how we act differently depending on our attitudes to love and how inherent this is to our society. Couples do couple things with other couples. Singles do single things with other singles while aspiring to be couples. Loners (singles who aren’t aspiring to become couples) do loner things with other loners.
Its inherently hard to write about this movie because it rings so true but at the same time, I don’t want to make sweeping allegations about our society.
I just say, watch this. It’s worth it.
