When we talked about the story of Lolita in class, I was interested in how the movie would be watchable. It was interesting in how subtle and not subtle the director portrayed Humbert and Lolita’s sexual scenes. It was disturbing. I wasn’t too set on finishing the movie but I kept going. For an older man to take away a young girl’s innocence is immoral. For someone to truly love another, there should be a form of respect, which I didn’t see from either character. Humbert was controlling Lolita and Lolita was using him as a play toy.
After watching the movie and discussing it in class, I didn’t feel the same sympathy towards Humbert at the end as others did. I realized he had a tragic past of losing the love of his life at age 14, but I didn’t feel it was justified to fall for Lolita. In the end, he was sent to jail because of murdering someone, not because of his relationship with Lolita. However, I can’t fault Humbert fully. Lolita did play a major hand in allowing Humbert’s advances. She used him as her play toy during the summer while her mother was still alive. This I was equally disgusted at. To treat someone with that disrespect, of slapping or hitting him, putting gum on his paper, is just plain rude. It showed how poorly her mother raised her.
When I posed the question to the class, about whether or not people would accept this story later in the future, I was ready with my own answer. If Lolita were older, in her twenties, then I’d think the relationship would be acceptable. When people are in his or her twenties, there is a sense of maturity. Though no one is fully mature then, individuals are creating and finding who she is and what she wants. There are relationships in our world where one is dating another half their age, but they had met at a later time in life. Of course the story of Lolita is about a man falling for a young girl because of his tragic past, but I still don’t view that as a justification to acting upon her innocence.
Adolescence in 1990s Films 