{"id":2325,"date":"2013-05-04T22:03:50","date_gmt":"2013-05-04T16:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intelligent-torvalds.74-208-171-134.plesk.page\/?p=2325"},"modified":"2026-04-04T12:36:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T17:36:40","slug":"antichrist-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/?p=2325","title":{"rendered":"Antichrist, Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like John\u2019s antichrists<\/a> Trier\u2019s antichrists were not necessarily tyrannical globalists, but people who had not been perfected in God\u2019s love and did not keep his commandments.\u00a0 Unlike John\u2019s antichrists there was no indication in the film that they had ever known God and then departed from that knowledge.\u00a0 Trier\u2019s antichrists are not named.\u00a0 We are introduced to them “he-in’-and-a-she-in'” as Otis (played by William Fichtner<\/a> in the movie “The Amateurs<\/a>\u201d) described fucking<\/a><\/i>. \u00a0But I want to try to reconstruct the story of \u201cAntichrist\u201d in temporal order.<\/p>\n

This will definitely be a spoiler for those who haven’t seen the film. \u00a0My take is not Lars Von Trier’s understanding, nor that of the actors. \u00a0 I assume that anyone remotely interested in my understanding would be offended by the pornographic nature of this movie and not watch it all the way through anyway.\u00a0 And I use pornographic<\/i> in a technical, not an eye-of-the-beholder, sense here.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Conan O\u2019Brien<\/a> asked his guest Amanda Seyfried<\/a> about her role in a biopic about Linda Lovelace of \u201cDeep Throat\u201d fame: \u201cHow do you portray a porn star without being incredibly explicit?\u00a0 Do you know what I mean?\u201d\u00a0 Ms. Seyfried answered, \u201cWell, you don’t actually have sex on film.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In other words people who get paid to pretend to have sex on film are actors, \u1f51\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03c1\u03b9\u03c4\u03b1\u1f77<\/a> in Greek.\u00a0 People who get paid to actually have sex on film are prostitutes; \u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03bd\u03bf\u03c3<\/a> (pornos) is the Greek for a male prostitute.\u00a0 Our word pornography<\/i> (writing about prostitutes) comes from the Greek compound of \u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03bd\u03bf\u03c3<\/a> (pornos) and \u03b3\u03c1\u03b1\u03c6\u03ae<\/a> (graph\u0113).\u00a0 The body doubles for Willem Dafoe<\/a> and Charlotte Gainsbourg<\/a> in \u201cAntichrist\u201d were porn actors, and a few shots in the film do qualify under this technical definition.<\/p>\n

Before the film began she<\/i> (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and their toddler son Nic went to Eden, a secluded cabin in the woods, to finish her thesis on Gynocide<\/a>. \u00a0It was a study of man’s inhumanity to woman, witch-hunts and the like. \u00a0She couldn’t finish when she realized it was not a simple story of evil men persecuting virtuous women, but that the women were evil, too. \u00a0As she absentmindedly, or vindictively, (it was never quite clear to me) forced the left shoe on her son\u2019s right foot, and vice versa (causing a deformity that became apparent in an autopsy report) she became cognizant of her own evil as well.<\/p>\n

The film actually begins with beautiful slow motion black and white footage of he<\/i> (Willem Dafoe) and she<\/i> fucking.\u00a0 Just because I believe that fucking does not, or the feelings associated with fucking do not, fulfill the law, does not mean that I have anything against fucking or those feelings.\u00a0 Fucking my wives or the feelings I had while fucking them or wanting to fuck them are beyond compare, except perhaps for the feeling I had when they wanted to fuck me.\u00a0 I miss it.\u00a0 And the opening scene of \u201cAntichrist\u201d spawned many a wonderful memory (as well as some that were not so wonderful).<\/p>\n

Nic, their toddler son, awoke from his nap, climbed out of his crib, watched his mother and father a moment, turned quietly away, investigated an open window, and fell to his death.\u00a0 Granted, in real life the likelihood that a toddler would not demand some parental attention might be extremely low. \u00a0But \u201cAntichrist\u201d is a horror movie, only the worst possibilities can happen.\u00a0 During the funeral procession she<\/i> collapsed and was hospitalized.\u00a0 Her doctor thought she<\/i> had an abnormal reaction to grief.\u00a0 Her husband, a psychologist, disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have stopped him,\u201d she<\/i> told her husband, apparently coming into the light<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t know that he had started waking up lately.\u00a0 I was aware that he would sometimes wake up and crawl out of bed and walk about.\u201d\u00a0 She started to sob, \u201cHe woke up and was confused and alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He<\/i> assumed, and we in the audience assume at this point, that she<\/i> was suffering from psychological guilt.\u00a0 What we learn later, but he never knew, is that she saw Nic watching them and chose not to interrupt her husband to attend to her son.\u00a0 We also see that fucking is her narcotic and anesthetic of choice.\u00a0 The perfect wife?<\/p>\n

What I realized the second time through the film was that\u00a0her doctor\u2019s \u201cabnormal reaction to grief\u201d and her husband\u2019s diagnosis of psychological guilt both missed the point.\u00a0 She suffered from the actual guilt of maternal negligence and needed actual forgiveness.\u00a0 But there was no forgiveness to be found.\u00a0 This is \u201cAntichrist,\u201d not \u201cBreaking the Waves<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Her doctor gave her mood drugs and her husband gave her psycho-babble, as she \u201cbled out\u201d from actual guilt.\u00a0 But \u201cactual guilt\u201d was not a category her doctor or her husband would recognize as legitimate, apart from a criminal indictment and conviction.<\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t she<\/i> come fully into the light? with her husband at least?\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t she tell him she saw Nic, knew he was awake, and knew he was walking about unsupervised?\u00a0 Jesus (or John) said, everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed<\/i>.2<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 He<\/i> didn\u2019t seem like the kind of man who would, or could, forgive her for a judgment mistake that claimed his son\u2019s life.\u00a0 And she<\/i> feared that he<\/i> would leave her.\u00a0 In other words, theirs was not a love (\u1f00\u03b3\u1f71\u03c0\u03b7<\/a>) affair by definition, no matter how good their fucking was.<\/p>\n

He<\/em> didn\u2019t know (because he hadn\u2019t experienced), In this is love: not that we have loved<\/a> God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins<\/i>.3<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Receive the Holy Spirit<\/i>, Jesus said. \u00a0If you forgive anyone\u2019s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain<\/a> anyone\u2019s sins, they are retained<\/i>.4<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. \u00a0But if you do not forgive others<\/a>, your Father will not forgive you your sins<\/i> [Table<\/a>].5<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 And she<\/i> was not perfected in love either because, There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.\u00a0 The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.\u00a0 We love<\/a> because he loved us first<\/i> [Table<\/a>].6<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

He<\/i> arranged to get her out of the hospital, brought her home and became her therapist. \u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ve always been distant from me and Nic,\u201d she<\/i> said in one of their sessions, \u201cnow that I come to think of it, very, very distant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d he<\/i> said, ever the patient therapist.\u00a0 \u201cCan you give me some example of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike last summer, for instance, [when she went with Nic to Eden] you were terribly distant last summer, as a father and as a husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, actually it was to honor your wish.\u00a0 You wanted peace to write.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps I didn\u2019t mean it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That sounds just like a woman, I thought.\u00a0 But as I imagined the scene that preceded her writing retreat at Eden, I learned something about me as a husband and father.\u00a0 I, too, have tried to play the patient therapist with my wife and children.\u00a0 If she<\/i> asked me for my blessing to take Nic and go to Eden without me for the summer, I would have thought, \u201cNo way!\u00a0 I\u2019ll miss you, and Nic.\u00a0 I\u2019ll miss talking with you, eating with you, being with you and, yes, fucking you.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t you write here!?\u201d\u00a0 But then I would have thought how selfish that seemed, and I would have said, \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, I wouldn\u2019t have come into the light with my wife.\u00a0 I probably haven\u2019t done so at various times in the past.\u00a0 And I see now that the truth\u2014that I would miss her terribly, that I was angry that she would ask such a thing, that I felt that my initial reaction was selfish, so, yes, I would respect her desire to go to write her thesis and agree to it as much as it was in me to do\u2014would be a much better basis for a love (\u1f00\u03b3\u1f71\u03c0\u03b7<\/a>) affair.\u00a0 But I thought that \u201ccontrolling\u201d my emotions (rather than sharing them with her) was the \u201cright\u201d thing to do.<\/p>\n

She<\/i> didn\u2019t finish her thesis that summer.\u00a0 He<\/i> hadn\u2019t even asked about it.\u00a0 When she<\/i> told him he<\/i> wondered why she<\/i> had given up. \u00a0\u201cThe whole project just seemed less important up there,\u201d she<\/i> said. \u00a0It had become \u201cglib\u201d to her, \u201cor even worse, some kind of lie.\u201d\u00a0 He<\/i> learned nothing about his obvious distance from her.\u00a0 He<\/i> kept his focus on her.\u00a0 He<\/i> decided that she<\/i> had a phobia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat scares you about the woods?\u201d he<\/i> asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he took her back to Eden.<\/p>\n

\n
Antichrist, Part 4<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Antichrist, Part 5<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Torture, Part 5<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Hypocrisy<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

1<\/sup><\/a> Amanda Seyfried Interview<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2<\/sup><\/a> John 3:20 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3<\/sup><\/a> 1 John 4:10 (NET) Table<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

4<\/sup><\/a> John 20:22b, 23 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

5<\/sup><\/a> Matthew 6:14, 15 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

6<\/sup><\/a> 1 John 4:18, 19 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like John\u2019s antichrists Trier\u2019s antichrists were not necessarily tyrannical globalists, but people who had not been perfected in God\u2019s love and did not keep his commandments.\u00a0 Unlike John\u2019s antichrists there was no indication in the film that they had ever … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1633,6],"tags":[1706,1708,1707,1705,56,1709,2462],"class_list":["post-2325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antichrist","category-section-two","tag-1-john-410","tag-1-john-418-19","tag-john-2022-23","tag-john-320","tag-matthew-614-15","tag-movies-antichrist","tag-movies-the-amateurs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2325"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29437,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325\/revisions\/29437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}