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March 11, 2019 at 12:48 pm #1348Nicholas GentryParticipant
I really like your interpretation, Jenna. When I was watching the film, these connections didn’t immediately stand out to me, but now that you’ve pointed them out it feels like sort of an “ah-ha!” moment. It really does feel like Luke is a Christ figure for the other inmates. I read someone else’s interpretation online and they pointed out that Luke’s prison number is 37, and Luke 1:37 states that, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible.” That would be one hell of a coincidence if the writers put that in unintentionally. Luke is like a Christ figure for his fellow inmates, as they look up to his rebellious attitude and actions and feel less hopeless or more in control. Through Luke’s inspiring actions, nothing is impossible. Luke escapes not once, but multiple times. Luke gains the respect of not only his fellow prisoners, but the guards and prison staff too. The movie ends with his photo taped back together in roughly a cross shape, under which we see the inmates working on a cross roads. All in all, I really like this interpretation and the symbolism that goes along with it. It felt very natural, Luke falls into the Christ figure very naturally, rather than having these symbols thrust onto him by viewers after the fact. Thanks for the cool topic, Jenna!
February 18, 2019 at 2:39 pm #1309Nicholas GentryParticipantI have to disagree with you all on this. From my perspective, Rick is NOT a selfless hero. Frankly, I’m still unsure if I consider him a ‘hero’ at all, but where I really must disagree is in calling him “selfless.” Rick is a very selfish and bitter man. He does not exist in Casablanca as a symbol of morality, instead Rick is able to thrive by dancing around in moral gray area. Consider his relationship with Renault, gambling is illegal in Casablanca, yet Rick is able to continue running his back room gambling operations (which are blatantly fixed and therefore even more immoral) by paying off Renault to look the other way. A selfless hero would pick the righteous side and stand firmly by it, but Rick sticks his neck out for nobody, serves both Allies and Nazis, and remains “neutral” to the whole war situation. Rick initially refuses to give Lazlo the exit visas because he is bitter about what happened with Ilsa. A selfless hero would not refuse to help a righteous man because of a personal vendetta that happened years prior. A lot of people seem to consider Rick giving Ilsa and Lazlo the visas as an act of selfless heroism, but I disagree. Even though Rick was heartbroken by Ilsa, Lazlo did nothing wrong. Rick had no reason to have beef with Lazlo, yet Rick was bitter toward the both of them. Rick had the opportunity to leave Lazlo in Casablanca and fly away with Ilsa and live happily-ever-after, but leaving Lazlo trapped in a dangerous war zone and running away with his wife would have been a very shitty thing to do! Rick is not a heroic man simply by virtue of not doing a shitty thing! I agree the most with Jessica about Rick being more of the supernatural aid to Lazlo’s story. I think that calling Rick a selfless hero is really missing the point of his role in Casablanca. He is not the hero. He functions more like the fates, choosing who leaves and who stays. He does not act purely on morals, he acts for his own selfish gains. Rick is NOT a hero, rather Rick is a bitter expatriate who’s big ‘act of heroism’ is simply not to letting his bitterness negatively affect the lives of other people.
–Nicholas Gentry
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