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Return To ShopHe bravely made a movie about women’s sexual addiction which caused countless controversies-Season 3
Season 3 、Eliminating Desires – Finding a Way to Open a Different World
Going back to the title of the film, Nymphomaniac, if sex is Joey’s way of confirming and exploring herself, then the confession section when Joey is forced to participate in the female drug rehabilitation group is the most powerful section that reveals the uniqueness of herself.
When introducing herself to a sex addiction support group composed entirely of women, Joey said, “My name is Joey, and I’m a nymphomaniac,” but the group leader corrected her by saying, “I’m a sex addict.”
Then Joey immediately repeated, “My name is Joey, and I am a nymphomaniac.” The team leader added, “We call this a sex addict. Here, everyone is equal, regardless of gender.”
The repetition of adding the self-introduction of female addict after her name is Joey’s identification of her own identity, but this identification is denied by the female community. They believe that equality can be achieved by erasing the distinction between male and female sex addicts, but the reality is far from this.
In the second group sharing session, Joey said, “My name is Joey, and I am a sex addict.” The use of language codes erased this gender difference and also erased Joey’s difference as an individual.
At this moment, Joey saw his 12-year-old self in the mirror. The mirror, as a channel connecting the past and the present, also allowed Joey to see his true self and instinctive self.
According to Lacan’s mirror theory, at this moment, Joey completed the confirmation of his childhood self that had not been socially shaped and disciplined in the mirror, and also completed the final confirmation of himself.
So she tore up the prepared speech note and said to everyone, “We are not and will never be the same. You (referring to the women in the support group) get fucked just to prove that you are a woman… I am a nymphomaniac, and I love this identity of mine. More importantly, I love my vagina, my own pornographic and obscene desires.”
This declarative confession is an affirmation of her own desires and her own identity, accepting her desires as a woman and accepting the legitimacy of her desires. Thus, Joy has achieved the self-consistency between her sexual behavior and her desires.
From practicing desire to losing desire to being controlled by desire, Joy finally reaches the stage of controlling desire. If facing her own desire and acknowledging and accepting it is Joy’s self-transcendence as a female individual in terms of sexual behavior and sexual morality.
So when collecting debts, using one’s control over sex to make men/debtors surrender and complete the debt collection process is using sex and manipulation of desire to exert force on male society. Sex and sexual experience have been functionalized and become Joe’s tools.
It should be noted that Joey’s behavior in this paragraph is not a revenge or challenge to the male society, and her desires are rarely blocked when reaching various men.
But if it stopped there, “Nymphomaniac” would be no different from any other male director’s seemingly feminist films that actually adhere to patriarchal norms. Lars von Trier even goes further than female directors in this regard, elevating the oppression of women by sex and sexual morality to a broader context and community. To understand his ambitions and confusion, we have to interpret the scene where Joey collects a debt.
In this passage, Joey interrogates a male pedophile through a story, and the man cries in shame because his secret desires are discovered. Joey expresses sympathy for the man and understands his desires.
She said, “He lives in self-denial and has never hurt anyone. Sexual desire is the strongest force in human beings. People who are born with forbidden love must be very painful. Pedophiles who would rather live in their own painful fantasies than act on them should get a medal that recognizes the pain they have suffered.” At the same time, Joey’s sympathy also comes from “seeing that this man is burdened with the same thing as herself – loneliness, and our sexuality is rejected by outsiders.”
The understanding and recognition of forbidden love – this is the deep understanding of the vast world that Joey gained in his exploration of sex. Only when one understands forbidden love and recognizes its naturally given attributes, can sex truly possess the transcendence of sex itself.
This transcendence not only transcends the binary opposition between women and men, but also transcends the patriarchal structure and legal system. Ultimately, it also transcends the sexual morality regulated by civilized society and moves towards true freedom.
Of course, patriarchal structures and social disciplines remain omnipresent. Thus, at the film’s end, Selman, who claims to be asexual, still thrusts his limp, non-male-dominant penis into Joey in the darkness. Lars von Trier offers a cruel, ironic side to reality. Even Selman, who listens to Joey throughout and expresses understanding for her actions, and critiques patriarchy, still finds himself drawn to male patriarchal laws and power when presented with the opportunity to explore sexual possibilities, telling Joey, “You’ve slept with thousands of men,” implicitly implying that one more man doesn’t matter.
he institutional structure of patriarchy not only dominates women, but also men. Selman’s behavior “collides” with Joey’s “self,” and Joey’s shooting of him is a clarion call for women to declare their full autonomy over their own bodies.
From this perspective, the issues explored in “Nymphomaniac” rise, or rather, return, to the very concept of sex itself. Lars von Trier doesn’t stop at exploring the possibilities of women’s liberation. Feminists shouldn’t solely focus on von Trier’s so-called “female suffering model” to assess his personal stance on women or feminism. Instead, they should explore his work to explore more diverse perspectives on women and sex.
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