Seth: What I am I working on? I'm working
on something that will change
the
world and human life as we know it.
Ronnie: Change it a lot or just a bit?
Ronnie: Do you ever change
your clothes ? ....
Seth: .... I change my clothes every day.
But the most egregious offense
between the sexes is the area of sexual harassment. At times, women are treated like objects. After having an
argument with his new girlfriend, Seth Brundle walks into a bar and engages in a conversation with a suggestively attired
woman who is watching an arm-wresting contest, and he shows an interest (“I like you tonight”) in Tawny,
the woman.
Seth: I got a hundred bucks says I can beat either one of you.
Marky: Take a hike, asshole!
Seth: .... Here’s
my hundred. And I get to take the lady home
for the night if I win.
Tawny: Sez who?
Do I look like a hooker to you?
Marky: Hey, Tawny. It’s an easy
hundred.
The film
shows the changes two men who are involved with the same woman go through in the course of the story. It is not coincidental
that they both have the same initials (SB). One (Seth Brundle) is decent as the story begins and evolves into a son
of a bitch later triggered by an act of jealousy when he mistakenly believes that Ronnie is having relations with her former
boyfriend (Stathis Borans). The other male Stathis begins as a son of a bitch (after Ronnie terminates relations with
him) and evolves into a caring person by the end. It seems men cannot deal with emotions in, or at the end of, a relationship:
Since both Stathis and Seth were first involved with Ronnie professionally and then romantically and since both of them turn
into monsters of sorts, it can be deduced that men do not handle breakups well. The changes that occur to both men serve
as a metaphor for the need for societal changes in male-female relations.
In the final scene in the story, Seth asks Ronnie: “Help me. Help me be human.” The movement
toward humanity is desired. Seth finds it when he gets involved with Ronnie, but he loses it just as quickly.
In truth, both men in the story, and on a universal level, all men, need to be humanized.
Seth Brundle changes as a result of his interaction with Veronica even though their first meeting ended
in near rejection. At first he admits to not having a life (“I don’t have a life so there’s nothing
for you to interfere with”); later he develops a relationship with Ronnie, and they hint at vacation plans. He
is reclusive and secretive about his work; his "farming out work" implies that in his environment people don't interact
with each other. Later he confides more in her and they are seen outdoors. He dresses better when he buys clothes
for him; his original wardrobe (which consisted of multiple pairs of the same clothes) showed a lack of imagination which
characterizes his work. His eating habits change from fast-food cheeseburgers to spicy Chinese. He is inspired
by Ronnie to solve the problem with transporting living creatures. His work on objects is a metaphor for his lack of
social skills.
On the night that they talk (using words like “holiday”,
“romance”, “old married couple”) about making plans to deepen their relationship without the encumbrance
of work, everything begins to change when Seth uses himself as a guinea pig, and he begins to slowly evolve into a non-human
form when a fly gets caught in the works.
His personality
changes from benign to brutal. While he once suffered from motion sickness, he now can swing from a high bar and climb
walls. He becomes hyperactive and restless (the beginning of predatory behavior): “Let’s go!
Move! Catch me if you can!” He increases sugar intake. While he once showed sensitivity to the death
of a baboon, he shows insensitivity both to Ronnie by calling her a "fucking drag" and to the man in the bar whose
wrist he broke in the arm-wrestling contest. He begins incredibly stronger in the later example and when he easily carries
Tawny up the many flights of stairs to get to his apartment. Seth also begins a voracious sexual animal.
His physical transformation into a fly seems to be the heart of the story. It is what makes
the film repulsively memorable to viewers. Seth loses his nails, ear, teeth, hair, and eventually his complete exterior.
As he notices the exterior changes, he wonders: “What’s happening to me? Am I dying? Is this how it
starts when I’m dying?” What this foreshadows is the death of his humanity.
One scene serves as a litmus test for the viewer’s sensitivity to what is happening
to Seth. When Ronnie sees Seth looking like a cancer/AIDS patient, three events occurs: He spews acid on food, loses
an ear, and is embraced by Ronnie. The most violent emotional reaction from the audience occurs when Ronnie shows humanity
to, what seems like, a terminally ill patient since it seems unlikely that Seth will ever improve. The filmmaker asks:
Which is the most emotionally upsetting scenes in which Seth physically connects with people, especially women?
After Seth totally metamorphosizes into Brundlefly, he makes a speech to Ronnie which contains
a germ of truth in the way men, at their worst, interact with women.
You have to leave now and never come back here. Have you ever heard
of insect politics? .... Insects don’t have politics. They’re
very brutal.
No compassion. No compromise .... I’m
saying I’ll hurt you if you stay.
That
brutality is shown in the final scene when Seth acts brutally with Ronnie’s former lover Stathis Borans by spewing
acid (i.e. a metaphor for abuse in the film) on his hand and ankle melting them and almost scorching his face.
In the course of the story, Stathis Borans evolves from unsympathetic to sympathetic.
Through Ronnie, we learn that his past history with her had immoral undertones: He was her college professor and “started”
her in journalism. This implies that he took advantage of her sexually. And his interest in sex continues even
after the relationship is over with forms of harassment. He imposes himself upon her in her apartment by entering without
being asked and showering: “I felt a bit scummy.” He is scummy, but in a way that water will not eradicate.
Ronnie:
How did you get in?
Stathis: I have a key, remember? You gave it to me.
Ronnie: I knew I should have changed the lock.
Stathis:
I knew you wouldn’t.
Ronnie: Yeah?
Stathis:
Yeah ... That’s because unconsciously you still want me
to come back. Move in again.
Ronnie:
No. That’s because very consciously I’m very lazy and
disorganized.
Displaying jealousy, he refers to Seth as Ronnie’s “new playmate”. When
it seems unlikely that he will leave on his own volition, she poses a question.
Ronnie: Are you getting out
or am I?
Stathis: I’ll go. I have to put this [magazine] issue to
bed. Do you want me
to come back
later and tuck you in?
Ronnie: No! ... Key!
Stathis: I’ll keep it. For old time’s sake.
Stathis stalks her. When
he finds her buying clothes for a man whom he intuits is Seth, he causes a scene in public with a sexual allusion.
Ronnie: I am finally onto something that’s big! Huge!
Stathis: Yeah. What? His cock?
Ronnie: Crude, Stathis. Very crude.
Even though he knows that Ronnie is involved in
another relationship, he makes a proposition.
Stathis: What about sex? I’m not saying love for affection. Just stress-
relieving sex. You and me.
Ronnie: You’re disgusting. As always.
Stathis:
Wouldn’t want to disappoint you.
When he
discovers that Ronnie still cares about a man who is losing his humanity, his final sexual remark has a sense of humor:
“Do I have permission to clean your body when this is all over?”
