LGBTQ Thoughts [movie spoilers]

[metoo]

[...]As for the hair, an impoverished serf's son in the 16th century would have short hair after his mum or dad cut it, and longer, perhaps much longer, until it needed its next cut. It wouldn't a static thing.[...]

This very much depends on the social norm at the place and time. If having unkempt hair was viewed upon with a frown, Elias' parents might have been rather persistent keeping his hair within acceptable limits. Whatever those were.

[drakkar]

Everyday life and struggle for survival might have had just as much impact on Eli's appearance as his need for realising his inner feelings.
For example, if he finds out that appearing as a girl makes it easier to evoke peoples symphaty in order to come close to them so he can nom them, then he'll do that. A hunter would dress for the hunt. And, it doesn't seem to go that deep - he doesn't appear to fool Håkan, who fancies young boys.

Btw, in the film I can't recall see Eli regenerate, but in the book he does. Wouldn't that imply that he has exactly the same hair length as he had when he was turned (which also in the book was rather long)?

[metoo]

I can't remember that anything specific was said in the novel about Elias' appearance.

It is true that in the novel Eli got white strands in his hair, more the longer he went without food, and that those white strands disappeared when he had fed again. But it is disputable if this means that his hair regenerates. Rather, to me it seems to be one of those features we have to attribute to magic, since there is no natural explanation to it.

But apart from this, I personally prefer to attribute as little magic as possible to Eli. Therefore, I think his hair would be wearing and growing like normal human hair, and that he occasionally would have to cut it.

[lombano]

Eli's gender situation is relevant for the dynamics of the story, not least with Oskar. For example, when Eli says he's not a girl, it's somewhat different if it's "sorry my hunting outfit fooled you" or if there's a hint of regret in it. Even possibly accidental elements tell us something - like int he basement scene, Eli wearing a pink sweater isn't quite the same if it's a case of "you mean pink is for girls? oops," if it's Eli forgetting to change from her work clothes, if it's to make herself look good for Oskar, etc.

[metoo]

For me, as a fan fiction writer, it is also important that JAL intended Eli to be androgynic. I should try to adhere to that, and neither make Eli into a boy nor a girl. However, I prefer to use male pronouns referring to Eli, since that is what JAL himself does in the last chapters of the novel.

But Eli's androgynic nature could be explored further than has been done in the novel. Towards the end, it seems Oskar has settled on Eli being a boy, and he has come to terms with the implications of that. But if Eli truly is androgynic, Oskar might have some more to learn. That would indeed be an interesting subject to explore in a fan fiction or two...

[dongregg]

Eli's gender situation is relevant for the dynamics of the story, not least with Oskar. For example, when Eli says he's not a girl, it's somewhat different if it's "sorry my hunting outfit fooled you" or if there's a hint of regret in it. Even possibly accidental elements tell us something - like int he basement scene, Eli wearing a pink sweater isn't quite the same if it's a case of "you mean pink is for girls? oops," if it's Eli forgetting to change from her work clothes, if it's to make herself look good for Oskar, etc.

Maria Strid did such a bang-up job on Eli's outfits that it is probably well to discount anything that we might see as an accidental effect.

There are three areas that we could focus on: examples of Eli trying to appear "normal"; Eli's fashion sense; and any gender effects that Eli adopts.

When Eli is showing Oskar how she worked the Rubik's cube, she has clearly made an effort to appear normal -- Her sweater is more weather appropriate (although short-sleeved), and her hair and fingernails are clean. "Do I smell better?"

Eli's pink and light-blue sweater at the kiosk looked nice (somewhat feminine in my estimation), but we don't see much fashion sense at work -- the sweater is a little small for her, and she has it held together with a large safety pin.

All three areas come together in the basement scene. As for gender, she is dressed like a boy, and I imagine it is a sort of disguise in that a girl meeting Oskar would be sure to draw attention. But when she takes off the jacket, we see that the too-large trousers are held up with a string, and the pink sweater is a glaring mismatch to the rest of the outfit. It seems very feminine to me but sadly isolated from the overall effect of her garb.

What does it mean (i.e, what did Tomas and Maria mean) when Eli changed out of her ratty shift and put on Håkan's red turtle neck?

It would be hard to ignore how cute she is dressed when she rings Oskar's doorbell -- an ecru shirt, with very short "sleeves," and navy bellbottoms. This to me is the only time where she seems to have deliberately selected pieces of clothing that actually go together (fashion sense) and that are unequivocally feminine.

I would say that wearing Oskar's mom's dress from that point forward could be some kind of statement by TA and Maria Strid. Not sure.

None of this is definitive. Mostly, each example could easily fall into any of the categories. To my mind, the clothing choices feel largely as though they reflect the "otherness" of Eli and, when she makes the effort, an attempt appear less "other." As for dressing in a way that would appeal to Oskar, I guess that any gender aspect of that choice would not have occurred to Eli before she first wondered at the kiosk as to whether they were just friends or whether they were a boy and "girl" on a date.

Anyway, this is at least an opportunity to celebrate Maria Strid's contribution to the cinema magic.

P.S.: I should just mention that the psycho pants seemed feminine to me from the get-go, but how do they seem to Eli? She could just be wearing them a lot because are a good fit?

[a_contemplative_life]

I think that the flexibility that comes with Eli's androgyny makes her/him a more interesting character. Eli can kinda be whoever he wants to be, an ability that few of us share, or I daresay spend much time thinking about.

[lombano]

Maria Strid did such a bang-up job on Eli's outfits that it is probably well to discount anything that we might see as an accidental effect.

I meant accidentally on Eli's part, such as putting on random clothes. I'm sure the combination of feminine and masculine items in the basement scene, for example, was carefully chosen to convey androgyny.

What does it mean (i.e, what did Tomas and Maria mean) when Eli changed out of her ratty shift and put on Håkan's red turtle neck?

IIRC, Tomas has said it was an effort to dress up for Oskar.

It would be hard to ignore how cute she is dressed when she rings Oskar's doorbell -- an ecru shirt, with very short "sleeves," and navy bellbottoms. This to me is the only time where she seems to have deliberately selected pieces of clothing that actually go together (fashion sense) and that are unequivocally feminine.

Which suggests that Eli isn't completely clueless as to clothing, suggesting her progressively girlier appearance is deliberate on her part.

[metoo]

What does it mean (i.e, what did Tomas and Maria mean) when Eli changed out of her ratty shift and put on Håkan's red turtle neck?

IIRC, Tomas has said it was an effort to dress up for Oskar.

In the novel, Eli was dressed in a t-shirt he'd got from the trash. Oskar noted this, and Eli changed because of Oskar's reaction of disgust. I guess Eli changing in the movie traces back to this.

[dongregg]

It would be hard to ignore how cute she is dressed when she rings Oskar's doorbell -- an ecru shirt, with very short "sleeves," and navy bellbottoms. This to me is the only time where she seems to have deliberately selected pieces of clothing that actually go together (fashion sense) and that are unequivocally feminine.

Which suggests that Eli isn't completely clueless as to clothing, suggesting her progressively girlier appearance is deliberate on her part.

That is the simplest explanation, and it makes sense. As to her fashion sense, I would like to think that it developed a little bit during the film as Eli sought ways of pleasing Oskar. IOW, Eli starts off indifferent to how she dresses, moves through a phase of dressing more appropriately, such as warmer-looking clothing, and then begins to fine tune her choices to suit what Oskar might find attractive (red turtle neck; feminine shirt and bellbottoms).