Great Expectations 1.11: You May (Not) Kiss Me If You Like

Okay peeps and peepsvenas, cards on the table. I like English. I read the fuck out of Great Expectations. It’s one of two fiction books I own that have highlights. I wrote an essay on it which was 70% focused on the last line of it. And a film of it came out recently.

So yeah. Pip and Estella’s relationship is kinda fucked up if you ask me (which you do, at your peril) since it’s kinda based on idol worship and emotional abuse. In fact, watching it now, it seemed kinda...familiar...

"I'm so fucked up"

The book had two different end lines; “I saw the shadow of another parting from her” and “I saw the shadow of no parting from her”. The first was the original, which Dickens changed because his friends thought it was depressing...

"Congratulations!"

But I always interpreted the second line to mean that Pip finally realised what it would mean to be stuck with Estella; that he could only see her flaws now that he had her, the shadow of no parting. But this is irrelevant, as the movie keeps things fairly ambiguous at the end. Actually, does it fuck. It’s basically the ending to empire strikes back; Pip says he loves her, she says “I know”. Well, not really, but you get the point.

Oh, and this movie’s version of Herbert pocket (who I’ve been calling Matthew for the past year or so) is about 50% gayer than the version in South Park.

Speaking of which, if you’ve seen the Season 4 episode “Pip”, The first half of that is incredibly accurate to the book. I’m dead serious. Hell, even the second half is still thematically appropriate, and I will explain why;

1. “This is my new boyfriend Scott. He’s 17 and has a car”

This is referencing a character that is apparently the main antagonist. I barely remember him being a presence personally, but then think the books more about Pip’s massive character defects than any kind of love story, so the only antagonist I would see is Estella and Miss Havisham. But yes, Bentley Drummle’s a dick weasel who is rich and a trust fund kid (SUBTLE SOCIAL COMMENTARY) who beats Estella and stuff. Estella stays with him because he’s the richest man in the world, and she feels that they are just punishment for one another. Which brings me on to...

2. “I need the tears of Men to power my Genesis Device”

Miss Havisham was wronged in the past by men, and wants to revenge. She does this by raising a daughter as a weapon against the male sex, and succeeds. She encourages Pip to love Estella because she knows that they can never be together, and she gets off on that apparently.

3. “And as for YOU Pip, my robot monkeys should take care of you!”

The Robot Monkeys symbolise 19^th century society and its corrupting influence, which is symbolised in the book by the sickness Pip gets as his debts are finally called in. And Penises. Symbolism is always Penises. Except when it’s a vagina. But even they are sometimes Penises. Or the Tarot.

So, in conclusion, this is a good film to watch.