Jonathan Miller teacher, writer, human being

 One thing before we take a closer look at Mr. Miller...

People still keep talking about the film, and I think this is a good thing.

What is not a good thing , is the fact that some parts of society are not even able to appreciate art in its various forms anymore.

How boring and narrow minded.

Ten years ago this film would have been a huge success, now it's a niche film for people who still allow themselves an own opinion.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear:

I absolutely think #metoo and everything around it is very important.

We need to address such things loud and clear!

But lumping all things together is wrong , and demonizing art will make us nothing but stupid, and we miss out on things that formed generations before us, and made such an impact on so many people.

Miller's Girl is a perfect example of what art should do:

Make us think, provoke us to shape thoughts on an emotional and intellectual level.

And this is what art can and should do.

A discussion about it.....brilliant!

Demonizing it....wrong!

This goes out to everyone who calls relationships between ADULTS ugly and weird and disgusting ONLY because there is a huge age gap, and one part is a young ADULT and the other one is much older.

Comments not related on the teacher- student relationship but the age difference.

Those comments shows how disgusting your thinking is, not OURS!

I don't know if this is simply the lack of tolerance and experience, or if you cannot imagine anything besides your world, or people just enjoy to spread stupidity around.

Because besides the fact that I find intolerance extremely exhausting and incomprehensible, but what I find most disturbing is that people who make such comments and demonizing Miller are acting shallow and most of all denying Cairo the ability to make decisions.

And again I'm not saying Miller was right and Cairo wrong.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

I don't blame either him nor her in this post, because we have a separate post coming about this matter...BUT...

Just because a person is young does not mean they do not know what they're doing.

On the contrary!!

I started a six years relationship with a man who was 30! years older than me when I was 18! Yes 18 and 48! Shocking...😒

And I assure you, no I guarantee you,that I was the one who initiated it!

I wanted it! I was determined to get this older man! And nothing and no one could have ever talked me out of it.

It was my decision.

And over twenty-five years later, I can still relate to every decision I've made back then.

A young person is not some imbecile who needs the public as a guardian.

Age gaps in relationships are as old as the world, and as someone who lived in such a relationship for many years, let me promise you that no other relationship brought me so much joy, experience and meaning on every aspect of life like the one with an older man.

You will see today our take on Jonathan Miller while we dedicate the second article coming later this week to the villains and victims of the movie. Stay tuned!

I will also write about scenes and my views on them within the next months.

You will most definitely read more about Jonathan Miller during the summer!! 

Jonathan Miller is a writer.

For most people he might be a teacher, but he still sees himself first and foremost as a writer.

He's a middle aged man, charming, good looking and he is weak.

Complex but weak.

Jonathan Miller is a complex man, he seems not very layered when we first meet him.

More like an mild mannered kind Professor.

We couldn't be more wrong.

Jonathan was once an ambitious man, a writer , a lover, an intellectual.

This is for sure still inside him...somewhere, but all ambitions have left him, and with it the respect of society.

In his mind, teaching is good.

Writing is better.

That's why he's still a writer.

He sees himself as a writer and watching the film reminded me on a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke.

Words he addressed to a young writer:

If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing . . . then you are a writer.

I love Rilke's letters to a young poet and I immediately thought about it again when I watched Miller's Girl.

Jonathan is an example that being a writer, an actor or a painter is not a job description.

it's a life's decision.

Writing is inside Jonathan and that is what he feels day and night.

But the cold, bleak truth is, that he hasn't written a single thing in years, and teaching medicore pupils is all he does.

And he might hate himself for it.

Jonathan is full of rage, but clearly unable to address it.

He is caught in a web of mediocrity, humiliation and frustration.

Yet he's taking his job serious, but there is a paralysed stagnation that almost oozes out of him.

We can totally imagine this man being a successful writer, and we know this and only this could give him back the lively enthusiasm and backbone he so clearly needs.

Before I continue my take on him, and before we introduce Cairo let see what audience member and guest blogger Michy has to say about Miller's Girl:

I don't think he's as bad as Boris. He isn't giving out his number or being openly flirty and sexual with students. It sounds like he also does it more often. 

Jonathan doesn't give out his number, never makes any sexual references to her, even though they discuss a very risqué author, and yes, he does offer her special treatment, but, from an academic point and not because he wants to get her in bed. 

He is obviously drawn in by her and cannot help that. They see each other and have that attraction which is undeniable. 

He is fascinated by her and her talent, its then made into a bigger, and more obvious thing by B and Boris, just like how it's Winnie that points it out to Cairo. 

He becomes obsessive, firstly because she's smart, she reads his book, he's so used to having mediocre pupils and she obviously appreciates him, which no-one else does. She's the only person that makes him feel good about his writing and tries to get him to continue.

 When Cairo and B both talk about why he doesn't write anymore, Cairo notices he's uninspired and gives him something to write about, being his life falling apart, whereas B just puts him down as always, saying he gave up, he's more suited to teaching etc....

I think that he didn't realise that attraction to her until she recited his story to him and before that, he was just fascinated by her, because of her talent.

 Her doing that, made him feel how his wife makes him feel when he recites something he's read, like when he touches her on the sofa, while reciting Cairo words. 

She tells him to "do the thing" which means it's a sexual thing they do, which means he would automatically feel that, but it was more extreme than if someone else did it. 

More of Michy's thoughts will be seen on Thursday!

Jonathan Miller is described as boring more than once in this film, and unfortunately he is always present when it happens.

Jonathan is everything but boring!

Fact!

He is full of layers but his immediate environment doesn't seem to notice.

Maybe they can't see him with all his depths, because they are no longer interested , and perhaps his lack of ambition is a fact that makes the people in his nearest environment aggressive ,and sadly especially his wife lost all respect and deference.

But without this, a relationship with another person is impossible.

His wife is strong and he is weak.

( Again more about her and other characters including Jonathan and the villain/ victim question will be discussed in a separate post on Thursday! ) 

People seem to constantly overlook the ordinary man who walks into a classroom with flowers.

Flowers for his desk, probably coming from himself because he is the only one who would do this for him.

A vase with flowers for a desk in a classroom.

Like it would be the desk of a writer in a room full of inspiration.

The man who is overlooked by society and his wife, awaits nothing when something extraordinary happens..

He gets a new student and this young woman, because that's what she is - a young woman walks in and changes almost everything with something he hasn't experienced in years.

She notices him!

Mr. Miller the teacher.

Mr. Miller the writer.

She is charming, refreshingly honest and admires his writing.

That is more than anything the way into Miller's heart and mind.

She has read his book!

Finally someone who sees him the way he wants to be seen.

Jonathan Miller is weak.

He is longing for attention, respect and yes maybe even admiration.

He gets zero attention from his wife, except when she humiliates him or needs him as a sex object.

Yes I'm going this far, and saying that she uses him and he is not strong enough to stand up for himself.

Beatrice treats him like old furniture.

She is vile and uses her power to show him his own failure.

Nothing she does is done with love or respect.

Even her physical approach is either mocking or belligerent.

In fact the first attempt of their lovemaking shows him dedicated and passionate, while she belittles him.

It's painful to watch.

The second try is even worse.

Read here Michy's opinion:

There's the fact that she's an alcoholic and that she only ever wants to be intimate with him, when words are involved.

 Like she likes the idea of him and his talent of eidetic memory, more than him, like she says, 

the alcohol makes him bearable. I fucking hate her for that. The pleasure that you see between then is all about her.

 I dunno whether they would have had sex, in the sofa scene, but I doubt it. It was just about her.

Here some visual evidence.

Don't get me wrong.

Sometimes sex between partners is wild and messy and that's brilliant.

And there are times when the pleasure of one partner is more important.

This is something that happens, and as long as it is playful and equally done everything is fine.

But not here!

His wife "needs" to hear him talking in a certain way to get aroused.

Jonathan the man is not enough.

It needs to be Jonathan the writer who's great with words.

And when she reaches the next level, she dominates him almost aggressively.

She grabs his face violently and even the kiss is completely controlled by her.

All he is able to do, is to put his tongue into her mouth but she sucks on his tongue, holding his head brutally in place.

He has no chance to reciprocate.

We could argue why he doesn't leave her, why he is not able to put himself together and regaining some self-esteem.

But we all know or at least some of us do, that once captured in a circle of resignation and humiliation a way out is almost impossible to find.

Cairo ( at first) has nothing but kindness and honest interest in him.

She is certainly flattered by his belief in her talent, yet she openly admires his book, ask questions even personal questions with a charm that makes it hard to resist answering them.

Of course, she's flirting and of course he should recognise her interest for what it is.

But is it really just this?

She is fascinated by him, and that includes his mind, the most important thing for him.

And without defending him or try to anticipate Thursday's post, but my father was a teacher himself, a good looking teacher with wit, charm and dark curly hair.

A lot of students admired him, and even my friends claimed him to be cool.

My female friends ( all around Cairo's age) and his students loved to spend time with him in class, workshops and class trips.

And it was always my Mum who told him to keep distance and be careful.

He didn't see it.

Even after 25 years in the job, he couldn't really imagine that students wanted anything else but discussing literature or history.

But my Mum opposite to Beatrice wanted the best for her husband.

Back to Jonathan..

So here is Cairo Sweet who notices him after years of ignorance and indignity.

And when we are able to fade out the inevitable future we can enjoy the way Jonathan nearly blossoms in the interactions with Cairo.

I would like to end for today with another quote from Rainer Maria Rilke and his letters to a young poet :

Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.

To be continued..

On Thursday!

For questions and suggestions or to chat please contact me: sabsigb7@yahoo.com