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Notes on Martyrdom
There was a show on Oprah regarding children or people who admit to crimes they did not commit under extreme pressure from authorities. Oprah asked the audience if they thought they could ever admit to a crime they didnt commit. She said she thought she couldnt. I believed her. So what gives some people the strength, the conviction, to never admit a wrong they did not commit while others break down more easily. This is the subject of Pascal Laugiers French Horror Film Martyrs. The first thing that drew me to the film was that my cousin told me it was supposed to be the most horrifically gory movie according to many people who watched it. I was in a horrormovie phase during that time as well. But what really stood out to me was the cover:

There is something about the cover. Kind of hard to describe. Something emotive, something special. Two people huddled together in the face of something sinister and unknown

Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

Well, whatever the case, it drew me in as did the first scene in the movie - an extremely disturbing scene of a young tortured girl running for her life. There was just something about how extremely tortured and devastating it looked that really captured my attention. There are things that Laugier did that worked very well for the first parts of the movie. The creepy part showing girls playing is one it sets the tone. The other thing is the monster which first only appears black. The next time one sees it, its in the kitchen. But there is only a flash of it. Laugier doesnt show too much of it in the beginning which makes it much creepier. After that, Lucie, the young tortured girl who is now a teenager, takes revenge on the family that did these things to her - a seemingly normal family. After a number of scenes, the part that stood out most to me was when Anna hears noises and discovers a steely hallway with various pictures of disfigured people. This part was great, because not only are those pictures significant later to the more important theme, during this part they are unsettling just as disturbing pictures of what the audience thinks is just an ordinary horror film. I also like the eerie coldness of the large hallway compared to the seemingly normal house. Later Anna finds a young woman - scarred and emaciated - in the cellar. I think Laugier did a fantastic job creating a truly, truly disturbing victim. She is more chilling than the Medeiros girl from REC, and though she is not a monster, she resembles one; thus, being devastating and eerily threatening at the same time. The metal helmet drilled into her head makes her feel alien and works well with the scars to create a truly horrific and gut-wrenching image. After some scenes dealing with this new revelation, we finally get Anna handcuffed to a chair. Enter Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle is a wonderfully compelling character possessing the eeriness, conviction and shrewdness one would expect in a person heading her type of organization. Not only that, the way she speaks and the dialogue Laugier has given her is expressive and captivating. She talks about how Lucie was just a victim and that there are so many victims in this world, but martyrs are rare. She reveals the true importance of the pictures in the hallway and talks about how martyrdom is not reserved for Christians or believers in God. The scene involving Mademoiselle was one of the most breathtaking scenes Ive ever seen and one finally gets a sense of what this was all truly about. Like Gosford Park that appears to be the classic murder mystery on the surface but is far more than that beneath, one begins to see that Martyrs was not just gore for the sake of it the way Inside largely was. It was not torture porn. The extremeness of the ruthless inhumanity is needed to capture the extremeness of the subject matter.

Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

Martyrs are classically known as those who sacrificed themselves, most often in the name of a God or religious belief. But this is clearly not the martyr Laugier refers to. The martyr complex (described on Wikipedia) is defined as those who seek out suffering and pain. I dont think this is entirely accurate either as I dont think the martyrdom described in the film is one that intentionally seeks out pain. So a new term has to be created. For now Ill call it atheist martyrdom. Going back to Oprah, part of her ability to not admit she did wrong when she is innocent and one of the secrets of her success is the atheist martyr complex. It allows her to place special value on certain things that might seem trivial to others a waste of time and energy but that to her seem important; thus, she pursues these little things until they become big things which others are surprised by because they find it hard to imagine how she achieved such feats. Another celebrity example is Yuna-Kim, the figure skater from South Korea. Her skating is extra expressive because she possesses this complex. She is also able to endure extra pain for those extra little details during practice which give her an edge over other skaters. Like Oprah, she can place value on something that may not have value to most others and they take the quote excellence comes from doing normal well to the extreme. Both Kim and Oprah (likely) see success as some kind of heaven an extra special heaven that seems so much greater to them because of this complex. Thus, they are able to pursue it more, with an integrity towards their respective craft, and go above and beyond others because of how much more valuable success is made to seem in their eyes. Kim and Oprah are also charitable, both donating large sums of money and, I hope, with the genuine intention of easing suffering for others. But people who possess this complex are far from perfect. Society is filled with too much shallowness that it is far less painful to be shallow and have the qualities that society sees fit: money, success, celebrity. Ive complained that Oprah focuses far too much on material goods, influenced poorly by American culture. And Kim is famous for her talent and athletic accomplishments, though this complex is much more special than a recipe for success. However, as Dickinson stated, the heart asks pleasure first. Thus, its easy to get caught up with more shallow qualities when youre getting so much adulation. It also helps one avoid the situations described in the rest of Dickinsons poem regarding pain and suffering. Kim and Oprah are current examples, but in a shallow celebrity-obsessed society, current examples are often chosen for their glow of success over a deeper glow.

Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

As for those who are aware of its deeper intrinsic value, few historic figures (that I can think of) describe and/or exhibit the complex more powerfully than the two Emilys. No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere: I see Heaven's glories shine, And faith shines equal, arming me from fear. O God within my breast, Almighty, ever-present Deity! Life--that in me has rest, As I--undying Life--have power in thee! Vain are the thousand creeds That move men's hearts: unutterably vain; Worthless as withered weeds, Or idlest froth amid the boundless main, To waken doubt in one Holding so fast by thine infinity; So surely anchored on The stedfast rock of immortality. With wide-embracing love Thy spirit animates eternal years, Pervades and broods above, Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears. Though earth and man were gone, And suns and universes ceased to be, And Thou were left alone, Every existence would exist in Thee. There is not room for Death, Nor atom that his might could render void: Thou--Thou art Being and Breath, And what Thou art may never be destroyed -Emily Bronte Im almost positive that what Emily Bronte is describing in this poem is what it feels like to experience and possess the complex of the atheist martyr. A God within her breast that exists even when existence is gone. I feel that this feeling, this phenomenon, is what Laugier refers to when he has Anna martyred so she can see past our reality. The complex is depicted in the film as being so powerful that it continues to exist after boundless pain has caused one to let go of all other states of mind. I think its a very creative way to portray the power of the experience.
Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

Brontes poem ties in excellently with other parts of the film. One can describe atheist martyrdom as validation where there is no validation; internal value when all our sense of external worth what is worthy to society, has been stripped. This type of internal value is much more powerful than simple high self-esteem. High self-esteem often says to itself: I feel good and that I am somebody and Im proud of the talents and skills that I possess. Atheist martyrdom says to itself (and others): Im nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too? Then theres a pair of us! The reason Dickinson can say she is a nobody with such ease is no handicraft of poetry where she is merely making up thoughts that sound nice, it is because she still feels value when society gives her no value at all. But its an honest value. One that can sense something special within itself and feels validated as a result. People who do not have this are normal and many are good people but they need societys validation and feel lost without it lost from deviating too far from accepted norms. Thus, all the creeds about standing up against authority or the majority are generally vain and worthless as described by Bronte; with only very few having the decency to oppose. These creeds are worthless as withered weeds because people dont go very far with them as we can see all around us. People cannot leave the herd. Leaving the herd to the human is more painful than going to war as Dickinson discusses in To fight aloud is very brave. There are more people who go to war than truly stand up against everyone to be different. At least what they do can be seen; at least they have others doing the same and they know no one in society says what they do is wrong. People, like Samantha Power, pretend to be a dissident when they are merely standing up to one sector of society to look good to a sector of society viewed as more valuable. Lucie is a victim. In Martyrs, all normal people are victims. The pain of being different from society literally is as painful as being scarred and emaciated (again, people go to war before they choose to be truly different.) Thus, people go with the crowd to avoid such pain. And we have seen countless examples of those who have gone insane or killed themselves because what they see as truth differs so much from society. That small, easily opened crack described by Laugier is very accurate; as is his description of how to create a victim: You lock someone in a room with no light; soon they begin to suffer, then you feed the suffering slowly, methodically, systematically, coldly for a long time. This is similar to why people admit to things they did not do if put under enough pressure and duress for a long enough period, but also easily describes why people are so unwilling to be seen as different total rejection from societys standards can feel as horrible if not worse than lacerations or solitary confinement. Martyrs, as Laugier describes, are special. They can endure countless suffering. They can be transfigured to bear all the sins of humanity. But to do this takes pain, because the heart asks pleasure first and will walk away with sin before it walks away with martyrdom. But for some, the pain of the world slowly teaches them what true value is. Emily Dickinson perhaps wanted to have beauty, like most women do. It would have been easier. However, she might grow up and find out she is not considered beautiful in the eyes of society. This happens to many and many find new qualities to be proud of. But what happens when all of these qualities are stripped or become useless? Some people, after enough loss of socially commended traits, still experience a worth within themselves a very special worth along with a very special beauty.
Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

And as a result of this, these people learn. They learn what true worth is. If physical beauty is not present and there is still this deep sense of worth, appearance must not be so important. If one is unpopular, even isolated, yet still feels this worth, then perhaps status was not so important. A greater purity emerges and this is considered redemption because at least someone is not so vain. Laugiers film depicts this by having girls who must be limitlessly tormented and endure pain that has no bounds in order to bring out this special glow from within. Narcissism is not the same. The narcissist has no internal worth or even identity without society. Their identity is whatever lie they have created for themselves. They need other people to act as mirrors and reflect back on them an identity they like to see and want others to fall for. Thats why they get so angry if this is threatened. It threatens their very existence. Thus, narcissistic rage sets in to reclaim themselves because they feel like you tried to kill them, even though all you did was expose them. False face must hide what false heart doth know. With all this in mind one sees why Anna evolved the way she did. Her sympathy to others was reflected back on herself. Sympathy and compassion are traits of the martyr Oprahs givingness, Kims expressiveness, the deep human understanding of the two Emilys. The way Anna helped the emaciated victim. The way she held her hand. Anna gives this back to herself later when she is being tortured. I love the way she strokes her cheek with the back of her hand and the selection of music for the scene. It was an extremely touching scene. And there is such a feeling of nobleness and resilience attached to it. But gallanter, I know, Who charge within the bosom, The cavalry of woe. -Dickinson Other things I loved about the movie are, as somewhat mentioned before, how it plays itself off as gory horror but is actually about something more profound; the idea to use the complex as a way to peer into the afterlife; the ominousness of the hallway and torture chambers; the creepy underground organization conducting these experiments; the gathering of senior members who definitely looked appropriate for the part; as well as the ending. Laugier did a wonderful job, in my opinion, with the ending. The mystery of what Anna sees is superlatively enticing. But what did Mademoiselle see and what could live up to the expectation created up until now? I think Luagier made the best choice in leaving the audience guessing. But he did it in a very artful way creating great suspense with her slow, resigned movements; creating intrigue with her sudden despondency; and building up to a scenario where one no longer knows what to expect. I like how whatever she saw was so profound it made her take her own life; and though we can obviously never know, it genuinely felt like she knew. What she saw could have been nothing or it could have been a place where people who did what she did are punished for it (and she feels she deserves it.) Or it could be any multitude of possibilities.

Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

He also did a wonderful job in choosing what people are good candidates to be transfigured. All the real life examples I listed are females. Laugier never says males do not possess such things, but he said its more common in females. I would say that its also more noticeable in females because they are able to display more emotion. They are also (arguably) more emotional. The age he picked was a fitting choice too. Highest rate of suicide attempts is among young teenage girls a time of extremely high emotion. As they become young adults, they retain a lot of that high emotion but also a wisdom that helps one understand. Bronte died at 30 and wrote No Coward Soul is Mine at 28. At the same age, Dickinson began reviewing poems she wrote at an earlier age. Her early 30s were her most productive period. Thus, in their late 20s they progressed to a wisdom in how they wanted to record the feeling, but it was not necessarily the height of the feeling itself, which may have been earlier. Anyone who reads Dickinsons poetry knows shes been through a maelstrom of pain. She represents the trait so well and describes so many aspects of the phenomenon. She is actually more used to it than not because pain she can push through with martyrdom; thats what the complex was designed for after all (or at least one of the things.) I can wade grief, Whole pools of it, I m used to that. But the least push of joy Breaks up my feet, And I tipdrunken. -Dickinson As described one can get so use to using the complex they actually become destabilized without the pain they are used to. Yuna-Kims performance at the Worlds after she won the Olympics is a fitting example. She could barely keep balance on the ice and didnt really understand why herself. Emily Brontes How Beautiful the Earth is Still has a similar theme. She is used to longing for something, not use to success. And by fulfilment, hope destroyed basically describes Kim after winning the Olympics. Dickinson also describes the feeling of something when most others feel nothing: THERE is another Loneliness That many die without, Not want or friend occasions it, Or circumstances or lot. But nature sometimes, sometimes thought, And whoso it befall Is richer than could be divulged By mortal numeral. -Dickinson
Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

After reading this, one can see why the extremity of brutality in Martyrs was actually fitting. Dickinson had a soul of extremity. I made my soul familiar with her extremity That at the last, it should not be a novel Agony -Dickinson Extremity allows perseverance through pain. This type of extremity cannot be captured easily. So many intellectuals love moderation. Breadth also takes extremity and I feel Dickinson describes many intellectuals in her poem: He praised upon breadth till it argued him narrow, The broad are too broad to define. Shakespeare has very aesthetically pleasing art, but it can never truly capture the complex of the atheist martyr. Shakespeares work for example is pleasing because he excels in moderation knowing not to overdo certain things and where to add certain things. And its not wrong for people to find it pleasant, but there seems to be an anger and a hatred directed towards extremity. Thats because extremity is not necessarily healthy. A healthy person is not extreme. Average people are a walking multitude of sin and contradictions. Contradictions give people reproductive success, and were all guilty of it, but this is part of the problem and part of why some people feel humanity is so full of ugliness. Moderation gives a greater appearance of health, but health is not the same as truth. Is a moderate amount of truth more true than the entire thing? Many academics treat it that way. Is there such thing as too much beauty? Is less beauty preferred? Can someone have too much integrity? Can someone be too good? In my opinion moderation has the right to be pleasant just as extremity has to right to be accurate. I wanted to close with talking about the warmth that seems to be associated with the complex. Notice in Brontes How Beautiful the Earth is Still, she uses the words thee and directs very sympathetic words towards the reader. I think Kims skating also possesses this warmth which draws people into her; as does Oprahs advice regarding spirituality. And this warmth that wants to envelope another who is in pain is wonderfully captured and articulated in Dickinsons poem There is another sky. As with Bronte, she expresses it to a person - speaking directly to that person creating a much more tender connection and personal experience for the reader.

Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.

There is another sky, Ever serene and fair, And there is another sunshine, Though it be darkness there; Never mind faded forests, Austin, Never mind silent fields Here is a little forest, Whose leaf is ever green; Here is a brighter garden, Where not a frost has been; In its unfading flowers I hear the bright bee hum: Prithee, my brother, Into my garden come!

And its no doubt that Anna had this warmth. One could see the compassion in her eyes. I havent seen a large amount of films and I definitely cant (and dont want to) speak for everyone, but for me, personally, I would declare Anna the greatest heroine of film. -Lawrence Lai

Copyright 2012 Lawrence Lai All rights reserved.