Manhattan

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Ruben Profit English 201 Paper 3: “Manhatten” Temptation Living in a big city, we journey through life at a frantic pace. Along with the fast pace, we meet a large number of people who make a long lasting impression on us. In the many scenarios we are thrown in, living in the big city, those impressions are transformed into romantic interests. An ideal example is portrayed in the movie “Serendipity”, directed by Peter Chelsom. Taking place in Manhattan, “Serendipity” follows Jonathan and Sara who suddenly spark feelings for each other while fighting over a pair gloves in Bloomingdales, which they were going to purchase for their significant others. Jumping ahead five years, Jonathan and Sara find themselves getting married to their committed companions but both caught wondering what could’ve been between the two if they had took that spark a step further. The movie concludes with Sara and Jonathan at Bloomingdales drinking champagne on their anniversary. Jonathan and Sara were both caught up in the rush of being in the big city to where they became curious and wanted to explore their romantic interests. In “Manhattan”, Woody Allen projects that living in a fast paced city like Manhattan, people form so many relationships that they become blinded by their surroundings which causes people to fall victim to temptation and seduction. Being that we form many relationships throughout life, we grow and change interests in people at the same speed that keeps up with the pace of a big, fast-paced city. With the rush that comes with living in a fast paced city, people naturally adjust quickly to situations to where they find comfort. In “Manhattan”, after two divorces, Isaac, a 42-

year-old egocentric television writer finds himself dating Tracy, a 17-year-old high school student. Isaac thinks of the relationship that him and have is strictly temporary, whereas Tracy feels as if she’s in love with him. When Tracy and Isaac are both sitting on Isaac’s couch, in a room where light only shines on Tracy and Isaac’s staircase, Tracy goes on to tell Isaac that she’s previously been in three relationships prior to theirs. Tracy then goes on to tell Isaac that she thinks she’s in love with Isaac. As a response, Isaac goes on to tell Tracy, “Don’t get carried away. This [their relationship] is a terrific thing, and that’s wonderful and we have a great time but you’re a kid and I never want you to forget that. You’re going to meet a lot of terrific men in your life and I want you to enjoy me. My wry sense of humor and astonishing sexual technique but never forget you have your whole life ahead of you.” By saying that Tracy has her whole life ahead of her and that she will meet a lot of terrific men, Isaac insist that throughout life, people will naturally grow, form new relationships and shepherds her curiosity. Here, Isaac is encouraging her to form new romantic interests. Isaac also told her that he wants her to enjoy his him, his wry sense of humor and his sexual technique, assuming that they will soon part ways and experience new relationships. Isaac’s idea of both, forming new romantic interests is parallel to Alberoni’s idea on how animal sexuality is cyclical. Alberoni writes, “Human sexuality is not cyclical biologically speaking, but it is discontinuous. Also it is manifested in all its magnificence only during extraordinary periods as we’ve said, in love and in mating season.” (Alberoni, 1983, p. 15). Isaac and Tracy’s “extraordinary period” seem to have ended when Isaac moved into his new apartment and refused to have sex with Tracy because of the annoying sound coming from the neighbor’s apartment (assuming it came from the neighbor’s apartment), even

though Tracy urged them to continue. Isaac feels as if it’s Tracy’s age that’s making their relationship less extraordinary and less magnificent. Being that Isaac came out of two divorces, he’s confused about what direction to steer his love life in. When in front of a fork in the road, instead of staying in a relationship where he shared many commonalities such as interest, concerns and had an outstanding sex life, he went en route to a relationship which seemed more logical. People fall in love when their attempts to save previous relationships have failed. After attempting to reignite the flame that was their previous relationship, most people fall in love with another significant partner in a rather abrupt manner to satisfy the distress, which stirred from their previous relationship. Not only does Isaac but also his best friend Yale both seeks atonement for a relationship gone stale. In Isaac’s case, he seeks satisfaction for both his marriages and his relationship with Tracy, so he ends up falling for Mary, a journalist who was dating Yale, a married man. Yale considered staying with his wife but instead he decides to get back with Mary. When Yale first ends the affair between him and Mary, he neglects the temptation of continuing to cheat by saying that he has to focus on Emily (current wife), and proceeds to say that it was Mary’s fault for the break up because she brought it up by saying she wasn’t happy in the first place. By saying that the break up is her fault, Yale makes the allusion that if she had never brought it up that the affair would’ve continued and that he would’ve fell victim to the temptation and seduction which was the affair. Soon after Yale broke up with Mary and Isaac broke up with Tracy, Isaac and Mary began to spend more time with each other to where they form a romantic bond. In a lot of the scenes where the two were seen roaming Manhattan, it always seemed as if their relationship were being dominated by

the city itself. For example, in the scene where Mary and Isaac were driving back to Isaac’s apartment from the art gallery on the turnpike (58 minutes into the movie), they’re car was swallowed by the rest of their surroundings. Surroundings such as highrise apartment buildings, office buildings, and mass traffic encompassed their time shared together. Another example is seen when Isaac and Mary are first spending time together under the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge draws attention away from their relationship, almost as if it were non-existent. After Isaac’s first sexual encounter with Mary, Mary goes on to say that she would like everything to work out and Isaac replies, “You should leave everything to me, I’ll make everything happen, you don’t have to worry.” Here, Isaac is being what Alberoni called a “charismatic leader”, which Isaac needed to be if he wanted the relationship to work out but failed. Alberoni writes, “In other words, something that depends on the emergence of a charismatic leader. With his appearance of the scen, this leader breaks with tradition, drags his followers into a heroic adventure, and inspires in the latter the experience of inner rebirth and radical change in outlook of the sort which Saint Paul termed ‘metanoia’.” (Alberoni, 1983, p.5-7). Isaac failed to follow through as that charismatic leader and as a consequence, he lost both lost Tracy and Mary. Just as Jonathan and Sara cultivated instant chemistry in Bloomingdales, which happened to be true love, Isaac and Mary had a lust for each other that happened to have been created from their surroundings. Factors that are a part of their surroundings that aided Isaac into falling for temptation and seduction include Yale, Isaac’s previous relationship and his ex-wife, Tracy and the city of Manhattan. Isaac, Yale and Mary all let opportunities pass them by, which made them make the wrong decisions and

deteriorated their love lives.

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