Line #23 YMMV/Rope


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Does Philip deserve sympathy? Is he just weak willed and manipulated by Brandon's persuasion? Or was he perfectly willing to go along with David's murder and is his remorse merely fear of getting caught?
3	** The nature of the two men's relationship as well. In the play the film is based on, they're clearly gay. In the film it's relegated to subtext (as mandated by the MoralGuardians at the time). The apartment has two rooms (Mrs. Wilson makes mention of "the first bedroom") and none of their friends seem to find anything odd in their behaviour. There is the possibility that Philip is gay and Brandon isn't (since he mentions a past relationship with Janet — though that could be Janet as TheBeard), adding to the possibility that Philip went along with everything out of a one-way crush.
4	** How much sympathy does Rupert deserve? He's spent his whole career lecturing people on his ideas, so is [[spoiler:his reaction to discovering the murder]] either EvenEvilHasStandards or NeverMyFault?
5	*** For that matter, does Rupert actually truly believe the ideas he preaches, or is it all just an act intended for shock value? Or [[TakeAThirdOption does he believe it but only as an interesting philosophical theory and not as an actual basis of morality]]? Despite his repeated insistence that he ''does'' believe murder to be an art reserved for a few elites during the discussion on the matter at the party and the subsequent argument with Mr Kentley, he noticeably treats the discussion a lot with a lot more [[BlackComedy humour and generally has a more light-hearted attitude]] towards the idea than Brandon does, and his [[DeadpanSnarker general attitude]] towards the others during the party suggests that he's the kind of person who enjoys intentionally shocking people simply for the heck of it. [[spoiler:Even his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech where he renounces the idea is written just ambiguously enough that it could go either way.]]
6	* AwardSnub: Fans these days are shocked that John Dall was never nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for his chilling yet FauxAffablyEvil portrayal of Brandon.
7	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
8	** Invoked by Rupert where he suggests murdering other diners in order to get Mrs Atwater a better seat in a fancy restaurant, among other things.
9	** Brandon gets a bit of very BlackComedy in by [[spoiler:wrapping the books for Mr. Kentley in the very rope he strangled his son with]]. It's so shocking it's bound to incite chuckles.
10	** Kenneth snarkily asks Brandon if he'd have David walk in on him and Janet in the bedroom. Brandon's response? "That'd be too much of a shock". Well he's not wrong.
11	* DancingBear: Creator/AlfredHitchcock regarded ''Rope'' as a failed experiment in stretching the limits of making a film [[TheOner as few cuts as possible]]. Film critics and historians would agree that the technical execution left much to be desired, but the writing and performances are still well regarded.
12	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Mrs. Atwater for being wonderfully pompous.
13	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
14	** Janet might claim she's never funny but her one-liners beg to differ.
15	---> '''Brandon:''' You look lovely.
16	---> '''Janet:''' I won't by the time it's all paid for.
17	** And when she spots Kenneth in the room, her GenkiGirl tendencies vanish. She even remarks "I seem to have run down."
18	** Brandon gets a good one in on Mrs. Atwater.
19	---> '''Mrs. Atwater:''' When I was younger, I used to read quite a bit.
20	---> '''Brandon:''' Well, we all do strange things in our childhood.
21	* HarsherInHindsight:
22	** It's pretty much written into the film. Janet gives Kenneth a speech about how David became her SecondLove — and she's looking forward to marrying him. But she won't get to marry him at all because he's been killed.
23	** Since 1999, the initials DK could be also linked to the infamous murder at UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}}.
24	* HilariousInHindsight:
25	** Mrs. Atwater being a fan of Creator/JamesMason, who Hitchcock would later work with in ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''.
26	** Rupert suggesting that there should be a time of the year when murder is allowed in order to improve society would decades later go on to be the premise of the film ''Film/ThePurge''.
27	** It's darkly hilarious that the actor who played David — Dick Hogan — did not appear in another film after this.
28	** Rupert's final piece of evidence is David’s monogrammed hat. These days, the initials DK bring [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong something quite different]] to mind.
29	* HoYay: Plenty between Brandon and Philip, especially at the start. This was as much as American censors would allow — the British play it was based on made the homosexual relationship much more obvious.
30	-->''You, perhaps. You frighten me. You always have, from that very first day in prep school, part of your charm, I suppose.''
31	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Rupert is a philosophy professor who taught all his students that there were a class of natural elites who had the right to murder the commoners, [[spoiler:then [[NeverMyFault insisted his words had been "twisted"]] when one of his students acted on his suggestions.]] He often gets more hate from viewers for his hypocrisy than Brandon does for actually committing the murder.
32	* LoveToHate: Brandon is a shit-tier human being, but John Dall's charismatic performance makes him a very compelling VillainProtagonist.
33	* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: After watching Brandon so arrogantly treat David's untimely death like an experiment and have dinner served [[LiteralMetaphor literally]] [[DesecratingTheDead over his dead body]], it's very satisfying to watch Rupert dress him down. He recognizes that although it was his fault that his ideas prompted Brandon and Phillip to commit murder, it doesn't make either of the two any less accountable for killing a man who had family, friends, and a history.
34	** Generally, Rupert calling out Brandon on murdering David (and even acknowledging it was his own rhetoric that inspired this) begs the question: [[HardTruthAesop who has the right to decide who should live or die by their hands]]?
35	* MoralEventHorizon: Brandon and Phillip cross it by murdering David Kentley just to feel superior to everyone else. Brandon even has several cruel KickTheDog moments where he wraps Mr Kentley's books [[spoiler: in the rope he strangled his son with]] or makes them have dinner on the chest David's body is in.
36	* QuestionableCasting: Creator/JamesStewart as an AmbiguouslyGay StrawNihilist? Stewart himself viewed this as one of his weakest performances.
37	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: As noted [[https://betterwithbob.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/my-100-favourite-films-in-review-number-98-rope/ here]], Rupert falls headlong into this. His discovery of [[spoiler:David's corpse]] is meant to be a wake-up call that his philosophy is horrifying. And yet the film ignores the fact that Rupert influenced Brandon for years on it — only to refuse to take any responsibility towards the end. Especially with the WordOfGod confirming that Rupert slept with one of his students.
38	* ValuesDissonance: Of course, the reason for the two men to be AmbiguouslyGay is because MediaNotes/TheHaysCode would not allow for such a thing to be shown in a film.
39	* VindicatedByHistory: The film was banned in several cities and Hitchcock never thought too highly of it. These days, while not to the extent of ''{{Film/Vertigo}}'', it's held up as one of his most underrated films.
40	* TheWoobie: David's mother Alice is a big offscreen one. While his father and aunt are distracted by the party, Alice is at home in bed worried sick about why her son hasn't stopped by or at least phoned her. Every time she phones the house to check if David is at the party, the others describe her as even more worried. And the last time, there's mention of her ringing loads of other places multiple times in a panic.

Context YMMV / Rope