History Film / Mammoth

* AsianHookerStereotype: A major plotline starts with Leo visiting a place where sex-workers and clients hook up, just to have a look. [[DeconstructedTrope He obviously expected the local prostitute to be a living stereotype: Finding out that she's a regular normal person makes him shocked and confused]]. He awkwardly tried to take up the role of MightyWhitey KnightInShiningArmor instead, but it doesn't work. After that, he spends the rest of the story trying to convince himself that he's a heroic lover and that [[spoiler:paying a sex-worker "for not having sex" and then have sex with her after all]] does not make him a John. [[spoiler:This also fails miserably, and he end up leaving her without even saying good-bye... [[ReconstructedTrope Thus after all treating her as a lowly whore to be used and discarded]].]].

* WhiteMaleLead: ...except that he's a DecoyProtagonist.

* AsianGalWithWhiteGuy: When Leo met the Thai sex-worker Cookie, it confuses him to find out that she's a regular person rather than an AsianHookerStereotype. He falls in love with her, having a brief romance where he keeps making all kinds of promises to her. He is completely honest, believing his own unrealistic fantasies about how he's not a John and how he's going to give her a better life and everything. [[spoiler:Of course, he ends up realizing that he does have a wife and daughter at home. And thus, he ends up sneaking away in the night, leaving his Asian lover without even saying good-bye.]]

Not to be confused with the 2006 monster movie starring Creator/SummerGlau.

Much of the story revolves around the angst Ellen and Gloria feel over being separated from their children. Ellen is too busy taking care of dying kids at the hospital to take care of her own daughter, while Gloria is too busy taking care of Ellen's daughter to be there for her own little kids. While these women are extremely different in social status, they come across as being quite similar as human beings and actually living chillingly similar lives.

* InternalizedCategorism: Averted, since Cookie doesn't take Leo's [[PityingPerversion pity]] to heart: His pity ''would'' have made her feel like a [[DefiledForever lost and dirty little whore]] (in desperate need of getting saved by him, no doubt), but it appears she just shrugs it off [[spoiler:along with the rest of his self-deluded bullshit]].

* PityingPerversion: Believing prostitution to be horrible, Leo keep feeling sorry for Cookie in a way that's actually shaming her and would damage her emotionally if she [[InternalizedCategorism internalized it]].

* AsianGalWithWhiteGuy: When Leo met the Thai sex-worker Cookie, it confuses him to find out that he's a regular person rather than an AsianHookerStereotype. He falls in love with her, having a brief romance where he keeps making all kinds of promises to her. He is completely honest, believing his own unrealistic fantasies about how he's not a John and how he's going to give her a better life and everything. [[spoiler:Of course, he ends up realizing that he does have a wife and daughter at home. And thus, he ends up sneaking away in the night, leaving his Asian lover without even saying good-bye.]]

* AsianHookerStereotype: Averted in a way that makes it a major plot point. When Leo meets the thai sex-worker Cookie, he must have expected a hooker stereotype: finding out that she's just a regular person makes him startled and confused, incapable of knowing how to handle such a situation. He tries to do a MightyWhitey KnightInShiningArmor routine... Fails miserably, and spends the rest of the story trying to convince himself that he's a heroic lover and that [[spoiler:paying a sex-worker "for not having sex" and then have sex with her after all]] does not make him a John. [[spoiler:This also fails miserably]].
** As for the "all Asia women are sex-workers" version of this trope, the movie averts it by having Gloria as a central character, Gloria's mother as an important side character, and loads of minor female Asian characters who have nothing to do with the sex industry.

* AsianHookerStereotype: Averted in a way that makes it a major plot point. When Leo meets the thai sex-worker Cookie, he must have expected a hooker stereotype: finding out that she's just a regular person makes him startled and confused, incapable of knowing how to handle such a situation. He tries to do a MightyWhitey KnightInShiningArmor routine... Fails miserably, and spend the rest of the story trying to convince himself that he's a heroic lover and that [paying a sex-worker "for not having sex" and then have sex with her after all] does not make him a John. [[spoiler:This also fails miserably]].

This is [[WhiteMaleLead the story about a white man]] and his life... or not. Leo is a good-looking white guy with an interesting career, but he's also a DecoyProtagonist in a story that is really about three women and their children. Ellen is white and rich. She is a well-payed doctor, and she's married to Leo who is just about making a business deal that will get him over 40 million dollars. Gloria is Asian and poor, the nanny of Ellen's and Leo's daughter. Cookie is Asian and most likely poor s well, working as a prostitute.

Much of the story revolves around the angst Ellen and Gloria feel over being separated from their children. Ellen is too busy to take care of dying kids at the hospital to take care of her own daughter, while Gloria is too busy taking care of Ellen's daughter to be there for her own little kids. While these women are extremely different in social status, they come across as being quite similar as human beings and actually living chillingly similar lives.

* AsianGalWithWhiteGuy: When Leo met the thai sex-worker Cookie, it confuses him to find out that he's a regular person rather than an AsianHookerStereotype. He falls in love with her, having a brief romance where he keeps making all kinds of promises to her. He is completely honest, believing his own unrealistic fantasies about how he's not a John and how he's going to give her a better life and everything. [[spoiler:Of course, he ends up realizing that he do have a wife and daughter at home. And thus, he ends up sneaking away in the night, leaving his Asian lover without even saying good-bye.]]

* AsianHookerStereotype: Averted in a way that make it a major plot point. When Leo meets the thai sex-worker Cookie, he must have expected a hooker stereotype: Finding out that she's just a regular person makes him startled and confused, incapable of knowing how to handle such a situation. He tries to do a MightyWhitey KnightInShiningArmor routine... Fails miserably, and spend the rest of the story trying to convince himself that he's a heroic lover and that [paying a sex-worker "for not having sex" and then have sex with her after all] does not make him a John. [[spoiler:This also fails miserably]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:As Leo betray Cookie and sneak away in the night, it becomes obvious that she never expected any better from him anyway. Surely she encountered the "I'm a good guy, not an exploitative John" kind of exploitative John many times before. As a final mes-up, he leave her two extremely valuable items, but didn't bother telling her that they were valuable or why. She ends up pawning them for a few bucks, missing out on over 15.000 dollars that would surely have improved her life. As a final twist, she talks on the phone with her beloved little child, who she rarely gets to meet - thus revealing to the audience that she's in the same shitty situation as Ellen and Gloria.]]

* HopelessSuitor: Averted, not a part of this story. However... [[spoiler:The aversion is notable because the narrative builds up to putting Cookie in this role, as Leo tries to fill her head with dreams of a better life with him. At the end, it is made clear that his dreams was his own alone: She understood him far better than he understood himself. Thus, she was not surprised or visibly saddened when he left her without even saying good-bye. Just another self-deluded client making his exit.]]

* PityingPerversion: Believing prostitution to be horrible, Leo keep feeling sorry for Cookie in a way that's actually shamin her and would damage her emotionally if she [[InternalizedCategorism internalized it]].

* UnproblematicProstitution: Selling sex and "girlfriend experience" to silly white guys comes across as emotionally stressful or maybe even draining, but it still comes across as far less awful than the alternatives presented. Try being a night-shift doctor, not getting enough sleep and spending your nights watching children die without being able to save them. Or try being a nanny, hearing on the phone how your own children's lives are spiraling into hell while you are busy taking care of another woman's child... a rich woman who is jealous at you, frightened that her daughter may love you more than she loves her.

* HopelessSuitor: Averted, not a part of this story. However... [[spoiler:The aversion is notable because the narrative builds up to putting Cookie in this role, as Leo tries to fill her head with dreams of a better life with him. At the end, it is made clear that his dreams was his ow alone: She understood him far better than he understood himself. Thus, she was not surprised or visibly saddened when he left her without even saying good-bye. Just another self-deluded client making his exit.]]

* HopelessSuitor: Averted, not a part of this story. However... [[Spoiler:The aversion is notable because the narrative builds up to putting Cookie in this role, as Leo tries to fill her head with dreams of a better life with him. At the end, it is made clear that his dreams was his ow alone: She understood him far better than he understood himself. Thus, she was not surprised or visibly saddened when he left her without even saying good-bye. Just another self-deluded client making his exit.]]

* AsianGalWithWesternGuy: When Leo met the thai sex-worker Cookie, it confuses him to find out that he's a regular person rather than an AsianHookerStereotype. He falls in love with her, having a brief romance where he keeps making all kinds of promises to her. He is completely honest, believing his own unrealistic fantasies about how he's not a John and how he's going to give her a better life and everything. [[spoiler:Of course, he ends up realizing that he do have a wife and daughter at home. And thus, he ends up sneaking away in the night, leaving his Asian lover without even saying good-bye.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:As Leo betray Cookie and sneak away in the night, it becomes obvious that she never expected any better from him anyway. Surely she encountered the "I'm a good guy, not an exploitative John" kind of exploitative John many times before. As a final mes-up, he levt her two extremely valuable items, but didn't bother telling her that they were valuable. She end sup pawning them for a few bucks, missing out on over 15.000 dollars]]