Loud silences and abusive families
Spanking the Monkey
Opening in Sydney June 1 and Melbourne June 9
Previewed by Lou Stanley
The film is well directed and at points quite funny, but the most disturbing aspect is the audience's response to incest. The incest is left out of most reviews, because if you say it, then the sexual relationship between Ray and his mum becomes unacceptable. The silence, which speaks very loudly in this film, is conspired with by the audience and film reviewers.
Ray's family is abusive; the nice label is dysfunctional. Ray copes with this by constantly masturbating, or as they call it, "spanking the monkey". It seems the monkey is no longer on your back but in your groin. Unlike Bad Boy Bubby, Ray is home from medical school and looking after his mother who has a broken leg. The only way to describe Ray's father is as a total @#$%$$#.
Director David O. Russell shows the awkwardness of Ray's sexuality through his encounters with Toni, a school girl who lives near his parents' home. Ray escapes the family, but as with so many dysfunctional families, there is no real resolution to this film.
The question that arises is, "Is incest funny?" Many of the establishment press review this film as a '90s version of The Graduate or Risky Business. Gee wizz Olly, I can't remember Mrs Robinson screwing her son and turning him into a suicidal basket case.