Talk to Her

123 Pages·2009·0.44 MB·English

by  A. W. Eaton

Talk to Her
Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most renowned film directors of
recent years. Talk to Her (Hable con ella) is one of the most discussed and
controversial of all his films. Dealing principally with the issue of rape,
it also offers profound insights into the nature of love and friendship
while raising important philosophical and moral questions in unsettling
and often paradoxical ways.
This is the first book to explore and address the philosophical aspects
of Almodóvar’s film. Opening with a helpful introduction by Noël
Carroll that places the film in context, specially commissioned chapters
examine the following topics:
• The relationship between art and morality and the problem of
“immoralism”
• Moral injury and its role in the way we form moral judgments,
including the ethics of love and friendship
• The nature of dialogue, sexual objectification and what “listening
to” means in the context of gender
• Almodóvar’s use of allusion and the unmasking of appearances to
explore hidden themes in human nature.
Including a biography of Almodóvar, Talk to Her is essential reading
for students interested in philosophy and film as well as ethics and gender.
It also provides an accessible and informative insight into philosophy for
those in related disciplines such as film studies, literature, and religion.
Contributors: Noël Carroll, A.W. Eaton, Cynthia Freeland, Robert B.
Pippin, C.D.C. Reeve, and George M. Wilson.
A.W. Eaton is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois
at Chicago. She has published articles on the relationship between ethics
and aesthetics, pornography, and feminist aesthetics.
Philosophers on Film
The true significance of film for philosophy, and of philosophy for
film, cannot be established in abstract or general terms. It can only
be measured in and through individual philosophers’ attempts to
account for their experience of specific films. This series promises
to provide a productive context for that indispensable enterprise.
Stephen Mulhall, Fellow and Reader in
Philosophy, New College, Oxford
Film is increasingly used to introduce and discuss key topics and problems
in philosophy, whilst some films raise important philosophical questions
of their own. Yet until now, dependable resources for those studying
and teaching philosophy and film have been limited. Philosophers on Film
answers this growing need and is the first series of its kind.
Each volume assembles a team of international contributors who
explore a single film in depth. Beginning with an introduction by the
editor, each specially-commissioned chapter discusses a key aspect of the
film in question. Additional features include a biography of the director
and suggestions for further reading, making the series ideal for anyone
studying philosophy, film and anyone with a general interest in the
philosophical dimensions of cinema.
Forthcoming:
• The Thin Red Line, edited by David Davies
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, edited by Christopher Grau
• Memento, edited by Andrew Kania
• Blade Runner, edited by Amy Coplan
Talk to Her
Edited by
A.W. Eaton
This edition published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2009 A.W. Eaton for selection and editorial matter; individual
contributors for their contributions
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Talk to Her/edited by Anne Eaton.
p. cm.—(Philosophers on film)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Hable con ella (Motion picture). 2. Almodóvar, Pedro.
3. Motion pictures—Moral and ethical aspects. I. Eaton, Anne
(Anne Wescott).
PN1997.2.H33T35 2008
791.43(cid:1)72—dc22 2008010507
ISBN 0-203-87903-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 10: 0–415–77366–0 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0–415–77367–9 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–77366–9 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–77367–6 (pbk)
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Contributor biographies xi
Note on the director xiii
1 Noël Carroll 1
TALK TO THEM: AN INTRODUCTION
2 A.W. Eaton 11
ALMODÓVAR’S IMMORALISM
3 Robert B. Pippin 27
DEVILS AND ANGELS IN ALMODÓVAR’S TALK TO HER
4 George M. Wilson 45
RAPPORT, RUPTURE, AND RAPE: REFLECTIONS
ONTALK TO HER
5 Cynthia Freeland 69
NOTHING IS SIMPLE
6 C.D.C. Reeve 85
ACELEMÍNOF SHIT: COMEDY AND DECEPTION
IN ALMODÓVAR’S TALK TO HER
Index 107
Illustrations
All illustrations in this volume are reproduced from Talk to Her, Dir. Pedro
Almodóvar (2002).

Acknowledgments
This volume grew out of a session on Almodóvar at the Central Division
meeting of the American Philosophical Association, April 2005. Heartfelt
thanks to Louise Antony for making this session possible. Without her
encouragement this volume would not exist. The editor would also like
to thank Tony Bruce for his vision in organizing this valuable series and
the others at Routledge for their help in producing this volume. Finally
the editor would like to thank the contributors for their patience and,
more important, for their excellent essays.