Interpretation, spoilers:
At first, Big John is portrayed as a creepy old pervert. He goes out of his way to meet Howie, he tries to seduce Howie with a porn video and stories of his own oral sex prowess, and he sleeps with a young man living at his house. Soon, however, we learn that he is not such a predator after all. Both when Gary leaves and Howie's father is arrested, Big John is there to support Howie. Like a father, he even teaches Howie to shave. When John kicks out his previous youth lover, the audience gets the feeling that Howie is the new replacement and that now that the two are alone, the expected sex scene will occur. Instead, we learn that John is a true gentleman when he pushes away Howie's come-ons.
Thus, we have two mutually exclusive pictures of John. The first that stalks little boys and takes semi-nude pictures of them. This is the John that nearly defiled Howie before the propitious telephone call. Later, the second John emerges and when he and Howie are alone again, John inexplicably is no longer a boy-hungry pedophile.
The second John is still on the mind of the audience when he is shot, so we are supposed to feel sorry for him. `Aww, pedophiles are not so bad' we are supposed to think, when in actuality the writer had attempted to play us for a bunch of fools by putting two Johns into one body. From what the audience sees, the second John is not a pedophile, and hence, the theme of the movie is ruined.
This movie was supposed to be one that shocked us out of our beliefs about `the last taboo,' as the preview so confidently proclaimed. In actuality, this movie stops short of the desired goal. The movie should have attempted to make the audience feel for John at the same time that they are aware he is having sex with children. A sex scene with Howie is the only logical conclusion. Instead, we get the current anticlimactic end. As is, the first half of the movie is about pedophilism and the second is not; I doubt this is what the makers were going for. In the first half, John is disliked; in the second half, he is liked because dislike of pedophiles reigns supreme before and after the movie. With an idea like this, the movie creators should go all the way or not at all.
At first, Big John is portrayed as a creepy old pervert. He goes out of his way to meet Howie, he tries to seduce Howie with a porn video and stories of his own oral sex prowess, and he sleeps with a young man living at his house. Soon, however, we learn that he is not such a predator after all. Both when Gary leaves and Howie's father is arrested, Big John is there to support Howie. Like a father, he even teaches Howie to shave. When John kicks out his previous youth lover, the audience gets the feeling that Howie is the new replacement and that now that the two are alone, the expected sex scene will occur. Instead, we learn that John is a true gentleman when he pushes away Howie's come-ons.
Thus, we have two mutually exclusive pictures of John. The first that stalks little boys and takes semi-nude pictures of them. This is the John that nearly defiled Howie before the propitious telephone call. Later, the second John emerges and when he and Howie are alone again, John inexplicably is no longer a boy-hungry pedophile.
The second John is still on the mind of the audience when he is shot, so we are supposed to feel sorry for him. `Aww, pedophiles are not so bad' we are supposed to think, when in actuality the writer had attempted to play us for a bunch of fools by putting two Johns into one body. From what the audience sees, the second John is not a pedophile, and hence, the theme of the movie is ruined.
This movie was supposed to be one that shocked us out of our beliefs about `the last taboo,' as the preview so confidently proclaimed. In actuality, this movie stops short of the desired goal. The movie should have attempted to make the audience feel for John at the same time that they are aware he is having sex with children. A sex scene with Howie is the only logical conclusion. Instead, we get the current anticlimactic end. As is, the first half of the movie is about pedophilism and the second is not; I doubt this is what the makers were going for. In the first half, John is disliked; in the second half, he is liked because dislike of pedophiles reigns supreme before and after the movie. With an idea like this, the movie creators should go all the way or not at all.