Blog Post #8

Blog Post #8
Dana Watson

As I was finishing up The Crying of Lot 49, I came across a passage that seemed almost identical to a movie I have seen pretty recently. The passage is on pages 91 through 94, and explains how the founder of the W.A.S.T.E. almost took his life, but then decided not to. Then, towards the end of the excerpt, it tells about how the man will found a society of isolates, dedicated to swear off love. Well, this passage closely resembles the movie Wristcutters: A Love Story. In this movie, the plot resembles around characters who all commit suicide in the real world. After taking their life, rather than going to heaven or hell, they are taken to a new, desolate place and start a whole new life with others who have killed themselves. Also, in this new society they are apart of, emotions are not allowed; they cannot smile at all.

As I was reading, I pieced together quite a lot of similarities between the book and the movie. In both, those who are suicidal only want to be surrounded and contact by those who have the same thoughts and feelings as themselves (letters to the founder of WASTE and the “society of isolates”, as well as the suicidal community in Wristcutters). Also, both instances are void of any emotion. In the book, the founder wants a society of isolates that swear off love, whereas in the movie, emotions are forbidden.

Now, I’m guessing The Crying of Lot 49 and Wristcutters: A Love Story have no bearing on each other at all, but I just found the similarities to be quite interesting.