evil nimadelolll

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One thing I haven't seen discussed in regards to Stay is the possibility of Henry having been sexually assaulted. Maybe I'm just reaching, but there are a handful of times throughout the movie where romance/sexuality is referenced in...odd ways (as if anything with Stay isn't odd).

The first time I noticed it was when Sam was talking to Beth, who suddenly changes the topic.

"I wanna kiss you. Do you want to play a kissing game?" "Beth." "No. You're loyal. You're a good dog. Good, loyal dog, Sam. What's her name? Lila? You should've let her bleed in the bathtub. She had the right idea." "What are you talking about?" "It's highly inappropriate. You're not supposed to fuck your patients, even the pretty ones."

This could just be a reference to Sam having a romantic relationship with Lila, who was supposedly his patient. He was listed as the doctor on her prescription, after all. Having said that, if there is a piece of Henry in every dream stranger, could this be representative of something he actually went through (as in patient/doctor relationships)?

Then, on the rewatch, I noticed another scene; the one where Lila is asking Sam to validate her.

"Tell me I'm good." "You're good." "Tell me they'll remember me." "Who's they?" "The world." "Is that what you want? [pause] The world will remember you. Now take off your clothes."

This sequence is just all so...off-putting. It makes me think that Henry values himself only when he is valued by others. That would make sense, given how he is constantly worried about making it as an artist and is very self-critical (plus there's also the scene of the woman in the psych ward screaming that she's love-able and not a monster). If that were the case, maybe he feels the need to be wanted sexually in order to feel better about himself. I can't help but notice that such a response is common in sexual assault victims.

Again, maybe it's reaching...but this movie is so symbolic I think it's worth discussing. Let me know what you guys think maybe okay bye