Rose Troche wrote the screenplay and directed "The Safety of Objects (2001)". I've got to hand it to her. She certainly did a fine job of linking social alienation and the commodification of human relations.
Rose poses these questions : Can one feel emotionally alone amongst people living in the heart of "upper middle class" suburbia? With real, sensuous subjects largely gone missing (i.e. human beings with genuine feelings of solidarity and love for each other) does one seek solace in the company of objects? The answer I give is, "Yes". My impression is that Ms. Troche thinks so too, but she has another take on the possibility of transcending this misery.
Granted, some of the objects, which/who are NOT subjects (well, only in our 'Barbie-est' of imaginations) are purchased. And some, (in a brief flash of subjectivity) have sold themselves into particularly alienating forms of wage-slavery. I say "particularly alienating" because these forms of wage-slavery appear to leave the human being in a state of having parts of their humanity hacked off. Granted, wage-slavery is a numbing experience for all of us. Such a cost we pay for selling ourselves in to it.
What's the choice though? Nothing or organizing to rid ourselves of the wages system. 99% of us choose the former and thereby suffer and continue to chafe under this system. But! What a playground it makes for artists like Troche. She romps around our collective misery and tell us what phonies we are and still, she gets paid for it! Wow! You go, Rose!
Enough with the hyperbole. The film is well acted, though the acting isn't perfect. So much the better in some ways. At least, one doesn't recognize say a, Bruce Willis or a Nicole Kidman AGAIN! More power to Bruce and Nicole, but for my money, I prefer an unknown who can do the part. And why not? There is good to fine acting in this film.
Do we ALL have to grovel and to worship the STARS? Hell no.
"The Safety of Objects" is NOT about how everyone discovers that they should have paid more attention to things which matter. No. What you've got here is a depiction of situations in our everyday lives which actually MIGHT occur. Okay, so you haven't heard of EXACTLY these situations developing. Hah! Dig this: the son of Gold goes from being a subject to an object. Talk about symbolism! Remember that. It'll be essential for understanding the story weave. Another thing to remember is Naturalism. Naturalism is the philosophical drive behind explaining how God is (I can't resist) essentially capricious with HIS power.
See this movie. Beware, there are pieces which you will see earlier on, which will only become apparent to you later, as the film rolls or digitizes through your viewing mechanism. No worries. With "Safety of Objects" you'll see something about your post-modern, industrialized, computer age selves. In other words, the film conveys a bit of, "the condition, your own condition is in."
Plastic people? Well, maybe so. If the shoe fits...
