Movie Talks Archives

Posted by: JazzcatCB at April 28, 2005, 7:39 pm

Topic: "Perfect Blue" (9/10) Forum: JoBlo

I thought Perfect Blue was very good, but it couldn't touch David Lynch's surreaslist masterpiece, Mulholland Drive. I have given quite a bit of thought towards my interpretation of the events of Perfect Blue, and have included that interpretation below. ***SPOILER ALERT: FULL MOVIE SPOILERS PRESENTED BELOW*** I have decided that either Mima or Rumi is a multiple personality and that either MIma is one of Rumi's personalities or Rumi is one of Mima's. I have come to this conclusion because both Mima and Rumi see visions of "pop idol Mima" and it would be impossible for two different people to be seeing the same hallucination. I have decided that none of the events in the movie take place in the real world. They are all delusions occuring in Rumi/Mima's mind. There may be some basis in reality. For instance, there may be a real pop duet called Cham that Rumi/Mima believe Mima is a third member of. There may be a real TV program called Double Bind. But these are just props for Rumi/Mima's delusions. After some thought, I have come to the conclusion that Rumi is the real person*1 and that Mima is one of her personalities. When Rumi was raped, her personality shattered into many (or she may have been a multiple before the rape). The Mima personality came into being with the purpose of preserving what remained of Rumi's virtue following the rape. She "embodied" this virtue. In light of all the rage and shame Rumi felt as a result of the rape, it was critical to Rumi to keep Mima virtuous and innocent so that Rumi could keep this part of herself intact. Rumi constantly pressured Mima to be a pop idol, because in Rumi's eyes, this represented the purest, most innocent role she could play. But the Mima personality had plans of her own, and she became too restricted by Rumi's enforced virtuousness and rebelled, becoming an actress (her motives were probably mostly unknown to her as her subconscious was deliberately leading her toward a revelation of the rape event). Then the day comes when Mima acts out the "rape scene." The effect this has on Rumi is devastating. You will notice that during this scene, Rumi is shaking and in tears, and then she gets up and walks away -- clearly she is taking this much more personally than the typical detached observer. During this scene, not only is Rumi re-living the outrage and shame of her own rape, but she is witnessing the obliteration of the last vestiges of her innocence as Mima participates in this terrible act. Rumi's response to this is murderous rage. She wants someone to pay for her rape and for her/Mima's lost innocence. Since her life is a parallel of the TV show, it makes sense to put the blame on the scriptwriter*2. After all, he's the one who put the "rape scene" in the show (e.g. in her life) so he's the one who should pay. Thus, she arranges the scriptwriter's grisly murder (probably committed by Mr. Me-Mania, another of Rumi's personalities). Later, when Mima is compelled to disrobe for the photographer (subconsciously motivated by Rumi's deep sense of shame), Rumi has the photographer murdered as well. Once Rumi realizes that Mima is no longer the embodiment for what was left of her purity, and realizing that she is totally bankrupt of virtue, a "filthy woman" to the core, Rumi suffers a complete psychotic breakdown. She is unable to accept this state of affairs, and instead, determines to take Mima's place as the "pristine pop idol," the embodiment of her lost virtue. The problem is that Rumi is too filled with shame and hate to play this role successfully, and deep down, she knows it. This is why she appears to Mima as her pop idol self and taunts her about losing her pop idol status and becoming an actress. It's Rumi's way of taking revenge on Mima for betraying her and leaving her in this hopeless state. Rumi finally decides that in order for her to successfully take Mima's place as a pop idol, Mima must go. So she conspires with Mr. Me-Mania to kill Mima in a hit-and-run, but although Mima is hit by the truck, she's unharmed, because she's just a personality, and personality's aren't so easily killed. Toward the end of the movie, pop idol Rumi decides to kill Mima herself. First she appears to Mima dressed in a Cham dress and singing a Cham song. Then pop idol Mima appears as well wearing the same dress and singing the same song. In fact, both pop idol Rumi and pop idol Mima speak the same words in unison despite being visually presented as two different people. This symbolizes that they are actually two images of the same person: Rumi. This is further proven later when Rumi chases Mima in the guise of pop idol Mima. At the end of the movie at the hospital scene, we find Mima visiting Rumi/pop idol Mima. At this point, Rumi is no longer the dominant personality. She has suffered too many emotional traumas and is burned out. She no longer calls the shots; Mima does. So Mima decides that Rumi should be confined to the hospital while Mima pursues a glamorous career as an actress. That's my interpretation of Perfect Blue. If you actually read this far, thanks! I appreciate your interest. Footnotes: 1 - If I recall correctly, Rumi wasn't the name of the original person hosting the personalities. I think it may have been Yoko? And I think they said that there was nothing left of the original personality because it had become so submerged in the other personalities. 2 - In Rumi's TV program world, the scriptwriter is all-powerful. Everything happens according to his plan. One might surmise that the scriptwriter is an archetype for God. And since God the scriptwriter allowed the rape to happen, Rumi has God murdered.

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