If anyone has seen the musical
movie, Moulin Rouge, you are probably
aware of the main villain, the Duke. The Duke is the villain of the movie
musical who wants Satine like a cat wants cat nip.
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For those of you who don’t know what Moulin
Rouge is, it’s a musical with the overall theme of freedom, beauty, truth,
and love. It’s set in the Bohemian artistic period of France and is centered on
Christian, a young penniless writer just starting out in the world. He stumbles
into a case of mistaken identity at the Moulin Rouge burlesque bar, where he is thought to be the Duke. Satine, the wannabe actress confuses Christian for the Duke,
and the two begin a love affair. Their relationship is met with the challenges
of the relentless Duke and the obstacles of life.
However, from the many times that I
have viewed this film I have reason to believe that the Duke is a sufferer of
molestation. He may have been a child when this occurred and is just experiencing
the results as an adult. I say this because he doesn’t appear to be showing the
symptoms as though it recently happened. Rather, it appears he’s suffering the
effects as though it took place during his childhood. Below are my three
reasons why I believe this claim.
1)
He Has Possible Trauma– when he makes the deal
with Ziddler about turning the Moulin Rouge into a theater, you notice he has
his bowler hat is in his lap. This is a typical custom to remove a hat during
an important event and place it in the lap or on the coat rack. At one point, we
see him furiously fumbling with his hat claiming that he doesn't like “people
touching his things.” The camera focuses
on his lap while he does this. The scene is below here from Nostalgia Critic's review of Moulin Rouge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLqXH95rye4
- Youtube
I feel like this scene could be a personal, traumatic flashback he’s experiencing
that the audience does not witness. How he delivers the line is in pure anger
as well as his actions. However, we are constantly focused on his lap with the
hat covering his groin. His things could refer to his genitalia if he was ever
sexually molested. Even Ziddler has a reaction of pure horror at the Duke’s
outburst.
2)
He Confuses Emotional Needs With Sex – in Moulin Rouge ‘love’ is something
understood by artists and not greedy businessmen, like the Duke. However, the
Duke wants Satine for the reason of lust. He is immediately aroused by her
dance moves and skimpy outfits. As a possible victim of molestation, the Duke
would have a specific need for sex as a way of nurturing his pain. Sex is the
only way that it can be cured for.
The things he was relating to in the previous number also relates to Satine
because it’s who he wants in the Moulin Rouge. She is a prostitute, a woman whose job is to give physical pleasure to clients. He considers her as nothing more than a sexual object. His
lust comes to a peak when he attempts to rape her in the Gothic Tower. He no
longer treats his relationship with Satine as something civil but as a horse that needs to be broken. The Duke performs threatening sexual acts towards her like
ripping off her corset and throwing her onto the bed like a piece of luggage.
3)
He Has Trust Issues – in order to ensure that his deal goes the
way he wants to, he holds onto the deed of the Moulin Rouge. When he discovers
Satine is with Christian, he attempts to rape her. When he doesn't get his
ending he tries to kill Christian and even orders Christian to be murdered by
Warner, his body guard. These specific situations show the extremity of how far
the Duke will go when not trusting others. Yet when we see him rehearsing the
plays and popping in on Satine and Christian (who are constantly making out), he immediately trusts them
without a thought.
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