Renfro's character, Marty, is the rather submissive friend of Stahl's character, Bobby. They've been friends since they can remember, but it has always been the case that Bobby, who has a taste for kink, rape, and psychological domination (which necessarily extends towards the physical as well), treats Marty as a subservient plaything. Indeed, Bobby is the quintessential "asshole," while Marty is the ultimate yes-man, heeding Bobby's every word. We see the archetypal master and slave relationship manifest itself in modern suburbia (in Florida, of all places!), where the master needs the slave to do his bidding (and in the process affirm the master wholeheartedly), while the slave needs the master to give his life meaning (here we may recall Manson's lyric: "We love the abuse because it makes us feel needed"). Needless to say, the relationship is simply fascinating in that it captures the very vulnerability of both characters--the slave and the master--as a result of the sadistic and masochistic interdependence that is the very heart and glue of their relationship. They feed off each other in the sublimated S/M relationship that they have created for themselves, blurring the distinction between the pain of domination and the pleasure of surrender (or is it the pleasure of domination and the pain of surrender?).
Either way, neither of them is ever fully in control of the other. In one telling scene, Bobby punches Marty while Marty's driving, and Marty pulls over and walks away angrily. Bobby then demands of him, "Get back in the car!" Pushed beyond the brink, Marty runs towards Bobby and punches him in the gut. Bobby readily apologizes, and they drive off together once again--Marty bleeding from his nose, and Bobby recovering from the debilitating punch to the stomach. As is characteristic of such sadomasochistic relationships, the labels of master and slave constantly shift around. Indeed, that is the attraction of such relationships. There are no preset rules of conduct such as those that govern the patient/doctor or father/son relationships. All that Bobby and Marty have to guide them in their behavior towards one another is the other's individual, spontaneous reactions to whatever happens. Both are faced with unpredictable obedience to unpredictable demands. This affirmation of each other's absolute subjectivity is at once their source of "fear and trembling" (as Kierkegaard would have it), and their source of authenticity.
Unfortunately, authenticity is not easy to come by, and neither is it easy to maintain. Marty is eventually tempted by the Ethical, represented in the character of Lisa, his girlfriend. She is an outside force, and hence cannot see anything redeeming in the sublimated S/M relationship of Marty and Bobby. She convinces Marty that it would be best if Bobby were put in his place, once and for all. Hence a plan to murder Bobby is set in motion. This is interesting because of the implications it has on the search for authenticity. As an outside force, Lisa sees only evil in the fact that Marty and Bobby have a relationship that doesn't have rules, that doesn't adhere to the Moral Law (indeed, it doesn't adhere to any law--that's what makes their relationship so terrifying and beautiful all at once). Marty is therefore tempted to leave the uncertainty of absolute subjectivity for the more comfortable life of ethical rules and ethical conduct, as dictated by social norms; to leave the Subjective Irrational for the Objective Rational.
He is finally convinced by the outside force of Lisa, and decides to kill his best friend (and best enemy). In doing so, however, he gives up the life of willful self-assertion that was his life of authenticity. He will no longer refuse to assent to the demands of the Rational Universal Moral Law, but will instead give in to the necessarily self-denying nature of its rules. Marty seeks a pre-defined identity in seeking a different relationship with a definite role, such as those that constitute the patient/doctor relationships. The doctor has certain ethical standards that he must abide by when in his role of doctor, as does the patient. The doctor is a role-filler, not a role-creator. Likewise, in rejecting Bobby, Marty seeks a role-filling identity for himself that will tell him how to act, what to believe, how to be. The burden of subjective authenticity is too much for him to bear.
The actual murder scene is hard to watch. Marty and Lisa, along with 5 other accomplices, gang up on Bobby and strike at him with knives and baseball bats. And the audience feels every single blow. I could not help but thinking of the depravity of mass-rule self-complacently disguised as the Ethical. They all take part in the killing because they feel that Bobby deserves it--that it is right for him die because of his unethical thoughts and behavior. Indeed, who's to stop them? The herd is a most powerful force that can easily overcome such things as creativity and authenticity through sheer might. In fact, that is the only way the masses can overcome the free spirits who engender the dangerous ideas that might overturn their status quo and their self-complacency. In this world, might equals right. Marty, Lisa, and the others collectively become the Enforcers of Values, and promptly slit the throat of all that is bright in this world of dark despair.
And so another free spirit bites the dust. I should note that the movie is based on a true story, and was directed by Larry Clark, the director of KIDS. The real-life Marty Puccio is currently serving his sentence of life in prison; the real-life Bobby Kent was murdered in 1993.
"...this movie is full of brave and quite powerful performances by the cast entire..."
director: larry clark
starring: brad renfro, rachel miner
nick stahl, bijou phillips
michael pitt
