“You just want to persuade people that you love them so much that they ought to love you back. You only want love on your own terms. Something to be played your way according to your own rules.”
-- Jedediah Leland, Citizen Kane
I know, I know, this is quite a film to tackle in my first
few posts on a new blog. But I just saw Citizen Kane for the first time last
weekend with my family, and I can’t stop trying to figure it out. I have a
couple of ideas, so this is the first in a two-post mini-series about the movie
– one criticizing Kane, and the other defending him.
This dialogue, preformed by the character Maurice Bernstein,
is a small example of a big message that I got from the film on the recurring
motifs of love, power, and identity. Bernstein relates the story about the
woman with the white parasol with the implication that he loves her, in some
way or another, despite having seen her for only a moment. His subsequent
recollections of her image presumably extend beyond the facts of what he saw to
include a fantasy woman, with a made-up personality. In his mind, Bernstein
created a fictional character out of a glimpse of this person, and in doing so,
he acquired complete control over her – she is his because he invented her – and, I will argue, that is the main reason why
he derives pleasure from the thought of her.
This is just one interpretation of Bernstein’s story, and I
know that it presumes a lot. But I believe it is a valid argument simply
because this fantasy, with all the same promises of love and power, repeats
itself time and time again throughout the film.
Kane’s own personal relationship, with ‘Singer’ Susan
Alexander, around which the plot is centered, is a prime example. This marriage
(his second) begins with a number of parallels to Bernstein’s experiences with
the Woman-in-White. Kane meets Alexander for one night only, and has no chance
to really get to know her. Additionally, Alexander herself arguably “didn’t see
[Kane] at all” (to quote Bernstein), because she does not recognize his name
and is unaware of his fame. Yet, much like Bernstein’s affection for the woman
from the ferry, Kane is instantly in love with Alexander and he leaves his wife
to marry her, instead. Because Kane has no way to know what this woman is
really like, his newfound relationship with her is based completely on his
imagination of her personality. This scenario creates an artificial dynamic in
which Kane simultaneously has authority over and is in love with Alexander,
because he created her.
Unfortunately, by indulging too fully in this fantasy, Kane
eventually runs his very real relationship into the ground. He begins by using
his status in the newspaper industry to propel her to fame as an opera singer,
importantly because that is what he imagined she wanted. He ignores, however,
any sign that she is displeased with the situation, until she attempts to
commit suicide. This devastating turn of events forces Kane to realize that he
is delusional: Alexander’s action is completely unexpected – that is, it is
something Kane’s falsified image of his wife would never do. The incident shows
Kane that he may be able to use his power to give his wife fame, but he is
wrong, at least, in thinking that that is what she wanted. Furthermore, it also
directly disrupts their relationship’s power dynamic by demonstrating, in a
most alarming fashion, that Alexander is in complete control of her own body
and soul, and she has the ability to choose whether to live or to die.
The steady disintegration of Kane’s relationship climaxes
with a scene in a tent at a picnic function, which he supposedly hosts for his
wife. She accuses him, however, of giving her only what he wants, and failing
to consider her own needs (“the important things”) in the process. In an
extraordinary demonstration of power, Kane slaps Alexander across the face. She
responds with an expression of hatred and by ordering him not to apologize.
What struck me (no pun intended), was that right outside the tent, guests at
the picnic are bustling around, singing and socializing. This incredibly stark
contrast illustrates the ease with which Kane is able to please his
acquaintances, and highlights the fact that it requires much more unselfish
consideration of another to please his spouse. Kane does not genuinely know or
understand Alexander; he sees her how he wants to see her. This gives him both
artificial power over her, as well as artificial love for her; and while he
attempts to give her what he thinks she wants, his efforts are just as
synthetic as his sentiments. In the end, Kane cannot actually possess
Alexander, and she leaves him, toppling his falsified ideas about himself, herself,
and their relationship to the ground.
