Since Scorsese really enjoyed the film, maybe my comments will not be considered hopelessly off-topic. I've heard this complaint regarding Eyes Wide Shut before, but I'm kind of wondering where the interpretation comes from. Dr. Harford is jealous of his wife's fantasy, but I'm unsure where Kubrick makes it clear that Bill is naive to the fact that women have these types of fantasies. Harford could very well understand that these types of fantasies are normal and regular for women to have, just as he has fantasies regarding other women. In my opinion, Harford dilemma isn't that he doesn't understand this normal human response, and it's not even that his wife has fantasies about other men, it's that she weakens his masculine authority within the marriage by admitting she considered leaving him in order to fulfill her fantasy and also admits she would have left him if asked to, but remained with him out of pity at his weaken state. Not every man understands that their marriage is held together out of pity, even if he is a doctor. As well, knowing wives fantasize about other men is one thing, but having to deal with your wife discussing the fantasy so plainly, openly and bluntly without expecting it is something entirely different - theory as applied to the masses and reality for the individual are two very different concepts to deal with.Jun-Dai wrote:Still others feel that the film is hopelessly naive (e.g., there is no way that a doctor in Manhattan could be so naive as to think that good wives won't have sexual fantasies about men that are not their husbands) or absurdly paranoid (a cult containing all of the most elite men in New York and therefore of the world? Give me a break).
As far as the secret society of the most elite men in the world goes, I didn't really have this concept come across to me in the film. I just assumed it was a group of rich guys in NYC who enjoyed orgies. I didn't really think it was some paranoid delusion on Kubrick's part that these men controlled the fate of the world or something, merely that they didn't really want it known to the public that they enjoyed orgies. Considering we are to believe many rich people today, including major Hollywood stars and politicians, make their own partners sign non-disclosure, confidentiality agreements, I don't see how this is all that naive.