"Lolita" is a movie made in 1997 about a French professor who happens to be a child molester. It is the adaptation of the novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. I was grossed out by the tragedy but then I watched it with my psychology goggles on.
For those who have not seen the movie, here is a summary of what basically happened. Humbert (or Professor Humbert) is traumatized by the death of his first love at the age of fourteen. Here is when I think his mind stopped developing due to his unnatural affinity for preteen girls in adulthood. In the movie, he mentioned how after Anabel died, he kept looking for her. He found her in Lolita.
Anyway, he decided to become a teacher and took a job in America. During his travels, he gets connected to Mrs. Hays who has a room for rent. He goes there and does not like the house but when he sees Mrs. Hays daughter Delores Hays (Lolita), he changes his mind immediately. He is smitten with Lolita instantly. She is petite with a pretty face and child-like innocence that arouses Humbert in every way. When I first saw a clip of the movie with no volume it looked like Lolita was an overly sexual little girl who throws herself at Humbert every chance she gets.
When I watched the movie and listened to the dialogue, I realized that Lolita was just being a curious kid. She asked Humbert questions like "do I have a zit?" It was Humbert who saw a romance between them because he was so sexually attracted to Lolita. He was sexually enticed by her when she touched him with her foot, sat on his lap, ate and so on.
He even marries Mrs. Hays so he can be near Lolita. He describes her as a nymphet. When you look at the relationship between Lolita and Mrs. Hays you can see how Mrs. Hays had an authoritarian parenting style that was responsible for Lolita's irrational, disobedient, and rude behavior. Mrs. Hays showed close to no real interest in Lolita but maintained an authoritarian parenting style.
When they settle down in the city that Humbert will be teaching, he grows abusive towards Lolita due to his fear that she will reveal to her friends that she has a sexual relationship with her stepfather. This pushes Lolita into the arms of Quilty as she successfully plans and runs away with him. Humbert searches for Lolita without rest and comes up short. Three years later he gets a letter from her saying that she is married, pregnant and in need of money. He sees her one last time and begs her to run away with him. She says no and convinces him to give her money.
Heartbroken, Humbert tracks and down and murders Quilty. Humbert dies a month later in jail. A month after that Lolita dies during childbirth. One thing that stood out to me was how Humbert really thought and rationalized his sexual relationship with a little girl. Mrs. Hays was too much into her lonely widowhood that she failed to protect Lolita from this man. At Lolita's age, she was sexually curious and Humbert took advantage of that. I was extremely creeped out during the sex scenes and did not see anything romantic about the movie due to the circumstances. I would encourage anyone to see the movie or read the book. I saw the 1997 version on youtube.
