Erika's Pornographic Letter Summary

Through a perverse pornographic letter Erika asks to be gagged, disciplined, and punished. After Walter rejects this outlandish scenario, he shames her and leaves. After which Erika confused and conflicted seemingly takes back the imaginary phallus from the letter and has a schizophrenic outbreak with her mother, reverting back to being the father figure tries to have carnal relations with her. Due to her original oedipal relationship with her mother, her rejection and alienation from society based on her concept of porn and the schizophrenic behavior that ensues her perception of normal relationships has been skewed, this is what she thinks should happen. Since her mother rejected her idea of being the father she tries to go back to what she thinks is a …show more content…
Directly following this chapter Walter shows up at Erika’s apartment and re-enacts Erika’s pornographic letter. An obscene and debasing depiction of intercourse is played out from start to finish in the only scene that Haneke gives a culmination. While Walter does everything she wants in the letter via his own control and arrogance, she still exhibits ultimate control by showing no feelings when he has intercourse with her. Through Haneke’s direction, Erika control’s their relationship so that she doesn't have to feel emotions that would imprison her, but then she lets go, gives him full reign, and he takes it, expecting a romantic era narrative love to come from it. But, since Walter is just a boy searching out his own desires, he rejects her. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and in this viewer’s opinion, it is why the film shows she stabs herself above her heart and blood pours on her sleeve. She injures her shoulder muscle so she couldn't play piano. Combining her view of the romantic era, her aesthetic view of music, and her view of a relationship through the viewing of porn makes for a schizophrenic approach to her relationships. Haneke, like Linda Williams, wants to define pornography on