Let the Right One In – Looking to God

Horror. The word spins tales of madness between moments of lucid thought. The darkest moments in our lives become our episodes of horror for us to share with those who know nothing of who we really are. Horror.

As part of my Women Who Wow Wednesday series, for the month of October I’m focusing on female roles in Horror movies. I began the event last week with Rachel Keller, the lead character in The Ring, a film about a cursed video tape capable of killing anyone who watches it.

This week, I’m looking at two girls, both the same yet very different. Two girls because the film came out in Sweden in 2008 and Hollywood adapted it to American audiences in 2010.

The girls? Eli (Lina Leandersson) of Let the Right One In, and Abby (Chloë Grace Moretz) of Let Me In.

*spoilers ahead*

My friend, who is an undisputed Foreign Film buff, led me to the movie Let the Right One In a couple of years ago without a hint of its plot. He said, “Watch it.” I had no idea.

Circa 1982, Eli is a young girl who moves into an apartment complex with her guardian. It’s night. Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant), a boy about the same age as Eli notices their move. They meet alone in the dead of winter at the playground between apartments. He offers her a snack, but she’s not very hungry.

As the friendship blossoms they have this conversation:

Oskar: How old are you?
Eli: Twelve… more or less. What about you?
Oskar: Twelve years, eight months and nine days. What do you mean, “more or less”? When’s your birthday?
Eli: I don’t know.
Oskar: Don’t you celebrate your birthday? Your parents… they’ve got to know.
Eli: [Eli looks down on the ground]
Oskar: Then you don’t get any birthday presents, do you?
Eli: No.

Something about Eli bothers Oskar. She’s not like the other girls. Why isn’t she in school? From where did they move? Why did they move?

In the meantime, a serial killer is on the loose. The killings started about the same time Eli and her guardian moved into the Blackeberg suburb.

The film is a slow build feature. Much of who Eli is does not come out until later in the movie when Oskar confesses to her how he has enemies at school, who just as well rather see him dead than have him live a fulfilling life. Eli encourages Oskar to fight back and in turn becomes Oskar’s closest friend, which soon enough becomes love.

The charm with Eli’s character is seeing how she reveals to Oskar who she really is. In the American version Let Me In, Abby’s revelation comes at a more intense moment than is otherwise expected.

Let Me In's Abby played by Chloë Grace Moretz — Let Me In’s Abby played by Chloë Grace Moretz

Don’t worry; I won’t reveal the nature of who Eli/Abby really is. Although I do feel it somewhat my duty to warn that the movies, especially the Swedish version, have their moments of creepiness.

Why would I choose Eli/Abby as a Woman Who Wows? Everyone has a secret. In her case, she’s kept it for a long time. How long? No one knows. But when Oskar finds out, she keeps from acting on instinct. Instead, she builds him up to defeat those who dare stake a claim on his life. Her strength lies in empowering the weak. And this is why she wows.

That ability to empower is greater than the threat of death.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale October 22.

Have you seen Let the Right One In? How about Let Me In? If you have, what did you think of Eli/Abby?

Welcome back to Women Who Wow Wednesday where I talk about girls or women who leave a trail of inspiration in the wake of their success. Most of the characters are fictional. If you would like to view the rest of the Women Who Wow Wednesday posts in the series, you can click on the Women Who Wow Wednesday link at the top of this post.

If you haven’t seen the movie Kick-Ass, boy, are you in for a treat. For us Canadians, the opening scene is a gift to those who work downtown. My building faces the building featured in the movie. So whenever I see the film, it reminds me of my daily commute to the city.

That’s not what I want to write about though. I would like to introduce to you Hit-Girl, the star of the movie Kick-Ass. Played by Chloë Grace Moretz, who also played Abby in the scary vampire flick Let Me In (the North American version of the terrifying Norwegian film Let the Right One In), she has the knack to put evil elements in their place. A salty mouth and the propensity for violence, eleven-year-old Hit-Girl takes flack from no one.

You read that right. She’s eleven years old, but she can use a gun like a professional soldier, throw knives like a ninja and take a bullet like a grown man. She has no fear, for fear is weakness. She has a vulnerability to her character only few know about. Let me rephrase that: She allows only a few to see her vulnerabilities. Her mentor Big Daddy, played by Nicholas Cage, taught her everything he knows.

The interesting part about Hit-Girl’s character is not so much that she’s eleven years old, but that she acts older than her age. This may shock the audience watching her antics for the first time. She is not a pushover, that’s for sure. Her hardcore superhero status beams loud and clear. No one should trifle with this girl of dangerous demeanor.

She may have an ally in Kick-Ass (a.k.a. Dave Lizewski played by Englishman Aaron Taylor-Johnson), but her thrill comes with vanquishing villains via her cunning and her deception. The deception being she’s only eleven years old. I think I’d mentioned that, right?

I said this before in other Women Who Wow Wednesday posts, women need characters in movies that empower them to reach their full potential. Hit-Girl may prove to be somewhat hard to digest for those with weak stomachs, but she certainly packs a punch when showcasing ideals for women searching for individuals of empowerment.

Have you seen Kick-Ass? What do you think? Do you think Hit-Girl is another one of Hollywood’s prefab superheroes designed to bring in oodles of cash at the box office? Or is she a force of reckoning for the evils that exist in this world?

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