The Ashes of Innocence
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 by Miss Lemon
“I don’t think there is a genuine emotion in the film and there’s certainly not a genuine emotional exchange in it.” - Ken Loach
From the mysterious dying words of the millionaire Charles Foster Kane, to the bleak and foreboding silhouette of Xanadu pouring forth its angry smoke, Citizen Kane is a work of cinematic genius. Apart from the startling, dramatic, and often groundbreaking visuals presented in the film, the underlying themes continue to ring true in the ears of its viewers to this day, taking it from a work vilified by the press, to an immortal classic. Citizen Kane not only shows its audience the isolation caused by absolute power, but most importantly how the loss of childhood and innocence can corrupt, distort and destroy the lives of an individual, even the rich and successful. Beginning with his extraction from his parents and his home, Charles Kane is thrust into a world where everything is regulated by pecuniary value and business, a world belonging to a middle-aged banker instead of a young boy. Subsequently, one notices throughout the relationships and dealings of Kane’s life that he often acts in a childish and selfish manner that is not becoming of a mature gentleman, but is instead the actions of a young child who shoved his sled into Mr. Thatcher. It appears that Ken Loach’s approach towards the behavior of Kane, and his subsequent relationships, is to claim that the emotions of the characters do not appear genuine but rather false or constrained. However, while the emotional exchanges of other characters with Kane appear to be genuine, but they become distorted and overshadowed by Kane’s immature emotions and self-centered behaviors. Charles genuinely loves his first wife but his obsession with the newspaper and his selfish unwillingness to shield his son from scandal drive them apart. “He married for love,” Jed Leland, Kane’s old friend tells the audience, “that’s why he did everything. That’s all he really wanted out of life, was love. That’s Charlie’s story, how he lost it. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.” Kane’s relationships are hampered by his own self-love and inability to make personal sacrifices for the benefit and good of other individuals. It is not that the emotional exchanges of Kane are not genuine, but are instead misappropriated or distorted by the loss of a maturing process. As a young boy separated from his parents, Charles is deprived of the proper role models and loving, nurturing environment a child needs in order to develop a healthy emotional disposition and subsequently healthy relationships. As for the ancillary characters of Citizen Kane, the audience only really views them within the context of their relationships with Charles Foster Kane and therefore the other characters become bound to suffer the same criticism applicable to Kane’s character. Their emotions become skewed or distorted in accordance with his, causing them to become somewhat aberrant to the minds of a mature adult audience. When his running opponent in the election confronts Kane with the possibility of public scandal, Mrs. Kane remains unmoved even at the possibility of emotional harm to her son, no longer moved to pity or shame for the husband whose love for her has run cold. Kane’s own inability to concede control over those around him cripples the emotional responses of his friends, associates and his two wives. All his relationships suffer the same fate as Rosebud; they melt away until they are incinerated into ashes and smoke.
From the mysterious dying words of the millionaire Charles Foster Kane, to the bleak and foreboding silhouette of Xanadu pouring forth its angry smoke, Citizen Kane is a work of cinematic genius. Apart from the startling, dramatic, and often groundbreaking visuals presented in the film, the underlying themes continue to ring true in the ears of its viewers to this day, taking it from a work vilified by the press, to an immortal classic. Citizen Kane not only shows its audience the isolation caused by absolute power, but most importantly how the loss of childhood and innocence can corrupt, distort and destroy the lives of an individual, even the rich and successful. Beginning with his extraction from his parents and his home, Charles Kane is thrust into a world where everything is regulated by pecuniary value and business, a world belonging to a middle-aged banker instead of a young boy. Subsequently, one notices throughout the relationships and dealings of Kane’s life that he often acts in a childish and selfish manner that is not becoming of a mature gentleman, but is instead the actions of a young child who shoved his sled into Mr. Thatcher. It appears that Ken Loach’s approach towards the behavior of Kane, and his subsequent relationships, is to claim that the emotions of the characters do not appear genuine but rather false or constrained. However, while the emotional exchanges of other characters with Kane appear to be genuine, but they become distorted and overshadowed by Kane’s immature emotions and self-centered behaviors. Charles genuinely loves his first wife but his obsession with the newspaper and his selfish unwillingness to shield his son from scandal drive them apart. “He married for love,” Jed Leland, Kane’s old friend tells the audience, “that’s why he did everything. That’s all he really wanted out of life, was love. That’s Charlie’s story, how he lost it. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.” Kane’s relationships are hampered by his own self-love and inability to make personal sacrifices for the benefit and good of other individuals. It is not that the emotional exchanges of Kane are not genuine, but are instead misappropriated or distorted by the loss of a maturing process. As a young boy separated from his parents, Charles is deprived of the proper role models and loving, nurturing environment a child needs in order to develop a healthy emotional disposition and subsequently healthy relationships. As for the ancillary characters of Citizen Kane, the audience only really views them within the context of their relationships with Charles Foster Kane and therefore the other characters become bound to suffer the same criticism applicable to Kane’s character. Their emotions become skewed or distorted in accordance with his, causing them to become somewhat aberrant to the minds of a mature adult audience. When his running opponent in the election confronts Kane with the possibility of public scandal, Mrs. Kane remains unmoved even at the possibility of emotional harm to her son, no longer moved to pity or shame for the husband whose love for her has run cold. Kane’s own inability to concede control over those around him cripples the emotional responses of his friends, associates and his two wives. All his relationships suffer the same fate as Rosebud; they melt away until they are incinerated into ashes and smoke.
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