Obsession (2026), Crossing the Rubicon and How the Movie Conveys Bear's Evil
Ok, so I just watched Obsession and it's really really good. I'm trying to write down some immediate first thoughts about the film.
One thing I am going to latch on is Bear's character and how the film makes it expressly clear that he is not a good person from 20 minutes within.
The phrase "Crossing the Rubicon" goes back to when Caesar defiantly lead an army within Rome proper, the Rubicon river being a boundary between Roman controlled lands and Rome proper. (I am paraphrasing this orgin from Wikipedia, take it with a grain of salt.)
Essentially it's an idiom describing an event horizon, once Caesar crossed the river he was essentially leading an armed force into his own country thereby making him a threat to the state.
Bear crosses a moral rubicon very early on into the film right after making his wish.
Nikki goes from being irritated over the "Freaky Nikki" comment to uncharacteristic fawning over him, and Bear recognizes this behavior as strange. He knows that she is not in a right place of mind, but he eats up the adulation. He takes her back to his place and gets intimate with her.
This whole scene is coded with imagery evocative of date rape, or taking advantage of someone under the influence. Nikki is, in a way under the influence of a dark and evil wish granting device, but she is also inebriated (Bear comments as much!) and yet, Bear still pursues this woman who he has brought back to his home.
It's very disgusting, and the film repeats this Crossing of a Moral Rubicon to make it clear to the viewer that Bear is in the wrong.
Outsiders to Nikki and Bear's relationship think that Nikki is going through some mental episode, and that Bear is taking advantage of it. And again, yes Bear is taking advantage of an episode, but it is one that he (knowingly or not) caused and is trying to benefit from.
I'm going to do a bulleted list of other scenes that stood out to me in the film that illustrated just how in the wrong Bear is.
When Nikki came back, still apparently unwell, he still pursued the relationship time and time again. Like after the cat shrine, or when he found out that she lied about the cancer.
Bear knows nothing about the real Nikki even. He didn't know that her and her dad weren't close anymore. He is in love with a projected ideal of her.
He's not even a good partner to Wish-Nikki, this sucks for both Nikki's involved really. Bear keeps on asking her "Why can't you be normal? Why do you do this" when he is the one who willed her into existence.
When he called the One-Wish-Willow hotline and only wanted to alter the result of his wish rather than terminate it.
He looks really guilty when at the party Ian throws Nikki reads her chilling soliloquy because A: He is told by Real Nikki explicitly that she knows about the wish, and B: He's made aware of the fact that their relationship and anything sexual they did was not fucking consensual by any means.
He doesn't dress Nikki's wounds after the party, she just asks wish Nikki why can't she be normal.
When Nikki asked to die, and he boyishly ignores it saying "Well, what's so wrong about me?"
Above all, Bear makes a wish that changes and fucks up someone totally, and he just rolls with it. Some part of him doesn't want to change it despite the pain he brings Nikki, himself, and those around him. Bear is deeply selfish this way.
I read the last half of the movie is Bear facing the consequences for his actions. He basically created wish Nikki, regretted it, and wanted to move on with no regard for real or wish Nikki and he and others around him suffer for it.
There's a lingering motif of neglect that comes to his treatment of wish Nikki, like a pet a kid said they wanted but didn't want to care for. This kind of personality and treatment is foreshadowed by the cat's death. We see a torn bag of food, and I think the implication is that the cat tore up Bear's apartment because it didn't have any food.
Because Bear just left his pet alone, in an effort to find comfort (food), the cat ends up destroying everything around it and itself. This is a dynamic we see play out with Bear and Wish-Nikki. Like Ian said, they're in a fucked up co-dependent relationship. Bear wants the affection from "Nikki" and Wish-Nikki wants to fulfill the purpose she was created for. Only for Wish-Nikki to be tossed aside for not aligning with her creator's vision.
(Reminder: Bear is neglecting Wish-Nikki while also violating the Real-Nikki's body and autonomy at the same time.)
Another aspect of Bear's character is that of a bad partner. There's the previously mentioned motif of neglect with Wish-Nikki, but there's also his behavior in response to her unusual behavior. Bear jumps to comforting male platitudes "What's wrong babe? Are you ok?" with out actually addressing the route of the issue or behavior. Bear is very much afraid of confrontation and is unable to offer support or advice beyond what he thinks boyfriends are supposed to say.
Bear is not the caregiver or partner Wish-Nikki needs. In Bear and Sarah's final conversation, she basically says as much. From her point of view, Nikki is in clear need of help, but not help from Bear. Sarah advises Bear to go get her therapy. The silent message is that someone, anyone else would be better for Wish-Nikki.
She gets this person briefly when Wish-Nikki makes a wish herself. Bear didn't love her nor was he willing to give as much as Wish-Nikki did. She finds temporary reprieve in Wish-Bear, someone who was at least able to match her better than Bear.
Bear was never in love with the real Nikki, he was in love with a projected image of her and even when he made the projected image real it still wasn't enough. Everything about Bear is selfish on so many different levels it's insane.
This selfishness leads to him ruining the lives of everyone around him, as well as his own. The wish that he made was even evil and selfish in and of itself.
We see Ian's wish for "One billion dollars," go by without a monkey's paw twist or kink, and why? Ian's wish didn't come at the cost of anyone. It didn't manipulate anyone or put anyone into some weird sunken place. The money literally falls out from the sky, it's not taken from anyone. The evil of Bear's wish comes squarely from within himself.
The last aspect of Bear's character I'll mention here is the banality of evil that he enacts. While wish was evil within itself, Bear after having made it continually fails to amend the situation. He continually crosses moral rubicon after moral rubicon even from within the first twenty minutes of the film.
He should've never tried sleeping with Nikki, nor should he have pursued a relationship with her. He shouldn't have neglected Wish-Nikki or even let her exist in the first place. Bear only searches for solutions to undo her after he is forced over the rubicon for one last time when Sarah is killed.
Yet up until this point, Bear lets Wish-Nikki exist in abject suffering, like an animal that needs to be put down. All the while, being cognizant that the Real Nikki is in great agony over the whole situation. He uses the Real Nikki's body like a sex and praise doll for his own pleasure.
Bear ignores any obvious warning signs or cries for help or advice he is given, because ultimately he is selfish. By doing nothing and continuing the relationship, he gets what he wants. That is, until Wish-Nikki stops acting like the toy he wanted.
This selfish, banal evil ultimately leads to the total destruction of everyone involved.
I really enjoyed this movie and I hope I was able to articulate a decent reading of Bear's character. The film really is brilliant.
gummygunk
vaporwave
baratheonpilled
2087
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
