Tackling Addictions

Don Jon (Sept. 27, 2013)
star. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, and Julianne Moore

Directorial debuts are always a gamble.  And when it’s an actor who wants to get behind the camera – while remaining in front of it, nonetheless – the ante rises.  That’s why it’s so impressive when actor-directors like Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner succeed with films like Braveheart and Dances with Wolves.  While those films may seem obvious critical successes because of their epic and historic natures, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s new indie comedy concerning romance, sex, and porn takes on heightened risk in its hopes of producing a poignant and meditative piece.  Quite impressively, Gordon-Levitt accomplishes just that!

Jon (Gordon-Levitt) picks up Barbara (Johansson), a “10,” at a club…but she plays hard to get.

Also written by Gordon-Levitt, Don Jon tells the story of Jon Martello (Gordon-Levitt), a hyper-sexual guido (à la Jersey Shore) whose only concerns revolve around the things he cares most about in life: his body, his pad, his ride, his family, his church, his boys, his girls, and…his porn.  His systematic balance of these, excepting the last, make Jon a very attractive catch, alluring the bodaciously sexy Barbara Sugarman (a delightful Scarlett Johansson).  But when Barbara discovers Jon’s severe addiction to watching pornography and masturbation, their relationship is tested, forcing Jon to reform his lifestyle with the aid of an earthy classmate (Julianne Moore).

Because of the film’s heavy interest in sexuality and erotic imagery, Don Jon as a production could easily have sailed by simply on the power of its sex appeal.  However, Gordon-Levitt is reaching for something more profound and resolute regarding the nature of human addiction and its influence on interaction (or lack of).  Jon’s pleasure resulting from online content literally desensitizes him from sexual satisfaction with others, causing much of the character’s internal frustrations.  Gordon-Levitt observes this failure in bridging the divide between artificial image and reality in two major ways.

Jon claims the start-up sound of his MacBook gets him hard, proving the extremity of his addiction.

First, Gordon-Levitt considers Jon’s addiction in terms of content, questioning the social status of pornography – something enjoyed by as many as who denounce it.  Within the young, heteronormative world the characters belong to, an essential division is  constructed between the merits of pornography and those of generic romantic comedies.  Although this binary is established on top of an assumptive gendered divide, presuming men relate to porn while women relate to romantic films, it serves the purpose of the director’s commentary on understanding others’ addictions.  For example, a central argument that arises between Jon and Barbara built from this division is the question of how the idealism and artifice of Jon’s porn differs from that promoted by the sappy sentimentality of Barbara’s beloved rom coms.  The fanciful and misleading natures of each, which yield impossible expectations on potential lovers, set both characters – and therefore both sides of the opposition – up for failure in the boundaries of real human interaction.  Effectively, we must be reminded that movies are as artificial as pornography.

(While pointing this out, Don Jon avoids confronting whether on not it actually sidesteps the pitfalls of such romantic or dramatic films, most likely because it knows it cannot.  And while the film still paints an iconicized image, this being inherent to cinema as a popular art-form, I believe its originality and bravery in its subject matter places the movie a step towards its self-promoted direction.)

Before he attempts to branch out, one of Jon’s scheduled stops is his solitary workout at the gym, where he says his “Hail Mary”s.

Second, Gordon-Levitt considers Jon’s addiction and the monotony it causes his everyday life in terms of the medium through which he accesses it.  Jon’s consistent schedule of cleaning, working out, clubbing, repeat, in addition to his digital stimulation, distracts him from the joys of encountering and spontaneously interacting with others.  He is able to, much through the guidance of his classmate Esther, reinvigorate his life and reach new levels of happiness by branching out of his comfortable schedule.  Jon joins a basketball game instead of training alone at the gym, and begins to consider not only his, but also his partners’ pleasure in sex to increase the mutual satisfaction of their lovemaking.  Through these changes, Jon suggests a solution to the superficial contentedness and redundant routine constant digital exposure may inspire, which is to simply limit such subjection to the Internet in favor of experiencing more of the tangible world.

Despite these complex, philosophical contemplations and conclusions, Don Jon maintains an extremely fresh energy.  Opening with flashing images and sound-bytes of provocative material, the pace of the film is lively and its references are funny.  It is his ability to subtly blend these elements into the dramatic comedy of the film that marks Gordon-Levitt’s true achievement.  One lonely fault may be found in the story’s brief lulls towards its end, but our engagement with its memorable characters help to clear such hurdles.  It is quite possible Gordon-Levitt provides his best performance in this film; but that notion occurs secondarily when considering the smart, frank, honest, and vulgar commentary he provides on contemporary sexuality and social attitudes of modern masculinity.