Throughout the film Kane is described as a man who cared only for himself. Though he was often charitable and caring once Kane left his youth he did only care for himself. The only times he showed concern for others was when he needed them, wanted them, or wanted what they could give him. Despite this, Kane did retain a small amount of the youthful joy of his childhood. Though there were several instances of this in Kane's life, one of the most striking was with regards to Susan's opera career.
In the film Kane is shown to be almost entirely devoted to making Susan a star. When she cannot make it as an opera singer on Broadway he constructs his own Opera house for her to perform in. Lessons, and practices and productions soon follow but Kane seems to be the only one who is enthusiastic about her career. Though unenthusiastic is an understatement, Susan hates it to the point that she attempts suicide. Kane was so devoted to making her a star because it was the only shred of love he could receive that he had left.
Growing up the only love Kane knew of was the very lonely memory of his mother. After she sent him away for a better chance at success he had no warmth or love in his life. He despised his guardian Thomas Thatcher, and it was for this hatred of him that he entered the newspaper business. His newspaper became the first place that Kane found love, albeit a very false kind of it. It was the admiration of his workers and of the men he hired and paid. This became the defining characteristic of Kane's life. His political career was fueled by his desire for the admiration and "love" of others, though this time it had to be the people of an entire state. The newspaper men and the underprivileged weren't enough, he needed an entire state to love him.
By the time Kane ended up trying to make Susan an opera star he had lost everything except for her. His wife, child, career and the admiration of the state he resided in. Being the husband of a famous opera star; audiences would love her and since he created her career they wold love him.
Kane's need for such massive amounts of love and admiration from strangers come from his abandonment by his mother. Like anyone who suffers any form of trauma a void develops inside of them, and they seek to fill it with whatever seems to satisfy them. The irony of this, and of Kane's life is that it is never enough. And in Kane's pursuit of love and admiration, he lost any true connections he may have had. True connections like the ones he had with his wife Emily, and his friend Jed Leland.
This is very insightful and I completely agree that Kane is desperate for love and attention. I like the idea about how his love from his mother was the last very significant love relationship in his life, and I am still curious as to why that went away. Maybe if that never happened Kane would be a loving man.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that he was only interested in others if he needed or wanted something from them. This is true with Susan, whom he gave everything to, in return for her love. There came a point, though, when Susan realized that none of the gifts meant anything to Kane, and that he was just using them to keep her loving him. This was when she finally left.
ReplyDeleteI think you're absolutely right about how Kane just used his money and other people so they would love him. Also, I feel like the movie is saying that no matter how much money, influence, and power a person may have, it cannot replace love and happiness. Kane used everything he could to be loved, but still died alone and unsatisfied.
ReplyDeleteI this is very interesting blog post and I completely agree that Kane went through his life looking for love and people who cared about him because he didn't have much of that going through his life. A striking quote is how he says that he knows a lot of people, yet he's still lonely. I think that loneliness is a big theme throughout this film and he uses his money to fill the void of love.
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