Inside Professor Kohut

A discussion of character motivation related to the "The Piano Teacher."

So you saw the film and thought that Professor Kohut was a perverted horror film sociopath? A deviant mutilator of talented virginal piano students? A sicko? You found yourself laughing uncontrollably at "intense" moments during the film? You wanted her dead? This breakdown of the character of Professor Kohut might give you a bit of understanding, with any luck, that understanding might bring some kindness with it. This film is unusual in that it has no plot outside of character. Every scene concerns one character, and every event is triggered directly by the actions of the one character. The character is complex, and has many emotional drives functioning at any given moment. Here I will attempt to break the various elements down into a form that someone used to "normal" (American) films can understand.

Professor Kohut has a shit life.


Elements in Professor Kohut's life.


Mother
Without question, the main player in Erika Kohut's life. Every aspect of Erika's existence is ruled by the nagging, physically abusive input of Erika's mother. Erika must account for every minute of her time, and every cent of her wages. She is allowed no privacy, no dignity, no external interests. She is hectored with phone calls when out, and interrogated when she returns home. She is physically and mentally abused by her mother, who uses "love" as her main weapon.

In her mid thirties, Erika still has a stage mother. Worse, her stage mother is overripe, and half poisoned by the fact that her talented daughter is not as successful as "dear old mum" wanted. Though this is never said out loud, Erika's mother knows full well that teaching the piano (even in a conservatory) is a failure, the accolades are now getting less frequent, and younger players are surpassing her daughter.

The problem is that Erika's mother LIKES the control she exercises over her daughter. It is a drug, and the old bat, tortured by her own small place in the great scheme of things, would be lost without her little puppet toy who gets her free food and respect at elegant society functions. The greatest threat to "Dear Old Mum's" life and fun, is sex. If Erika finds a lover, Mum will be left alone with her own failure and forced to face her own demons. To forestall this, she has steeped Erika in feelings of Quality Catholic Guilt (tm) and industriously sabotages any and all relationships that Erika may form.


Father
Missing. One look at Erika's mother provides a blindingly large number of reasons as to why the man may have left the family home. He is described by Erika as having "died in a lunatic asylum" while this is a reasonable story considering what his home life must have been like, it is later proven to be a lie. Mother's line "Your Father died today" delivered as a guilt inducing sucker punch, skirts close to the huge, unmentionable family secret.


Friends
One nameless married woman who will lie for Erika so that she can escape her mother every so often. The three members of a string quartet that Erika plays with. No kinship or affection is even hinted at in these relationships.


Colleagues
A backbiting gaggle of academic musicians who loathe, and are in turn loathed by, Erika.


Music
Obviously the keystone of Erika's existence.
Erika plays the piano really well, and is regarded as an authority on Schubert. She believes that playing Schubert should be hard, or at least not come easily, and sees emotional changes in the tone of the music at bar level. Whatever pleasure can be gained from the playing of music is absent in Erika's life. She teaches all day, and finds her students insufficiently talented. She plays at recitals, and regards the playing as a competitive test. She has no piano at home.

The question must be asked,
Did Erika ever *like* the piano?
Looking at the relationship between Erika and her mother the answer is most likely, no. Is she very good at it, and a good teacher? The answer to that question is obviously, yes.

The motivations behind the main subplot of the film are clear enough, if one takes this into account. Erika's main student is rehearsing for a recital, her talent is, according to Erika, capable of being made up by motivation in practice. The girl in question has a stage mother. This mother dresses young, and through a series of verbal slips, considers her daughters talent to be "hers." No matter what Erika says to the mother, or to the daughter, the only thing they seem to hear is that more practice is required. The daughter has been browbeaten by the mother into believing that there is no life for her aside from the piano. (This is not surprising considering that piano lessons probably started somewhere near the age of five.) It is obvious that this double act is seen by Erika as a clear repetition of her own upbringing. When this fact is given sufficient weight, the main subplot of the film becomes clear.

The girl becomes hysterical before the dress rehearsal of the recital. Erika's response is along the lines of "like it or lump it" she seems to regard the process as a litmus test. The girl will succeed on her own merits (as she is supposed to) or fail. As a teacher, EITHER option will be acceptable to Erika, with one important proviso.

Performing piano successfully is not "practice."

Neither is it being coddled into each performance.
To succeed the player must *be good at piano*, (which the student is not) must like it (the student practices a lot) and obviously, must enjoy playing. Bluntly, they must ENJOY performing or showing off. The singer at the recital is an arrogant turd. There is no question that he will succeed. Erika believes that her student must succeed (or fail) on her own terms. Given Erika's life, there is some weight to the idea that failure may be preferable to success, especially if the student does not actually LOVE what she is doing. It is obvious that she does not.

Walter
Walter is handsome. Walter is rich. Walter plays ice hockey and has studied to be an engineer and is witty and plays Schubert without the aid of the music in front of him. Walter is charming to Erika when he first meets her at a recital where Erika is half of the supporting act. Erika is standoffish and biting.

Walter is the main act. He changes his plans and plays Schubert without reference to the music. Erika's face shows many emotions. Jealousy is one. He plays at least as well as her. Shock is another. At this recital Erika realises that someone *measures up.* Erika is smitten. This leads us to...

Erika's sexuality.
Erika wants to completely surrender to someone. Sexually, emotionally, physically, and above all, artistically. After all, that is what her mother has trained her to do.

A common or garden masochist can surrender as a game, at will, to any Tom, Dick or Harriet that calls themselves a top. Given Erika's access to the "subworld" of sexuality Erika could easily find any number of people to play with, to release her sexual tension. She does not.

Instead, she throws herself at Walter's feet. Walter is, she believes "good enough" to surrender TO. He is handsome. Erika believes she is ugly. He is multi talented. Erika is not. He plays the piano at least as well as her.

Erika cannot surrender to some sub-manager of a supermarket with a chip on his shoulder, she requires *logic* in her fantasy, since, like it or not, she is a one man woman. Erika sees love as a logical game (and given her interest in pornography how can she see it as anything else?) So obviously she concludes that there is no point in playing at all, unless her opponent can compete on all fronts.

Erika wants Walter. As a lover, as a total top. Erika wants to exchange her mother (who won't fuck) for a master who will.

Walter wants a relationship with Erika. He implies lifelong commitment, and love, but it does not take a very jaundiced eye to see a normal heterosexual man looking for a quick notch in his belt.

Back to the rehearsal.
Walter is ignored by Erika who is still in "being a bitch and making my mind up" mode. Walter then goes to the female student and charms her into being able to play at the rehearsal. He takes the job of being her page turner. She smiles and stops crying.

Erika is not happy. Two things happen.

Walter is flirting with a woman his own age. Jealousy.
Walter is helping the girl to succeed where, if left to herself, she might well have failed. Alone, each of these things would probably not be enough to turn the trick. Taken together, Erika reaches the edge. She puts broken glass in the girls pocket, and the girl mutilates her hand. She tells Walter to care for her. She goes to the toilet and locks herself in.

Walter follows her and they have their first sexual contact. It is pretty clear that Walter knows EXACTLY who put the glass in the girls pocket.

So, which motivation is stronger? Sex, or Art? Did Erika act because she was jealous of "her" man, or because she wanted the student to fail, on her own merits, and gain a life, in reward? Both motivations are clearly present.

The act itself is violent and bloody. This implies that sex is at the root of it. Then again, Erika has her whole life experience and art to use to see the girls future. Art itself is a component of sex and is pure thought and emotion, anyway, so on both sides Erika is walking in a minefield. i

That Walter sees sex, is no answer. To value Walter's viewpoint is to place more value on Erika's desire for sex, than on her regard for her whole history and vocation. Bluntly, to conclude that jealousy is the entire motivation for the glass in the pocket is to place more value on Walter's dick than on Erika's life and vocation. This conclusion (a very popular one) is at its central core completely sexist, since it requires regarding Erika as a sex object, rather than as a functioning artist.


The Great Romance Of Erika and Walter
...is an unremitting failure. Their first sexual contact is a classic enactment of the power games between a "top" and a "bottom." Erika wants to be the bottom, but she wants the game played out by her rules and in accordance with a strict fantasy that resides within her own head. As such, the contact is a failure for both of them, breeding addiction in Erika and anger in Walter.

Explanation. The Rule:
All "bottoms" are essentially "tops," and all "tops" essentially "bottoms."

Dom/sub sex cannot take place without a bottom, or a top. It is by its nature consensual playacting. Without consensuality it is either rape, or a fantasy.
Essentially what happens in such scenes is that the Dom/Top acts out the Sub/Bottoms fantasy and gains satisfaction from the aspects of the fantasy which appeal to them. Within the parameters of the game, the Dom can embroider the specifics by adding aspects of their own fantasy, but not by changing the rules of the game, while it is underway.

First Encounter
In Erika and Walter's initial encounter, Erika has a highly detailed and specific fantasy that Walter has no idea of. The encounter is jagged and unsatisfying because Erika is explaining the rules as they go along, and because Walter (being the archetypal straight boofhead male) has no ability to concentrate, or to surrender what he perceives as his power. This means that he does not come, and leaves the encounter angry and confused. Erika tells him that she will send him a letter containing the rules. Walter does not want these "rules" since he knows he always wins when he plays by the ones that he is used to. Specifically, spunky rich guy bonks whoever he wants, and then splits.

Erika, on the other hand, has now become addicted within her fantasy structure. She has had a taste and hurries off to scribble down the specifics of her fantasy. As a side note, her handwriting is incredibly small, and neat. This is very accurate.

Second Encounter.
Erika turns up at the aftermath of hockey practice and basically begs to suck on Walters cock. When she says that she "loves him," he gives in, since Erika appears to be playing by his rules, and well, he is a bloke. He gets on top and forces himself into her mouth. She then vomits up his spoof. He finds this to be on the gross side, and calls her "sick." This encounter addicts him. He has come, but he has not fucked her, so by his rules, he has still not "won" the lady.

Why does Erika vomit? The encounter was not a scene where she pretends to surrender control, but a real encounter where she first loses control of herself, and then of the situation. She rejects the sperm in her stomach, the "symbol" of her loss of control, by vomiting.

Roundup of One and Two.

Erika
The first encounter is played entirely by Erika's rules. It addicts her.
The second encounter is a *real* loss of control by Erika. She basically lets the cat out of the bag and it scratches her.

Walter
The first encounter was a tease by a daffy bitch.
The second encounter, proved she was "really hot for it."

Encounter Three.
Walter turns up at Erika's place in a highly motivated state, and probably somewhat the worse for drink. He functionally forces his way in, and Erika makes him read the letter containing the rules of how she wants their meetings to go. She wants him to use her sexually and to ignore her mother. She wants to be made to do things. Specifically, she wants sex, but wants to maintain the fantasy that she is being forced to do the things that she wants to do.
Example: Read in tones of disgust, by Walter. (From memory)
"I want you to squat over my face and then punch me in the gut, so that my tongue goes up your ass."

The fantasy of "tongue in ass" is Erika's. Walter probably thinks tongue in ass is kinky, even within the parameters of "normal"... without the punching bit. In other words, accepatable as part of "normal" passion, but unaccepatble when he must "appear" to be the main driving force.

Explanation:
Erika is seriously sexually attracted to Walter. Her emotions and drives are expressed through an intellectual framework. This framework is composed of the defences she has had to create to deal with her life up to this point.

Walter has never had to have an intellectual framework to "explain" his desires. His desires are "natural" and being sexually attractive and rich (and therefore highly desirable) he has never really had to think about them at all. The surgical precision of Erika's rules make him think and churn him up emotionally. He behaves as he thinks he is expected to, by the society that has created him. He thinks "disgust" and then "anger." He storms out.

The last straw for Walter in this scene is one of the most heartrending in the film. Walter expresses disbelief that Erika can mean the things that she has written. She crawls onto the floor and drags from under the bed a shoebox containing her ropes and chain and finally a clothes peg. These things are the physical concrete of her sexuality. They are her Glory Box. Specifically, they are the solid proof of all her dreams, of her lonely nights and her wishes for the future. They are the utter proof of her desire for marriage on her terms, by her rules.

The box causes Walter to storm form the apartment shouting abuse and rejection. His response can be taken as both a emotional response to the unfamiliar and as a rejection of the idea of a long term relationship, on any terms. Walter exercises his power by leaving. It is unsatisfactory for both of them.

Encounter Three and a half.
Erika tries to get a root out of her mother, and is rejected.
After all, she has already surrendered control to her mum. Mum is therefore a "top." Mum has assumed the position of controller, Erika is as horny as it gets. Why not? Mum laughs it off, and apparently forgets it instantly. Erika must consequently focus on Walter. In her eyes, Mum has avoided her responsibilities, if she scares everyone else off, she must provide the services that she is denying. Mum denies this responsibility.

Fourth Encounter.
Walter comes back to the apartment dead drunk, and forces his way in. He physically throws mum into the her room and locks the door. He then punches Erika in the face, shouting "is this what you want?" He then vaginally rapes her. He then expresses remorse, guilt and leaves. Mother comforts Erika.

During this encounter, Erika's only method of asserting control is to shout "not the face" expressing the guilt of being a beaten wife and the control of society, and "not the hands" expressing the fact that she makes her living with her hands.

It is too late for her face. She collects a shiner that she cannot later cover with makeup, and a bloody nose.

Explanation:
Walter thinks that sex is natural, and needs no rules. Consequently, when he reads her instructions, all he can read is the violence. He delivers violence at this meeting. Of course, violence is not what Erika wants. She wants consensual loss of control with pretend coercion. All Walter's imagination is capable of is a punch in the head, and a quick, unimaginative, sordid, fuck.

Erika has surrendered control, and become "married." Sadly the marriage lacks all the equality that her rules would have given it. Reality and her fantasies have failed to mesh.

Concepts related to the above.
It does not require much imagination to see this relationship outside the bounds of conventional S&M activity. Both participants are attracted to each other. Each have a rule set of what they expect from a long term relationship. A successful marriage is possible, with *some* surrender on both sides. In the last gasp, violence and size eradicates all the rules and equates dominance with size, strength and societal values.

Final Encounter
Erika waits for Walter in the foyer at the recital. She has a knife. The sub text is that she plans on sticking it into Walter, as part of an ugly domestic scene.

Several things happen.

Erika meets the glass in pocket girl. She is happier than we have ever seen her before. She creates the appearance of someone with a load off her shoulders.

The girls stage mother drags Erika's mother inside with her.

Walter manages to swan past Erika as part of a group leaving her alone in the foyer.

Explanation.
The glass in the pocket seems to have given the girl her life back.
The two loser stage mothers, one with a "crippled daughter, the other with a failed one, (those who can, do, those who cannot, teach.) Seem to find something in common with each other and become friends.

Walter avoids Erika. After all, what would one expect? He has fucked her, it wasn't great, and who needs an embarrassing scene? Walter has shown his true colours, there is no requirement for him to change, after all, why should he? Life is fine as it is, thanks.

Final Scene.

Erika is alone in the foyer.

She produces the knife and stabs herself in the upper right chest. Her face is the mask of tragedy. There is blood but she does not die, therefore she has missed her heart. She leaves the foyer, abandons the piece she is supposed to play and walks off, alone, down the street, in long shot. The sub text is clear, she is just one person, in many. The camera stays focussed on the doors of the theatre, the show, is over. The end.

Explanation.
Did Erika mean to stab Walter? Or herself in front of Walter?
Given her propensity for self mutilation and her feelings towards Walter, it is an even bet. Either way, Walter was probably right to avoid that particular ugly scene. After all, all men know that there is no fury like a woman scorned.

The last two shots imply that Erika abandons her life as a piano teacher, and as a daughter, and now has the possibility of a life with people like her, where she may be happy. When taken in tandem with the smiles on the face of the "mutilated" girl, the ending can be considered a symbolically happy one.


The Last Roundup
Erika is trained to abrogate control to those around her, specifically her mother.
She is trained to follow the "rules" of passion, in this case, the rules of the piano and music. In other words, the rules of emotion.
She seeks the rules of the sexuality that she cannot deny, and chooses pornography. The rules of pornography are clear. She follows them, blending them with her own logic and desires. She attempts to follow these rules with the man she is attracted to. He subscribes to an older and more powerful set of rules. She is rejected and ends up alone. Pornography is after all, a fantasy, built on desire. A world more perfect than the real one.

A world certainly more pleasant, having thrown off the "guilt" of sexuality.

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Hopefully, having read this you will understand. Understanding is the key to kindness. There is not enough kindness in this world.

If you have any questions relating to the ideas raised her please feel free to contact me, even if you just have the desire for a yak. I answer all emails that are not demonstrably brain dead.

(C)opyright Alex Rieneck, 2002.