If Oskar hadn't been an outcast...

[DMt.]

...There are people that love is unconditional. I remember my elementary teacher and the way she would talk to us. She cared for all of us in that class. For two years I felt how her love for her career and for her students was unconditional. All the lessons that I learned from her had a reason. The few times she would talk about her husband was something special because she loved him. When she would talk about him she would smile.

Yes, E. You can't reduce that stuff to 'chemicals in the brain' or 'the selfish gene'.

[PeteMork]

...There are people that love is unconditional. I remember my elementary teacher and the way she would talk to us. She cared for all of us in that class. For two years I felt how her love for her career and for her students was unconditional. All the lessons that I learned from her had a reason. The few times she would talk about her husband was something special because she loved him. When she would talk about him she would smile.

Yes. E. You can't reduce that stuff to 'chemicals in the brain' or 'the selfish gene'.

Of course you can! But it's not nearly as rewarding, or nearly as much fun.

(I Eli's and Oskar's unconditional love, by the way)

[DMt.]

Well, I suppose you can at that, if you want to.

[Imnotazombie]

I'd say it's pretty unconditional, you're argument could work OP if you were talking about LMI, but in Let the Right One In while Owen is an outcast, he does have a loving mother, a douchy father, but still somewhat loving just very flawed, his homelife is quite normal, flawed, but normal, and there is LOVE in that, the fact that he would leave his family forever to leave with Eli say's A LOT about their "unconditional, pure" love in my opinion, he's not just friends with Eli because he's bullied, it's much more than that, the fact that he'd leave his loving mom he's known all his life for eli says something.

[cmfireflies]

Yes. E. You can't reduce that stuff to 'chemicals in the brain' or 'the selfish gene'.

You mean love isn't the same as eating lots of chocolate?!? AAAaah I ruined my health for nothing

[DMt.]

OK, all together, one, two, three...

AAAAAAAAAH!! *




*[c] Evie, 2011

[[Eden]]

I'd say it's pretty unconditional, you're argument could work OP if you were talking about LMI, but in Let the Right One In while Owen is an outcast, he does have a loving mother, a douchy father, but still somewhat loving just very flawed, his homelife is quite normal, flawed, but normal, and there is LOVE in that, the fact that he would leave his family forever to leave with Eli say's A LOT about their "unconditional, pure" love in my opinion, he's not just friends with Eli because he's bullied, it's much more than that, the fact that he'd leave his loving mom he's known all his life for eli says something.

His mother wasn't able to protect him, and so his father; I think it says a lot too

[drakkar]

Point is Oskar's (John's) situation wasn't that bad. The story is autobiographical, and for John things eventually turned out well.
I guess part of the picture is that Oskar was becoming an extraorinary young man (John certainly did), and I guess the principle of "Just who do you think you are" (janteloven) struck. He was behaving a bit aparte, was spotted, and catched hell.
This happens all the time, and I've never encountered anyone describing it better than John.

[DMt.]

The herd values conformity above all things, it would seem

[metoo]

Someone asked if there might have been an Eli in John's life, and I think there was: Svensk Magisk Cirkel (Swedish Magic Circle), an association for magicians. John became a member when he was thirteen, which novel Oskar is about to become in a month. This apparently saved John's life, there he found an environment where he felt at home. You can hear John speak about this (in Swedish) here, the script for that radio program is included in the collection Låt de gamla drömmarna dö.