Some Thoughts on "Babel," Part II

Another aspect of Babel that permeates the film is desire as an expression of pain alleviation. The young couple Richard and Susan engage in a tender, almost desperate kiss while Susan is recovering from her gunshot wound. The young Morroccon boy is so consumed with sexual desire for his sister that he hides behind a rock to masturbate. The Mexican nanny Amelia steals away with a long lost boyfriend to indulge in a quick but heavy make-out session. And the Japanese teen-age girl is completely sex-obsessed; she attempts to seduce diners at a restaurant, her friend's cousin, her dentist, and a police detective. (Pathetically, all of her seduction attempts are rebuffed.)

And all of these exchanges are within the context of severe emotional anguish. The young couple is still reeling from the recent death of their infant child. The young Morrocoon is afflicted with profound isolation. The Mexican nanny longs for attention from a male suitor to assuage her loneliness. And the Japanese girl is utterly destroyed by her mother's recent death. In the face of emotional turmoil, sexual desire is often an outlet for alleviating pain.