After the Hunt Would Like to Touch a Nerve

After the Hunt Would Like to Touch a Nerve



Lean and lanky and given to casually
draping himself across chairs and couches, as well as their occupants, Hank
could be the evil twin to the milquetoast Harvard undergrad that Garfield
played in The Social Network: his
know-it-all nerdiness is a tool of seduction. Hank enjoys styling himself as a
straw man for the blame-patriarchy crowd; he’d just as soon hand the Zoomers in
his midst a match. Maggie, meanwhile, is a promising scholar, neck-deep in an
apparently excellent dissertation about “performative discontent.” She knows
full well that Yale’s white power brokers are apt to treat her as a mascot and a
meal ticket (her parents are donors). She’s the polished apple of Alma’s eye—a
thoroughbred teacher’s pet—and reflects the older woman’s anxious, narcissistic
gaze back at her: Mirror, mirror on the
wall / who’s the wokest prof of all?
 

There is one more important character:
Alma’s husband, Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg)—the baker of the
tárt, and a psychiatrist perceptive enough that he
can afford to take clients at home on his own schedule. Frederik is used to
people falling in desperate, unrequited love with his wife: It’s what he did
30 years ago, for better and for worse. Hank’s shameless, in-your-face
flirtations worry him less than Maggie’s combustible mix of ambition and
insecurity.

One night,
after much talk of Heidegger and Hegel and their various private
improprieties—and too many drinks, served open-bar at Alma and Frederik’s
expense—Hank and Maggie walk home together through New Haven, en route to a
friendly nightcap at the latter’s apartment. The next morning, Maggie shows up
at Alma’s place, soaked from the rain and shivering. She reports, through
nervous tears, that something went wrong—that Hank, inebriated and insistent,
crossed the line. That Maggie won’t say exactly which line was crossed raises
alarm bells for Alma, who has her own tricky, age-gap rapport with Hank. That
Alma seemingly requires clarification on this point makes Maggie apoplectic,
although whether this is out of indignation, disappointment, or anxiety about a
lack of corroborating details is hard to say.





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Kim Browne

As an editor at Lofficiel Lifestyle, I specialize in exploring Lifestyle success stories. My passion lies in delivering impactful content that resonates with readers and sparks meaningful conversations.

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