Whatever - Extension du domaine de la lutte (movie)

DVD cover.

Whatever or Extension du domaine de la lutte (English: Extension of the Domain of Struggle) is the 1999 movie adaptation of the book by Michel Houellebecq under the same title, Whatever. It is considered the most brutal film about inceldom ever made. It was released onto DVD by StudioCanal but may be out of print. Copies of the DVD start at around $50. The movie is in the French language but English subtitles are available on the DVD.

Some dialogue from the movie

After Tisserand gets rejected in a dance club

• Tisserand (truecel): Qu'est-ce que je peux faire? (What can I do?)
• Notre Heros (main character): Pompes le poulet! (Pump the chicken!)
• Tisserand (truecel): So it's hopeless?
• Notre Heros (main character): Of course it is. It always was. From the start. You'll never be a girl's erotic dream. Get used to it. It's not for you. Anyhow, it's too late. All your sexual failures since adolescence, the frustration dogging you since puberty, have scarred you forever. Even if you could find a woman, which I frankly doubt, it wouldn't work. It will never work. You're orphaned by the teenage loves you never had. It's already hurt you. It'll keep getting worse. An agonizing bitterness will fill your heart. There's no redemption. No release. That's how it is.

Main character about Tisserand, his truecel coworker

• I knew why Tisserand valued my company. I never spoke of my girlfriends or boasted about my conquests. This allowed him to deduce, correctly, in fact, that for some reason or other, I had no sex life. It lightened his load. It eased his ordeal. I remember witnessing a painful occasion when Tisserand first met Thomassen, a new recruit. Thomassen was Swedish, very tall and very well-built. You felt you were facing a superman or demigod. Thomassen shook my hand, then went to Tisserand. Tisserand stood up, saw that Thomassen was 15 inches taller, and promptly sat down, beet-red, with murder in his eyes. It was appalling. Tisserand, thank God, hadn't yet travelled with Thomassen but whenever a training tour came up, I know the idea of it ruined his sleep.

After a breakdown and bitter rant by the main character (who is not a truecel like Tisserand)

• psychologist: When did you last have intercourse?
• main character: Just over 2 years ago.
• psychologist: You see? How can you expect to enjoy life?

Main character thinking back about his life

• I'd had a life. Hard to remember, but I once had a life. I had photos to prove it. Probably during my adolescence, or soon after. How hungry for life I was then! How full of possibilities life seemed! I might become a pop star, move to Venezuela... Odder still, I'd had a childhood. When I was seven, I played with toy soldiers on the rug. I took a keen interest in these miniature wargames. It was long ago, but I remember it. Now the water's cold. I'm far from shore. So far from shore I swim on, but each stroke takes me nearer to drowning. I'm choking. My lungs are aching. The water seems colder, more and more bitter. I'm not so young. I'll die one day. But I keep going and remember how I entered the struggle.

Sexual Liberalism

• Tisserand: Damn it. I'm 28 and still a virgin. Why not pay for a whore?
• Main character: Clearly, in our society, sex was another form of segregation, quite apart from money but equally pitiless in its segregating power. The effects of both were equivalent. Like totally free economics and for the same reasons, totally free sex created a class of paupers. Some people had sex daily. Others, only 5 or 6 times. Or never. Some men had dozens of women. Others had none. It's called "market forces". I've worked it out. I can afford a whore a week. Saturdays would be nice. Maybe I will one day, but I know there are men who get it for free, and love with it. So... I'd rather try that. For now, I'll keep trying. In an economic system that outlawed layoffs, everyone would find some kind of job. In a sexual system that outlawed adultery, everyone would find some kind of bedmate. In a completely free economy, some people amassed big fortunes while others rotted in poverty. In the free sex system, some people had an exciting, varied sex life. Others masturbated alone. Economic liberalism extended the struggle to people of every age and social class. Sexual liberalism, too, extended the struggle to people of every age and social class. In economic terms, Tisserand was a winner. In sexual terms, he was a loser. Some people won both ways, others lost both ways. The stress and strain were huge.

What the incel antagonist notices about patients in the mental clinic:

• "It dawned on me that all of them, men and women, weren't remotely crazy. They simply lacked love. Their gestures and attitudes revealed their craving to be touched, caressed. Of course, it was impossible."

When the incel antagonist tells the psychologist about the black pill:

• "Some beings are terrified of living with themselves. They can't bear to look at their own life and see it all, without shadows or backgrounds. By existing, they defy the laws of nature, not only because their inability to adapt serves no genetic purpose, but also because it presupposes a lucidity which clearly transcends the perceptual norms of everyday life."

See also

• Whatever (novel)
• More Movies
• The Incel Project

External Links

• IMDB page
• Movie on Vimeo