Top 10 Moments from the movie Pollen

 

What is consent? And how do we accept or reject the situation as one where consent was given?

The word consent meant giving a straightforward yes or no answer but now it seems that there is another issue that has arisen. What happens when the victim is forced to give consent? Does that still count as consent?

Pollen is an interesting movie with a very vital message.

Here are the Top 10 Moments from the movie Pollen

1) Hera is a timid, awkward, yet an intelligent woman who works in an organization that deals with finances. As a junior financial analyst, she is working her dream job and dating her colleague. Life should be perfect for her, isn’t it?

2) Hera is attracted to Zach who is her senior. He takes her out on a date and gifts her potted flowers. He then tell her to invite him in. Hera says no but Zach thinks she’s playing at coy and believes she wants him to take the lead.

3) Hera doesn’t understand what happened to her after Zach spends the night. The next morning, he’s already out the door and doesn’t bother to speak to her until she is willing to do more intimate things with him. Hera’s obsession with the flowers grow to the point that she begins talking to it.

4) Hera still believes Zach and her are in a relationship. He did spend the night with her after all. However, he barely speaks two words to her, mocks her, and gives her an after morning pill. He insults Hera for not realizing he hadn’t used any form of contraceptive.

5) Zach moves on with Hera’s colleague Vicky, who then gossips about her. Hera thinks she has a friend in Gabe because he tries to help her and recommend her with her CFA studies. Hera even has support from her sister Demi who in spite of working at the hospital, still makes time for Hera. Demi is however clueless to what Hera has gone through.

6) Facing rejection from Zach, she starts to spiral. She cries at work only to be told by Vicky to not do it at the workplace. Her attempts to dress up is ridiculed by her boss Lori who keeps taunting her wardrobe. Hera can be seen on the verge of a breakdown.

7) The breakdown happens and begins with Hera seeing the “Tree Man” following her around. She also finds pollen everywhere. On top of everything, she is sneezing some yellowish goo and seeds.

8) Demi’s daughter Corey seems to know about the Tree Man too. On one occassion, Hera loses her cool and slaps Corey when she breaks her flower pot. Hera goes out of control with her jealousy and while she is able to stand Vicky dating Zach, she can’t stand that she means to harm her flower.

It is when Vicky mentions harming her flower, that Hera kills Vicky’s plant, pulls her hair with a jerk and sprains her neck. Eventually, she stabs Vicky in the thigh, causing her to be fired.

9) Gabe comes out to see Hera and offers to give her a recommendation. Before Hera can even thank him, he touches her inappropriately, causing her to storm off. But this encounter has given Hera some semblance of sanity. She apologizes to her sister and promises to apologize to Corey for slapping her as well. She reveals what happened to her and promises to work on herself.

10) Zach asks for trouble when he visits Hera. He taunts her and when he pushes too hard, she uses a piece from the flower pot to stab him repeatedly. She then buries him. In the morning, Corey and her watch the flowers growing in the garden and the Tree Man keeping watch. The Tree Man serves as a protector and knows not to harm Corey either because she is given a flower by Hera.

Pollen had a lot of symbolism in its story. The reason Hera was possessive about the flower was probably because Zach had forcibly taken her “flower”. Zach was presumably her first which is why she had an attraction for him.

The Tree Man was her protector all along, reminding her she needed to stand up for herself and not lose her dignity.