@A to Z said:

So why did he destroy her model?

Why do kids bully? He thought her model was better than his, and as Gloria said, he hated himself and saw his own failure in her success so he channeled his hate the only way he knew how. With anger and destruction.

he's a dick.

@diadara said:

@A to Z said:

So why did he destroy her model?

Why do kids bully? He thought her model was better than his, and as Gloria said, he hated himself and saw his own failure in her success so he channeled his hate the only way he knew how. With anger and destruction.

What has bullying got to do with it? He thought she wasn't looking. That's the complete opposite of what a bully would do.

I guess no one else understood his character either, It seems.

@A to Z said:

@diadara said:

@A to Z said:

So why did he destroy her model?

Why do kids bully? He thought her model was better than his, and as Gloria said, he hated himself and saw his own failure in her success so he channeled his hate the only way he knew how. With anger and destruction.

What has bullying got to do with it? He thought she wasn't looking. That's the complete opposite of what a bully would do.

I guess no one else understood his character either, It seems.

That's why I said he channeled it onto her model instead. When she then came back it all seemed fine at first. He was very kind to her, almost too kind, to a point when it started to get weird. As soon as he found himself in a position where he held all the power, he became that little boy again, only this time he didn't settle for breaking something material of hers, he wanted to break her spirit. Like a bully.

OK that makes sense. I'd assumed he was in love with her, and that was why he wanted to help her and was jealous when she hooked up with Joel.

Oscar hates himself and how little of a life he has in the present day, right? He supposedly falls in love with her as the film suggests by using the usual tropes. But then, you find out Oscar actually projects his hatred towards his own life onto her, turning into bitter jealousy, not love.

The "origins" scene is the writer's attempt to give everything meaning. The only explanation I can come up with is Oscar is jealous of her model. You can kind of see this if you compare of two models. He is supposed to do Madrid, but he didn't even get the name right. His is really flat and boring while her's supposed to be amazing, colorful and perfect.

This of course, doesn't explain why the hell he climbs a fence to get her model. Maybe he just wanted to see her face when he brought it back all broken?

I don't even know. This is a film where the girl gets so upset her Seoul model is broken by a bully she summons magic lightning and curses him and herself for 25+ years.

@diadara said:

That's why I said he channeled it onto her model instead. When she then came back it all seemed fine at first. He was very kind to her, almost too kind, to a point when it started to get weird. As soon as he found himself in a position where he held all the power, he became that little boy again, only this time he didn't settle for breaking something material of hers, he wanted to break her spirit. Like a bully.

He was literally trying to build a "little model life" for her to stick her into. I saw it as control, something he was never able to do. This became very clear when he lit off the fireworks then mocked the idea of her leaving with Tim. You could see her countenance drop as she relived all her failures. It wasn't until she remembers her creativity (and his desire to destroy it out of fear and jealousy) that she commits to leaving for a better life. BTW, this is also why she has out grown Tim...and her drinking...by the end of the film.