You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
You know the story of the scorpion and the frog? It's a fable about a scorpion that asks a frog for a ride across the river. When the frog demurs because he is afraid of being stung, the scorpion points out that if he kills the frog both of them will die. Assured by the logic, the frog agrees and ferries the scorpion across the river. Midway across, however, the scorpion stings the frog. As they begin to sink, the frog asks the scorpion why. “It's my nature,” the scorpion answers.
The moral of the story seems to be that people cannot be other than what they are. We are warned against trusting scorpions because they are slaves to their instincts. They cannot do other than kill. But are we truly unable to act outside of our nature? I believe this is the central question posed by Drive, a film directed by Nicholas Winding Refn. Each of the characters we meet struggles to overcome who they are. Foremost is the eponymous yet unnamed Driver (Ryan Gosling). He wears a jacket with an embroidered scorpion (perhaps to ensure we do not miss the connection between the fable and the movie). There is nothing said of the Driver's past — that it was a violent one is clear in his familiarity with violence; that he is trying to escape it is clear in his silence and the distance he keeps from relationships.
In Hollywood fashion, his isolation ends when the Driver meets his pretty neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan), and her young son, Benicio (Kaden Leos). Their time together is marked by sunshine, soft and hazy, dappled with sentiment. After their first meeting, the Driver is shown watching Irene and her son at a distance, wearing his scorpion jacket.
My favorite scene in the movie is a quiet one between Irene and the Driver. They have returned after spending an afternoon together. Benicio is