Have you come?

This simple question follows Ballard’s love making in both the film and novel, although circumstances have changed, and the additional information imparted in the novel bring the characters of James and Remington both closer and further apart.   

Their affair begun soon after the accident.  Ballard enjoyed being part of a predictable surge in sexual activity, aware that he wasn’t the only lover Remington had taken since that fateful day.  However, their liaison was now on a downward curve, the momentum brought about by the death of her husband dissipating. 

In the movie a snippet of dialog takes place in the airport garage, where in the novel the couple have stopped near the reservoirs near the airport.  They had been on their way somewhere else, and had taken time out to have sex.  After they are done James runs through the stories she had told him in his head, of all the lovers she had taken in her car since the accident.  Their physical relationship had already run its course. 

They had been on their way to the Road Research Laboratory, an incredibly fertile place for the Crash characters to converge – and one area that Cronenberg decided to almost entirely ignore.   

The interesting aspects of such a location are immediately evident from the initial descriptions JG Ballard gives to Helen’s reaction upon gaining access to crash vehicles:  “The bodies of plastic mannequins sat in the crumpled hulls, their faces and chests splintered by the collisions, wound areas marked in colored panels on their skulls and abdomens.  Helen stared at them through the empty windshields , almost as if they were patients whom she hoped to treat.  As we strolled the gathering visitors in their smart suits and flowered hats Helen reached through the starred windows and caressed the plastic arms and heads.” 

It is amusing to read the author describing the visitors to the Road Research Laboratory as though they were taking a side trip whilst on their way to Ascot.  Suits and hats hardly seem to be appropriate dress for such a visit, it’s as though everyone were willingly making such a visit a royal event.   

The fantasy element of the Laboratory is borne out by the added commentary of a Senior Principle Scientific Officer.  Ballard, working as he does within the film industry, would be used to staging events, of the details and planning that must take place.  With the commentary comes a whimsical air of storytelling:  “Charlie and Greta, imagine them out for a drive with the kids, Sean and Brigitte…”  This description of the mannequins, positioned specifically with impending injuries in mind, were an abstraction close to reality.  Engineers in the car industry were clearly spending their time predicting impact injuries, designing dashboards and steering columns in such a way as to control impacts, predicting response. 

Vaughan’s arrival, with his attention turned to the motor-cycle with which this plastic family would impact (with a rider named Elvis – in keeping with the imagery of celebrities participating in accidents) means control is largely taken by him.  Remington is drawn to him, and Ballard finds himself joining her.  Mention of handouts from the Laboratory come up here:  “Get all the paper you can, Ballard.  Some of the stuff they’re giving away – “Mechanisms of Occupant Ejection”, “Tolerances of the Human Face in Crash Impacts”…”  In the movie this dialog is moved from the Laboratory scene into Seagraves apartment, though in the film the context is missing since the test scenes have been omitted. 

JG Ballard spends considerable time describing the impact of the test vehicles.  The motor cycle rider breaks into pieces, and the front passenger in the car is decapitated.  After the impact itself, the assembled crowd are shown replays in slow motion, much as we see in the film at Seagraves apartment.  Vaughan, sexually aroused at the point of impact, reaches orgasm.   

These details, written in excruciating detail, could easily have been a description of an actual accident, with a real family having impact with this lone rider.  Clearly for Vaughan, the matter of whether the participants are real or fabricated isn’t an issue – he is equally aroused by either.  Ballard remains somewhat confused by his feelings, daunted by Vaughan and his influence, while Helen is quiet, taking in the scene, and observing the relationship between these two men from a safe distance. 

Vaughan speaks a line, employed by Cronenberg later in the film:  “I’ve always wanted to drive a crashed car.”   

Ballard and Vaughan leave the Laboratory, Vaughan taking the driving duties.  He drives carelessly, the effect of the impact affecting his judgement:  “This car – a ten year old continental.  I take it that you see Kennedy’s assassination as a special kind of car-crash?”

“The case could be made.” 

In the movie the conversation ends here.  This was necessary because any details regarding the death wish for Elizabeth Taylor were exercised.  In the novel the conversation continues:  “But why Elizabeth Taylor?  Driving around in this car, aren’t you putting her in danger?”

“Who from?”

“Seagrave – the man’s half out of his mind.” 

The fantasy of Taylor’s death seems to sit with Seagrave, with Vaughan encouraging the dreams.  Vaughan has drawn up questionnaires so he can test prospect members to his cult, he offers them to Ballard for review.  The questionnaires are missing from the movie.