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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Cass on January 25, 2000, at 18:16:16
Although I had some reservations about it, I went to see, "Girl Interrupted." The thing that bothered me the most was the button pushing scenes that took place when Lisa goads Dolly by saying that Dolly enjoyed her sexual abuse, and second, when the protagonist (Wynona Ryder, whose name I have already forgotten) criticizes Lisa by saying, "No one cares if you die, because you are already dead." The cruelty of the protaganist's attack on Lisa is far more cold than Lisa's attack on Dolly. Yet, the protagonist is supposedly "cured," or close to it. Afterwards, I felt intensely sympathetic toward Lisa (even though her callousness over Dolly's death was disturbing.)
Posted by Noa on January 25, 2000, at 18:49:51
In reply to More on "Girl Interrupted", posted by Cass on January 25, 2000, at 18:16:16
The way I see it, Susanna (Winona Ryder) is talking to part of herself when she berates Lisa about already being dead. Lisa and Dolly each represent aspects of Susanna that are in conflict, and her healing is finding a way to reconcile the all-too-accepting, passive, Daddy's girl (Dolly) with the all-too-enraged, rebelling against everything, caring about nothing, sociopath (Lisa).
When Dolly Dies, Susanna realizes her own little girl, victim-self, needs to be left behind (it's dead?) and she is equally disillusioned with the "romance" of the buck-everything rebel. This is when Susanna returns to the hospital to discover her "true" self.
If you noticed, there was a scene in which the patients are all watching the Wizard of Oz. The reference isn't random. Susanna goes through a disillusionment process, just like Dorothy. Dorothy also travels with companions that represent parts of the self necesarry for the transition into adult life. And, she, too discovers that the strong ones she turns to for help are not always what they seem. Both Susanna and Dorothy eventually discover they have it in themselves to survive. In the Wizard of Oz, it's Glinda the Good Witch that points this out. In Girl Interrupted, it's Whoopie Goldberg.
Posted by Cass on January 25, 2000, at 19:42:37
In reply to Re: More on "Girl Interrupted", posted by Noa on January 25, 2000, at 18:49:51
Noa, I'm really impressed with your careful analysis, and I think you make a good point. Thanks.
Posted by Renee N on January 25, 2000, at 22:55:08
In reply to Re: More on "Girl Interrupted", posted by Cass on January 25, 2000, at 19:42:37
> Noa, I'm really impressed with your careful analysis, and I think you make a good point. Thanks.
Noa, You go, girl!
This is the end of the thread.
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