Girl, Interrupted (1999)
"Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the late 1960s."
- IMDB
Angelina Jolie won an Oscar for her role in this film, and very deservedly so. However, I feel like Winona Ryder deserved just a little more recognition given how involved she was as the producer of the film. This was a project Ryder waited years to make, and given her history of mental illness, before and after the film, it was an important story for her to be a part of. Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, and Elizabeth Moss (who was amazing in this!!!) were all a part of the great supporting cast.
The soundtrack was good, but I felt that this film missed out on the opportunity to use the song “All the Madmen” by David Bowie. I quoted the lyrics many times throughout the film. The main hook of the song specifically sums up the vibe from the move – "I'd rather stay here with all the madmen, for I’m quite content they’re all as sane me." I really felt that watching these ladies living it up in this institution. And yeah, they all range from slightly mental, to very mental, to hard blown psychotic. But these women all seemed to be on the same wavelength. Between the darker moments, it felt like a family. I mean, it got to the point when I was watching a montage and I was like “yeah.... asylum life.” Maybe I’m a little crazy too. 🤣
The story of Girl, Interrupted is a true story based on the real life Susanna Kaysen and her extended stay at a mental hospital. While some of Susanna’s story was changed for the film, it still captures the themes and ideas that Susanna shared in her memoir and presents the same messages that we all need to hear. There was a theme that Susanna’s character was trying to enforce, but mostly because she was in denial of her actual depression. There were definitely times in history - well... I guess it still happens in modern times as well... - but when women don’t follow norms of society, they’re deemed crazy. Nowadays, we don’t lock every abnormal woman in an institution, but I’m sure plenty of sane women were locked in mad houses for, like, reading a book or something.
Susannah spends half the film with the mind set that she is a victim of this, but then she eventually drops the line “you try to hurt the thing on the outside to kill the thing on the inside.” Not only does this summarize depression and self-harm, but also signified Susanna accepting her issues, and then she spends the final act working making an effort to get better. Susanna is discharged from the facility in the end, which, given Lisa’s attitude and snarky remarks, didn’t seem possible unless you told the doctor’s what they wanted to hear. But that’s not necessarily the case.
The mental hospital was never meant to be a prison. Though it’s not hard to believe this considering the bars on the windows and what not, not to mention mental asylums seemed like a good place to send disgraced family members so you can hide them for society, which was definitely a thing that happened. This mental hospital genuinely aimed to help their patients in hopes that they can be released and live a stable life amongst society. And that’s a pretty important idea to have. Honestly, this helps paint.... not a positive picture on mental illness, because that’s definitely not a positive experience for anyone. This film does help in trying to erase the negative stigma for people with mental illness.
Mentally ill people shouldn’t be locked away or imprisoned, isolated from society and people. I mean... if they’re really really, like, Hannibal Lecter psychotic, than sure. But every mentally ill person, no matter the scale of their issues, deserve a chance and deserves help. And to be fair, even with people who aren’t even diagnosed with anything, we’re all a little crazy to some extent. Being normal, or people that believe they’re normal, that’s what I find to be insane.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆
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