"Girl, Interrupted" is a riveting psychological drama set against the backdrop of a psychiatric hospital in the late 1960s. The film, directed by James Mangold, details a complex journey of self-discovery, friendship, and resilience, anchored by a stellar cast and masterful storytelling. At its core, "Girl, Interrupted" is a genre-defying work that transcends conventional labels. It seamlessly blends drama, psychological thriller, and coming-of-age narrative elements, inviting viewers into a world where the boundaries between sanity and madness blur. Set in the late 1960s, the film captures the essence of a generation grappling with shifting social norms and the search for personal freedom and identity. The narrative unfolds through the eyes of Susanna Kaysen, …show more content…
Lisa's rebellious spirit and unpredictable nature fascinate and unsettle Susanna, leading to a complex friendship marked by infatuation and conflict. As Susanna navigates life's challenges within Claymoore, she forms deep connections with her fellow patients, including the sensitive Daisy (Brittany Murphy) and the kind-hearted Polly (Elisabeth Moss). Each character brings their struggles and demons to the narrative, adding layers of depth and complexity to the story. Through therapy sessions and group activities, Susanna confronts her inner turmoil and begins to unravel the underlying causes of her struggles, leading to moments of profound introspection and revelation. The performances in "Girl, Interrupted" are nothing short of mesmerizing. Winona Ryder delivers a tour-de-force performance as Susanna, capturing her vulnerability and resilience with remarkable authenticity. Angelina Jolie shines as Lisa, infusing the character with charisma and complexity, while Brittany Murphy and Elisabeth Moss deliver standout performances as Daisy and Polly in vulnerability and grace. Visually, "Girl, Interrupted" is a feast for the
The novel Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl, who gets raped in the summer before the start of her freshman year in high school and the book follows her as she tries to cope with the depression that comes that kind of violation. This book was turned into a movie; and released early in the early 2000’s and when adapting books to film, a lot of information and details are lost in the process. When comparing Speak the novel and Speak the movie, the noticeable differences are; the character relationships, Melinda’s character, and Andy Evans and Melinda’s dynamic.
In The Crisis, No.1 Thomas Paine utilizes many different types of rhetorical devices to persuade the readers that America is the strongest it has ever been and Great Britain is at a weak point. Paine uses metaphoric language to compare the greatness of America and Americans different types of connotation, and allusions to rally the American troops. Using different types of connotation Thomas Paine demonstrates the negative opinions he and most Americans had formed towards their overlords in England. Finally, he convinces his audience that the Colonists will win the war solely because God Almighty was on their side.
This essay argues that the film Bridesmaids transcends traditional representations of feminine desire that exhibits women as spectacles of erotic pleasure, through the symbolic reversal of gender identity in cinematic spaces. By discussing feminist perspectives on cinema, along with psychoanalytic theory and ideological narratives of female image, this essay will prove Bridesmaids embodies a new form of feminine desire coded in the space of the comedic film industry.
“In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit….” This short monologue is the opening for Dick Wolf’s fictional television show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. This show follows the detectives of the Sixteenth Precinct in Manhattan, New York City through their lives and the cases they work day after day. In this unit, it is Detective Olivia Benson who has inspired me with her dedication and strength to her job and the real life connections that have been created from this character.
In the short story, "The Girl Who Was Plugged In", James Tiptree creates a society where there is no official advertising. The only form of advertisement is the use of celebrities or "remotes", who are forced to use specific products, to entice the general public into purchasing them. The story focuses on on a single character, known as Philadelphia Burke, who is transformed from her natural rancid state, as described by the narrator, into a goddess like figure that Tiptree's society holds as the epitome of beauty. P. Burke, having been a wretched being for seventeen years of her life, is given the chance to become a remote and through a new body live the life that she has always dreamed of. Using the character P. Burke, Tiptree highlights
It is no secret that there is an obvious difference of how women are portrayed in the media versus men. This movie discussed female characters never having lead roles and stated that when they did it ended in the women depending on, loving, or having to have a man. One young high school girl said, “Women never play the protagonist. The girls are
Today, contemporary audiences and critics have become preoccupied with the role the cinema plays in shaping social values, institutions, and attitudes. American cinema has become narrowly focused on images of violent women, female sexuality, the portrayal of the “weaker sex” and subversively portraying women negatively in film. The “Double Indemnity” can be read in two ways. It is either a misogynist film about a terrifying, destroying woman, or it is a film that liberates the female character from the restrictive and oppressed melodramatic situation that render her helpless” (Kolker 124). There are arguably two extreme portrayals of the character of Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity.
The movie “Breaking Away” presents the story of a young man from working class origins who seeks to better himself by creating a persona through which he almost, but not quite, wins the girl. The rivalry between the townies and the college students sets the scene for the story of four friends who learn to accept themselves as they "break away" from childhood and from their underdog self-images.
Girls Like Us is an intimate portrayal concerning four girls who grew up all with different ethnic backgrounds and various forms of parental guidence. Anna Chau is Vietnames with strict parents and good beliefs, Lisa Bronca is a Caucasion Catholic, De'Yonna Moore is African-American with strong goals who lives with her Grandma and Raelene Cox is a young white girl who comes from a broken home with little parental guidence. Girls Like Us shows examples of structural functionism, and conflict theory, as well as symbolic interactionalism. This movie really intersted me because I actually got to see each of these girls grow up. This film also contained implications for the science of sociology.
By dissecting the film, the director, Jennie Livingston's methodology and the audience's perceived response I believe we can easily ignore a different and more positive way of understanding the film despite the many flaws easy for feminist minds to criticize. This is in no way saying that these critiques are not valid, or that it is not beneficial to look at works of any form through the many and various feminist lenses.
Sofia Coppola’s movie, The Virgin Suicides, 1999, brings to the forefront the reality of what life is like for five oppressed teenage girls living in suburbia in the mid-70’s. After examining numerous articles, a few of them made an impact on my perspective. The first of many articles is Todd Kennedy’s piece, Off with Hollywood’s Head: Sofia Coppola as Feminine Auteur. Kennedy discusses how Coppola has a tendency to lean toward directing films that cater toward females’ interest, either because of the visual imagery or women’s feelings of connectedness with the characters. The author reveals that The Virgin Suicides portrays women as becoming dominated by the environment surrounding them. The author gives an interesting point of view when he claims, “The film tells a story of the five Lisbon sisters whose identities exist only insofar as they are defined as the objects of the masculine desire” (44). Furthermore, the Kennedy asserts how the film serves as a prolonged exploration into the degree to which female characters are idealized, objectified, and defined by the image that the film- and their society- imposes upon them.
Snatch directed by Guy Ritchie (2000) is a nonlinear film told with two main story lines which are interwoven around each other. Plot A of the film is about a boxing promote named Turkish who is indebted to local bookie Brick Top. Plot B follows a 86 caret diamond as it is brought to London and ends up moving through the underground crime scene in London. The editor of the film uses various techniques to tell the story of how the diamond passes from character to character using and how it gets to the end point which is outlined in the beginning of the film with Turkish narrating at the beginning of the film “what do I know about Diamonds.” This essay will outline the various technique the editor and director of the film used to tell the story of the diamond using both dramatic and comedic moments through the use of transitions, length and arrangement of shots, use of small montages to identify characters, use of pause and slow motion and narration to continue the story and provide energy to the film and the use of time jumping to increase the comedic elements of the film.
In conclusion, Girl Interrupted displayed many accurate traits of the psychiatric disorders depicted. Susanna Kaysen’s memoirs provided a strong backbone for a film to show outsiders what life was like inside a psychiatric facility in the 1960’s.
Pretty Woman is a modern take on the classic Cinderella story where a poor, misguided girl meets her prince and her life is dramatically changed. This film has fairy tale elements, but the biggest element in the movie is the use of sex; Vivian, the main character, is a prostitute. She meets her “prince” and is swept off of her feet, but what this really means is that she is bought for an entire week by a handsome, wealthy businessman. One would assume that he was buying her for sex, but this is not your average prostitute transaction. This movie has a lot of third wave feminism ideals.
Also, the film revealed women empowerment and how superior they can be compared to men. While demonstrating sexual objectification, empowerment, there was also sexual exploitation of the women, shown through the film. Throughout this essay, gender based issues that were associated with the film character will be demonstrated while connecting to the real world and popular culture.