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.
poster:Noa
thread:19682
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000112/msgs/19685.html