Films: Girl, Interrupted (1999)

(Content Warnings!! mentions of abuse, self-harm, eating disorders, mental illnesses, suicide attempt, descriptions/pictures of mental institution etc)

This has to be one of my favourite movies. I've seen it so many times that I can't quite remember how I first came across it, I do remember, however, that as soon I started watching it my eyes were glued to the screen.

Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 American Drama that follows the story of Susanna Kaysen's (Winona Ryder) 18 month stay in a mental institution during the 1960s. She checks herself in after a suicide attempt and was later on diagnosed with Bordeline Disorder. Based on the memoir by Susanna Kaysen of the same name, we explore the worlds of the sane and the insane in a time when the medical studies of the psyche are just beginning to bloom. 

There she meets Polly "Torch" Clark (Elisabeth Moss), a burn victim; Georgina Tuskin (Clea DuVall), a pathological liar; Daisy Randone (Brittany Murphy), a sexually abused girl who struggles with bulimia and self harm and Janet Webber (Angela Bettis), an anorexic. She is particularly enthralled by Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie), a sociopath who seems to run the place through her manipulation.
Along with her new friends Susanna discovers that there are liberties and comforts in the psychiatric hospital that she would never have access to in the normal world. Susanna growing comfortable with her new surroundings prolongs her stay in the ward. Will she be able to give up her new found liberties in order to continue her life in the world of the mentally sane?

I love this movie for a number of reasons, the first being that at the time I really related to the main character's struggles and fears. In other words, this movie really hit home. 

I could infinitely write about this movie, analysing every little detail, but I wouldn't want to bore you. So I will try to sum things up.

The movie, in my opinion, succeeds in portraying the alienation felt by an individual who does not follow society's set standards. It makes us question if it is this alienation that drives us to insanity, o whether it is society that labels us as insane. Either way we are forced to conform to these standards if we ever want to continue with our life. 

*Spoiler*

Either way we are forced to conform to these standards if we ever want to continue with our lives. Susanna discovers that the key element in her recovery was herself. The hospital couldn't cure you, it could only aid your recovery. Once Susanna decided that she wanted to recover and came to terms with societies standards, was she able to heal and move on with her life.

"Declared healthy, and sent back into the world. My final diagnosis "a recovered borderline". What that means I still don't know. Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is."

Blessed be,

~Rose