MovieChat Forums > The Innocents (1961) Discussion > why do so many people think she is insan...

why do so many people think she is insane?

posted 8 years ago by kalelabud
2 replies | jump to latest

we have two major interpretations for the movie, both of them are pretty much valid:
1- the main character is insane
2- the main character is right and the house is haunted.

since both interpretations are valid, i assumed that at least 50% of the people would believe the second interpretation. but no, just reading this threads, most people tend to think she is insane. and a lot of people say that she is insane like it is an absolute truth. i have a theory for why people tend to think this way.
they just think it will be more clever and original for the screenplay to be about insanity than ghosts. this people don't really like horror movies. they don't want the film to be supernatural because they think it will be inferior.
this is obviously a dumb way to see movies in general.
i do believe the house is haunted, and that the main character isn't insane. first because there is a lot of evidence there really are ghosts and the other people in the house can see them. second, because she being insane just doesn't fit with the atmosphere the movie builds. also, because "main character is insane" and "it was all a dream" are two theories that can be applied to ANY movie, and any movie that really have a "character is insane" twist turns out to be disappointing. it's just lazy writing, and this movie is better than that. and also because this is A *beep* HORROR FILM. you have to accept the movie for what it is. this is a horror movie. this is not the secret window or the number whatever. take your stupid lazy theories to christopher nolan's board.

[–] jsk32870 8 years ago

I would add to that, possibility #3 - perhaps there is a bit of both?

I already think there is some supernatural element to it, so there is no need for me to explain that to you, as you already accept that.

Now, for the 'insane' part, a few things....about 70 minutes into the film, there is about a five minute scene where Miss Giddens is walking around the house alone, with just a candelabra....and she hears all kinds of laughing and voices. No one else seems to hear this but her. Not the children, not Miss Grose, not Anna. And there is a lot of laughing and whispering going on, it would be impossible to NOT hear this, if it were real. So that begs the question...why is only Miss Giddens hearing this?

Also, her 'solution' at the end, to send away everyone, including the servants, and to keep only Miles behind....is odd. She gave no explanation other than to say that she felt Miles was ready to open up to her, that she felt it the previous night...well, I didn't see that at all. Miles was his same smart-ass self he'd been the whole movie, there was nothing indicating Miles was about to change his tune. And this came after Miles kissed her inappropriately on the mouth, and she didn't protest. That was odd as well. Then of course, after he dies, she then kisses him on the mouth, again, very inappropriately. So that does beg the question, what the heck was she thinking there at the end, when it came to Miles? You can make the argument that she was beginning to lose touch with reality there. What most people don't say on this board yet (not that I have seen anyway) is that, perhaps, the supernatural elements she experienced are what drove her to begin losing touch with reality. That might be the most plausible scenario of them all, but for some reason most people tend to choose #1 or #2 as you noted. Sometimes things aren't so black-and-white.

[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

i agree. she was going insane by the supernatural events. the ending proves that. only thing you said i can think can be explained is the scene where she walks through the house, with the voices, etc. i remember there's a scene where the girl says that miss grose told her that they have to "pretend they don't see/hear things" or something like that. maybe that can be an explanation.