MovieChat Forums > Fatal Attraction (1987) Discussion > Who else actually felt sorry for Alex?

Who else actually felt sorry for Alex?

posted 12 years ago by saint_sophie
82 replies | jump to latest

I watched the film again last night and I have to say I really did feel sorry for Alex in some respects. She did some evil things, obviously, but she was a truly disturbed mentally ill wreck who really, really needed psychiatric care and help.

I'm quite astonished that more people aren't at all sympathetic towards Alex and their sympathies are with Beth instead when Alex is probably suffering internally more than anyone else in the entire movie. It makes me realise how much mental illness really is still stigmatised.

If Dan was any decent guy at all, he would have made sure that Alex received the help she needed, which would have helped everyone else in the long run, especially after she cut her wrists which was the telltale sign, even if she hadn't intended to commit suicide, that she was seriously mentally ill. All he cared about was saving his own neck and his own marriage which HE violated by agreeing to the, what he believed, mutual one-night stand with Alex. It was all his fault, AND he went back a second time.

Does anyone else feel any sympathy for Alex at all, even a little bit?

[–] Mimapopaluck 11 years ago

I felt sympathy for her situation of being a single mother who was hoping the father of her unborn baby would want to be a part of her life. That's where my sympathy ended. Her actions towards him in response to his rejection were unjustified.

[–] ptyg32 11 years ago

I felt sorry for her until Dan reads about her killing her ex husband.Then i kinda got the creeps.

[–] TerpStudent 11 years ago

The clipping Dan read was about Alex's father's death (which does ominously reveal that she lied about her father still being alive and that presumably she really did see him die of a heart attack right in front of her when she was a girl). She was never married and there's nothing in the film that indicates that she has killed before.

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[–] TerpStudent 11 years ago

I don't care who seduced who, or who led who on, or who betrayed who. I will always feel sorry for Alex. She was mentally unstable and could not control her actions. She wasn't sadistic and she didn't get off on what she did; her actions were more like a cry for help. I would have very much wished to see her get the psychiatric help she needed (of course after being committed to an institution) than the fate she eventually got.

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[–] teddycrawley 11 years ago

What the people who don't have any sympathy for Alex, due to her actions after Dan's rejection, are twisted. some say, yes I had sympathy, until she started stalking Dan or boiled the bunny.

PEOPLE, her actions were those of someone who is mentally ill and unstable throughout the ENTIRE movie. She needed lots and LOTS of therapy.

People with minds that work somewhat normally would never do anything like she did. Stalking doesn't suddenly make her mentally stable and just scary. She was ill throughout the whole thing and ALL of her actions showed this.

Dan had a hand in the whole situation and could have dealt with it differently in some instances. When she cut her wrists?!!?! BAKER ACT HER. Get her on a 72 hour psychiatric hold and GUESS WHAT - those doctors would have kept her because it isn't hard for anyone to see she is a sick human being.

Just because her actions became violent doesn't mean she is any less deserving of help. YES what she did was f%%%ing crazy, but dammit, no human being deserves to live their lives that OUT OF IT. She needed counseling and probably a lot of anti psychotic medications.

It's probably people like those of you without ANY sympathy that turn some mentally unstable people into maniacs. I can imagine if I needed psychiatric help, and all I got was a bunch of back handed comments about how nuts I was instead of someone who cared enough to try and help, *beep* I'd probably try to kill myself too.

She obviously had no support system of any kind, nor any skills in coping. So the first human being that shows interest, she attaches to. It isn't an unheard of situation. SHE WANTED TO BE LOVED. That's what all her actions boiled down to.

And in my mind and heart, that is truly sad.

I would, however, like to say.....

Alex LOOKED scary/stalker-ish. that crazy, unkempt hair...that eyeliner that seemed too raccoony throughout the whole movie. Yikes.

[–] TerpStudent 11 years ago

Glenn Close's regrets about playing Alex Forrest; check this out!

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2013/0605/454763-glenn-close-regrets-fatal- attraction/

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[–] Tracey73 11 years ago

There was a part of me which felt sorry for Alex. I think this was due to Glenn Close's fantastic acting in this movie. Her character did horrible things, but there was something very pitiful about her. Very few actors can portray the villain and still make some of the viewers feel a bit of pity towards him/her.

Some hurt, some love, some shout. I fought the world and I lost that bout. ~ Blue October

[–] fiatlux-1 11 years ago

Another film where a 'bad guy' engenders some sympathy despite her horrid actions is May, starring Angela Bettis.

"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

[–] hnt_dnl 11 years ago

The thing I like about a movie like this is that one can see it from both sides. The main place where I feel sympathy for Alex is in the emotional department, being used by Dan for a weekend fling, then, in her words, ignored. True, she knew he was married, but he did kind of lead her on. It's totally possible that he could have planned to continue the affair past the weekend. Many men have done it! Alex couldn't help herself to an extent. She had feelings for Dan.

Now, from Dan's standpoint, he had no way of knowing that Alex was a psychopath. Plus, he's really not responsible for her actions. She's an adult. He didn't force her to attempt suicide. Her emotional instability caused her to do that. Yeah, Dan was a jerk for brushing her aside, but she chose to seduce a married man who couldn't commit to her. So, I felt sorry for her TO A POINT, but once she went overboard psycho, I could no longer sympathize.

[–] mr-the-rohan 11 years ago

I don't condone what she did in the end, however I think that the general theme of the movie (i.e 'some bitches be crazy, so careful who you *beep* around with') was a little nasty. It's almost like they made her into a psycho to get the desired outcome. I do believe it was supposed to be an examination of BPD, and in that regard it was quite insensitive.

I felt very sorry for her, and I think it's hard for a lot of people (men in particular) to understand how someone can 'lose it' emotionally. It's scary for the person of the receiving end, but the head of the person feeling it must be a hell on earth. It did the job of being a thriller, but it would have been nice if they could have taken a more nuanced approach. I think the idea of the 'bunny boiler' kind of permeated our collective psyche after this, when the reality is far more complex. Let's not forget he left the woman to drown after she was no longer a threat.

I had a similar reaction to single white female.

[–] greatbritain1989 11 years ago

Team Alex! She would have even more disgusted by internet dating.

[–] DesperateHouseboy 11 years ago

I felt bad for her too, and actually dont blame her for some of the stuff she did.