She wasnt a actually mute...

She's a Selective Mute, which is a real diagnosable mental issue. Her becoming a selective mute is very likely, were the circumstances presented here to occur for real.

The problem with the movie propaganda calling her a selective mute, versus just saying mute, is that then they have to explain what the term selective means. Whereas the uneducated masses will understand mute right away.

(uneducated in this case means those that don't understand medical diagnoses, mental conditions, etc.)

No, she was a selective mute. I actually suffered from it as a child.

And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were... I'm on drugs!

The way the film was marketed has to do with the producers and what they decided, they would have researched what a 'selective mute' is, and since they did research it, they know how to market it.
Besides, it was selective mutism - she was selective in NOT talking about the rape, yet she did answer questions, etc.
Plus, the title of this thread has terrible grammar especially if you want to prove a point, let's try something that makes sense: "She wasn't actually a mute"

Of course. She's very good in all her movies. :)

No Day But Today. Today 4 U. One Song Glory.
How we gonna pay last year's RENT?!

I "suffered" from Selective Mutism as a child also.
It's an anxiety disorder in which the person (usually a child) can speak perfectly but won't/can't in certain situations.

In elementary school, I talked to the other children but around teachers & other adults (besides family) I became painfully shy and could not talk. It was like I had lost my voice. But I slowly got over it throughout junior high. And in high school, I was "normal". I talked when spoken to or when I needed to but I never raised my hand in class to voluntarily answer a question or anything.

I'm in grad school now and I'm still like that. I talk when I feel like it. But I always get really nervous/anxious right before I raise my hand and/or decide to speak up in class. And it's only/always in a school setting. I'm not like that at work or in public places and whatnot. Weird, no? =]

I don't know why they emphasized that she was a selective mute so much with the description. If you read the book, she's perfectly well to talk. She just chooses not to talk much in class, to her parents, or the teachers.


It's like being inside a dream or something.. There's truth, but no logic.

I have this friend I've known since college who is a selective mute. There are certain people and circumstances where the words are in his mind, but he can't say anything. Or he'll just say yes and no. He says it happens because of fear. He had this chronically ill dad who couldn't stand noise, then this abusive nut of a teacher in the fourth grade and again in sixth who cut him down with sarcasm and got the whole class laughing at him. He thinks that was where it started. Most of the time he talks just like you and me, but when he hears that sarcasm, or people try to force him to do something or be a certain way, the voice is the first thing that goes.

Don't forget your tsvets!

When I read the description I honestly thought she had selected to be mute, as in refused to speak to anyone, as opposed to say being born mute.

But it felt much more like she was just withdrawn and quiet. Where she rebels against her history teacher that I would call selective mutism.