Anyone that cares about accurate descriptions of mental illnesses should skip this one. A shrink never tells you to support the delusion. (Around 30th minute.)
It sucked to know about the topic. It ruined the movie for me. Ryan Gosling was good too.
repeat after me: fiction is not real
Who cares about stairs? The main thing is ice cream.
That does not mean fiction is not truthful, and or realistic. In fact fiction SHOULD be as realistic as possible within it's own setting, which I do not think this film was.
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in what ways would you say the film was not realistic within the universe it created for itself?
keep in mind that just because it is set in a place that we know of in the real world, doesn't mean it has thereby established a cinematic universe that matches the real world. after all, if we impose such a rule, then Ghostbusters is a horrible, utterly ridiculous film that deserves nothing but scorn for being so terribly unrealistic, and I'm not willing to go there
some of the best moments we pass in this life are in the dreams of others
No, ghostbusters makes perfect sense in its own setting. It's set in a world much like our own, but where ghosts and other paranormal stuff are 100% real and tangible, thus the events of the movies make sense within the setting.
The setting is nonsensical, but within its own boundaries it generally makes sense.
Lars from all the audience could tell was living in a world that was exactly as our own. If more people would have reacted negatively the film would have been more genuine, and still gotten it's message across with the few people who did help him, and in fact their embarrassing themselves to help him in spite of everyone else being cruel (as at VERY least SOME people actually would have been) would have made the points more poignant if you ask me.
Instead a guy has a severe emotional episode with a sex doll and literally everyone in town falls all over themselves to play along, even going so far as to nearly share in his delusion that the doll is real, so much that medical, religious, and funerary services among others, all play along. It just wouldn't happen.
It's not a BAD movie. They just chose to make it "feel good" rather than make sense. Of course if thats what you are looking for, I'm sure it would provide that just fine, and that's cool. It reminded me a bit of the Gilmore Girls in that way. Everything in the town the two women live in basically centers around them for no good reason. I like stuff like that from time to time, but this one didn't do it for me.
I'm just saying I think it would have been much better if it had been realistic to its setting.
the issue with Ghostbusters would not be the fantasy aspect pertaining to supernatural, but the fact that people in the film don't act like real people would act in the same situations
exterminators are much more discreet in their work
exterminators don't needlessly destroy client property
clients don't just stand there while listening to vendors destroying things
a person wouldn't likely return to a possessed apartment
the public wouldn't be allowed to gather around a building exploding with ghosts and lightning
etc., etc.
if Lars was living in a world exactly as our own, then the people would act exactly like people we know, but they don't, so he obviously doesn't. just because the film doesn't open with a declaration that people in that world are different, despite the similarities to earth, doesn't mean the film is thereby required to approximate real life on this planet. the declaration of the film's self-defined universe is in how the movie unfolds
some of the best moments we pass in this life are in the dreams of others
You forgot to mention that Bill Murray wouldn't be cracking jokes the whole time if his woman got possessed.
.....wait,...actually I think Bill Murray might....but,..you get the picture.
they made a film about an extraordinary situation, films are not always supposed to be realistic.
there was a lot of negative reaction, the couple at the party called him a weirdo, his brothers friends laughed about it, the parents at church tried to keep their children away from him as if they thought he was dangerous.
I'm not exactly sure how you can say that Ghostbusters makes perfect sense because it's set in a world much like our own but with certain differences but then say that the world in Lars was supposed to be exactly like our own. It was obviously not a world exactly like our own since you just said what happened in the movie would never have happened in real life. So it clearly wasn't a world exactly like our own. Also I never thought for a second while I was watching it that it was supposed to be a world like our own. Possibly a world that the writer wishes were real-one where people are a lot more understanding, caring and less judgmental. Where a group of people love this man enough to try and do anything to help him-clearly not the world we live in!
I'm not usually into artsy movies where the writers/directors go out of their way to be so artistic and vague that the point they are trying to make isn't even really clear from anything in the movie. I didn't think this movie was like that but it seems to me that there was a lot more to the message than some people got.
I don't think it could have possibly had the same message were it made to be more "realistic". A few friends close to the family playing along would not have provided the same kind of atmosphere. And anyone could write a story about a man who is ridiculed because of his mental problems-it would not have been the same story though. There's also something to be said for the fact that Lars wasn't shipped off to a mental hospital and forced to accept the fact that his girlfriend wasn't real and he was crazy. With the care and acceptance from people in his community he decided to come out of it on his own by killing Bianca. I think that's really saying something about the way our mental health care system is and the way it should be. I also think he and Bianca helped the town-not just the town playing along to help Lars. Lars has the most obvious problem but everyone in the town used this situation in their own way. And I can't even begin to describe all of the other psychological issues and themes this movie deals with!
If the movie didn't give you those thoughts I'm not saying that's wrong but it's definitely not just a feel good movie. Yes the town helping him out was sweet but it wasn't the main theme of the film. You may get that feeling if you didn't "unpeel the onion" as my literature professor would say! It definitely has a deeper meaning-it just got to that point without all of the stuffiness and pretense!
Lars from all the audience could tell was living in a world that was exactly as our own.
Have you ever lived in a really small town out in the middle of nowhere? Believe it or not, such small rural towns still exist, and if you come from a place "where everybody knows your name" and most families have been there for generations, such caring and kindness on the part of townspeople really does exist. And if the town doctor says that "playing along with his delusion" might help him to overcome his shyness and inability to interact with people, the folks in town just might be willing to go along with it.
Of course this was a fictional story with a bizarre premise, but not all towns are full of mean, nasty strangers, either.
I find it odd that you assume that if a community were unwilling to tirelessly indulge the unhealthy delusions of one of their number that would require them to be "mean, nasty strangers".
I personally don't see it as being mean to not do so, nor do I see it as being particularly caring or kind to choose to play along with it. But that's just me.
I probably should not have used the phrase "mean nasty strangers." I apologize for that. I grew up in a really small town during the 1950s and now live in a huge Chicago suburb where most people do not know their neighbors. But using the phrase "mean, nasty" when talking about strangers was uncalled for. I guess that "impersonal" might have been more appropriate phraseology, in spite of the amount of crime that seems to be prevalent in this day and age in so many communities nearby. My hometown is still rural and friendly in comparison, and that was the point that I was trying to make.
When I saw the movie, I did not perceive Ryan's character as having "unhealthy delusions." I saw him as a shy, awkward guy who had obviously been emotionally neglected during childhood and was finding an unconventional way to work through his inability to connect with people. But that's just me.
When I saw the movie, I did not perceive Ryan's character as having "unhealthy delusions." I saw him as a shy, awkward guy who had obviously been emotionally neglected during childhood and was finding an unconventional way to work through his inability to connect with people.
It's been a few years since I've seen it, too ~~ so perhaps I've idealized it in my mind, enjoying the concept of a fictional town with people who cared so much about one of their own. I do understand why you (and others) might see it as artificial, whereas I just saw it as 'quirky.'
shareYah, I cad definitely imagine the appeal.
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I mean...come on! it's a movie about a guy dating a sex toy. of course it's not realistic!
some of the best moments we pass in this life are in the dreams of others
...That is actually very realistic. There are people in the real world who are in committed relationships with sex dolls. There have been TV show documentaries done about them.
I also agree with the OP that this film was unrealistic with everyone going along with it. Yes, it's a movie, but 'suspension of disbelief' only works if the film evokes that in you; it is not something you evoke within yourself and say "I'm just going to ignore that really dumb stuff happening because this is a movie, LOL". This movie came on so heavy handed with the message that it failed to evoke suspension of disbelief in me.
Had most of the town not gone along with it, but a special few, those who truly cared for him all along, gone with it, despite being made to look silly in front of others by doing so, the movie's message could have been made stronger and without breaking expectations of realism.
I am inclined to agree, but, in the scene where his brother tells Lars that Bianca isn't a person, he doesn't even acknowledge that it was said. So I think that telling him that Bianca wasn't real wouldn't have helped, and may have even caused him to become more distant from his family. So I think, in this circumstance, the only option was to let him believe she was real. I think by letting him go along with his fantasy, they were able to help him move on by showing him how much better real people were and that he had a lot of people who cared about him.
shareIf i remember correctly the doctor wasn't a shrink, she was just a regular doctor. So she didn't really know what she was talking about.
shareYou remember incorrectly, she was a general practitioner and also a psychologist. I love how people come on here complaining about how unrealistic is and talking about how hollywood it is. Well, the notion that the minute someone exhibits delusional behavior, you should lock them up and throw away the key? That is very hollywood and an oversimplification of the complexity of mental illness in general.
As a psychologist, which Dagmar was, she said she determined it was not schizophrenia and it was not genetic. Now, I'm not sure how but she probably had an idea it was trauma related. Who says that doctors never say to support the delusion? That's not entirely true...what they will not do is tell you to tell a crazy person they are crazy, deliberately contradict what they tell them, etc. It causes alienation. It's like telling a suicidal person how stupid it is to kill themselves. What's up with the armchair shrinks around here?
Case in point, if you forcibly remove an agoraphobic person (fear of public places) from their home, they could have psychotic break from which they may never recover. Baby steps is the correct way to help a patient in need, which you have to identify whether or not the condition is temporary and how severe it may be. I'm glad we don't have the people on these boards in the field or we'd have a lot of people wrongfully put in mental asylums, kind of like the olden days!
I've been a psychotherapist for decades and you do not support delusions. It makes them worse and if you can ever get the person to see they are, they will conclude you lied to them and humored them like an idiot. That breaks the therapeutic relationship.
Also, I've dealt with countless cases of delusion and almost always a little bit of the person knows their belief isn't true. So, if you start acting like it is, you'll get a little look, like they think you're playing them. That's also dangerous for the relationship.
A really stupid element of the film is the reaction average people have to the situation. Most people, especially men, would not humor a person this psychotic.
Whatever message the film has gets turned into a fairy tale type of story by the lack of realism.
It clearly isn't but is it supposed to be?
sharei agree it's not realistic
funny (and dramatic) movie, but can give it a 7 max for how his family and doctors deal with it
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The town supported the delusion WHILE the doctor was trying to help him. If someone had yelled at him the truth it would've made things worse.
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