Interpretation and Analysis of the film Girl Interrupted

Watching Girls Interrupted for the first time brought forth emotions of compassion for
the various characters depicted in the story. The movie became even more compelling after
realizing that it was based on the true story of Susanna Kaysen, played by Winona Ryder.
Susanna was an eighteen year-old girl who chased a bottle of Aspirin with a bottle of vodka, but
denied that she was trying to commit suicide. Whether or not committing suicide was her true
intent, I never got the answer from the movie. By the end of the film, I had the same questions,
Is Susanna insane? Did she really try to kill herself? In Susanna Kaysens own words, Was I
ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is Crazy isnt being broken or swallowing a dark secret. Its
you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it; if you ever wished you could be a child
forever. They were not perfect, but they were my friends. (Susanna Kaysen, Girl,
Interrupted) This movie was very emotionally stirring in that it dealt with tough subjects such as
depression, eating disorders, cutting, suicide, drugs and smoking. These are all matters that a
lot of teens may be able to relate with.
By way of Susannas mother, she finds herself committed for the next eighteen months to a
top-notch mental institution where she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder.
A person with this disorder will also often exhibit impulsive behaviors and have a majority of
the following symptoms:

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by

alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

Identity disturbance, such as a significant and persistent unstable self-image or sense of

self

Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex,
substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)

Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior

Emotional instability due to significant reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic

dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a
few days)

Chronic feelings of emptiness

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of

temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)

Transient, stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms (Psyche

Central, 2014) Susanna's behavior certainly incorporated most if not all of the above.

During Susannas hospitalization, she befriends Lisa (Jolie), a sociopath who was
controlling of their relationship and everyone elses within the institution. Lisas character
addressed deep subject matters pertaining to the characteristics of an individual suffering from
a sociopathic disorder. Newman argues that the sociopath has an attention bottleneck that

allows him to focus only on one activity or train of thought, to the exclusion of others.
Researchers, including Howard Kamler, say that the sociopath lacks not "moral" identity but
self-identity altogether. (Thomas, 2013) Of the many symptoms listed for recognizing a
sociopath, with Lisas character I detected she was afflicted with the following of those
symptoms: Superficial charm and good intelligence; absence of delusions and other signs of
irrational thinking; absence of nervousness or neurotic manifestations; unreliability;
untruthfulness and insincerity; lack of remorse and shame; Poor judgment and failure to learn
by experience; and suicide threats rarely carried out.
This movie also features characters with depression and eating disorders. One of the
main characters,(Daisy) hangs herself. It turns out that Daisy was a victim of sexual abuse at the
hands of her father. Her turmoil led her to self-mutilation (she was a cutter). It was sad that this
was something that the institution never brought out through therapy. Instead, Daisy was
deemed cured of whatever she was diagnosed as having. How was it that Lisa recognized what
was going on with Daisy at the hands of her father? I obviously missed something where she
was supposed to have benefited from her stay at the institution. It appears that the movie was
a true representation of the characteristics of how these young women would have been
treated at an ivy league type institutions of the 60's. Any other institution (for the not so
affluent patients), most likely would have met with entirely different treatments. More
aggressive; less pampering; more shock treatments, and certainly more locked and padded
cells.
At the end of the movie, Susanna finally stands up to Lisa and soon goes home. Before
she leaves, she visits Lisa, who is now strapped down to a bed, telling her that she will get out
and that she must come and see her. Although depressed, Lisa is now much more emotionally
expressive. As Susanna leaves, she says goodbye to all her friends.
Scar tissue has no character. It's not like skin. It doesn't show age or illness or pallor or
tan. It has no pores, no hair, no wrinkles. It's like a slip cover. It shields and disguises what's
beneath. That's why we grow it; we have something to hide.
Susanna Kaysen, Girl, Interrupted