Talk:Girl, Interrupted (film)/Archive 1

Errors
Susanna is not released "the next day" after Lisa threatens to kill her. I believe it to be sometime afterwards, which is why before leaving, Susanna says to Lisa: "It's been a while". Also, not "all" of Susanna's friends are released by the 1970s, but most.

Also, I find no mention of Boston as a filming location on IMDB, but know firsthand the scenes of Daisy's house and street were shot in Lancaster, Pa- I was there! Hillsboro 12:19, 1 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Hi Hillsboro. I don't think McLean Hospital wanted the publicity and filming didn't happen there. It happened at Harrisburg State Hospital, Harrisburg, PA. Actually, I was told that the first screening of the film, likely private, was in Harrisburg.  Bests.  --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 19:06, 9 September 2006 (UTC) (User talk:Wikiklrsc)

I just wrote the article on Harrisburg State Hospital. See also the information on the Historical Asylums webpage. It says in part: From press release information about the making of the 1999 Winona Ryder film "Girl Interrupted": "Founded 147 years ago as the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital by Dorothea Dix, a New England schoolteacher-writer-philanthropist who was also largely responsible for the early support of the hospital, its name was changed to the Harrisburg State Hospital in 1921, reflecting then-changing attitudes toward the treatment of the mentally ill. Although it is still a fully-operational mental facility with inpatient and outpatient programs covering a wide variety of illnesses and treatments, there were several buildings on the "campus" which were empty and not being used by the facility_perfect accommodations for the film company's production offices, transportation base camp and screening room (in what use to be the hospital chapel). In the case of Building 22, there was a unique opportunity to create the entire South Bell ward of Claymoore Hospital.

Production designer Richard Hoover (a 1999 Tony Award winner for "Not About Nightingales") and his staff of art directors, designers, set dressers and construction crews renovated 75 percent of Building 22. They created an entire ward of bedrooms, nurses' stations, a living room, a television room and several medical rooms out of the architectural shell of the building. Inside, they dressed and decorated the ward with everything circa late 1960s: light fixtures, furniture, even the color of paints used on the walls and ceilings.

The production design team also "decorated" many other areas of the State Hospital campus, including offices in the administration building and several hundred yards of the miles of underground tunnels that snake their way underneath the campus. Additionally, the design team landscaped much of the hospital grounds, according to the seasonal changes dictated within the script.

"The Harrisburg State Hospital is known as `The City on the Hill,'" says Konrad. "For our time there, we lovingly referred to it as our `backlot on the Hill.' It became a revolving sound stage for us, where we were able to build the sets to our specifications and use them as weather cover when necessary. We had incredible freedom in filming on the grounds. The landscape and brick architecture mirrored the backdrop of the story better than we could have ever imagined. It was a tremendous asset to the making of this film." --- (Bob) Wikiklrsc 20:17, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Another Error
The author, Susanna Kaysen, never had an issue with the film (which would explain the lack of citations). In fact, Susanna agreed to appear in the behind the scenes of the DVD, where she praised the film.

I have also never heard professionals demonise the portrayal of mental illnesses.

The above issues are fallacies and should be edited. I would do it myself but thought against it after what happened the last time I edited an article.
 * As to your second point, the issues people who know about psychology had with the film were that it is not a particularly accurate portrayal of mental illness. The people in the movie are either harmless and pathetic or violent and scary!  As a psych major, I have to say it bothered me, although I enjoyed it.  -Elizabennet 23:11, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Also, an interview with the author is cited in the article; she appears to have had a big problem with it. -Elizabennet 03:03, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Diagnoses
I think it'd be good to add what each character was diagnosed with into the article (e.g. Lisa=sociopath, etc). Thoughts? -Elizabennet 03:03, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Go ahead.
 * Or just state that the diagnonsense of each of the five main patients in the film matches that of the book. --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 21:40, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Error (sort of...)
At the end of the film, Susanna states that by the 1970s, most of her friends were released; it is left unclear whether this includes Lisa. According to the book she was indeed released and even had a kid. I think the article should at least mention that this is really only a mystery in the movie - in the book it is quite clear what happened. EconomicsGuy (talk) 16:26, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Girl interrupted imp.jpg
Image:Girl interrupted imp.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 23:08, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Cynthia
It's noted in the current version that she dresses like a man, it's noted in a deleted scene that she's here "because her parents don't like how she dresses" -- so says polly. In the scene in which Lisa breaks the girls into the office to read their files, Cynthia pops up with "I'm a sociopath" and Lisa responds "No, you're a dyke." Movie was set in 1967, homosexuality was considered a mental illness till 1973... Dunno if it'd be considered OR, but I'd think the article could use a note that it's implied she may be a lesbian, considered a mental illness at the time. Cantras (talk) 00:32, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Another Error
The women leave the hospital in 1967 to try and get work at Walt Disney World. They would have to wait a few years to be hired, since Walt Disney World didn't open until 1971. 204.80.61.110 (talk) 21:38, 3 December 2009 (UTC)Bennett Turk

Errorr in Susanna's (Winona Ryder) diagnosis
The diagnosis of “Borderline Personality Disorder” [Diagnosis Code 301.83 from "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)] did not exist in 1967 when "Girl Interrupted" took place. In the early 1970’s the two terms used to refer to this disorder were “Pseudo-neurotic Schizophrenia” and “Ambulatory Schizophrenia.Gracesuzi (talk) 17:58, 19 October 2012 (UTC) ”

Suicide in film category removal
Should category:suicide in film be included in the categories section on this page? Helper201 (talk) 23:26, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi, why did you remove the category suicide in film from the page? The film contains suicide in it so this category seems relevant to include here, however your edit summary did not make it clear why you removed it. Helper201 (talk) 22:05, 1 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Per WP:CATDEF, "A central concept used in categorizing articles is that of the defining characteristics of a subject of the article. A defining characteristic is one that reliable sources commonly and consistently define the subject as having". Just having a suicide (or attempted suicide) in the film isn't. Also, since I removed the category from about 90 films so far (with more to come), I made the edit comment short. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:08, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Films in which suicide plays a major role are covered by Category:Films about suicide. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:33, 2 February 2021 (UTC)


 * I'd say the category is relevant enough for the article. The main reason Susanna gets put in Claymoore psychiatric hospital where the majority of the film takes place is because she attempted suicide. One of the other main characters in the film actually commits suicide as well. I would say this is enough justification to include it I would like to hear other editors’ comments on the matter as well. Helper201 (talk) 23:23, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
 * It's relevant - it had been argued that the suicide is a major driving force of the film, so it seems important to keep it in. - Jack Sebastian (talk) 05:16, 3 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, it is worthy of inclusion. Idealigic (talk) 22:58, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Information removed for lack of quality/fit
I removed the following paragraphs (attached below) because I did not believe that they fit in the plot section, and they did not fit the citation style that we use on Wikipedia, and they also seemed low quality. If someone would like to improve it or add it back elsewhere, here it is:

The film presents the experiences of Susanna Kaysen from her autobiographical book of the same name. It describes her experience as a 17 year-old young woman growing up in New England in 1967 with borderline personality disorder when she was committed to Claymoore, a psychiatric hospital after she overdosed on aspirin and alcohol. The doctor who supported her being committed was a family friend of her upper middle-class parents. He normalized her condition as he described how many people enter facilities of this type for help, even writers like herself. At the onset Susanna does not know that she is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and it is not until much later when Dr. Potts reveals to her her diagnosis. The film provides information regarding her feelings, her relationships and her mental health over the 18 months that she was hospitalized at Claymoore as well as much detail about the many young women she encounters.

While hospitalized, there are many young women who Susanna spends time with. Closest to Susanna through much of the film is Lisa Rowe, who the audience later finds out is a sociopath. She draws Susanna close to her and teaches her how to beat the system by not taking her medication and resisting therapy as well as taking her on evening adventures throughout the institution with other patients. Susanna’s roommate is Georgina Tuskin, a pathological liar who is probably Susanna’s closest friend other than Lisa. Another acquaintance is Polly “Torch” Clark who set herself on fire and is consequently burned all over her body including her face. Another young woman is Daisy Randone, who it is believed was raped by her father and  self-harms,  has obsessive–compulsive disorder,  and is bulimic; and Janet Webber, a skilled dancer who is a sardonic young woman with anorexia. This film shows Susanna and the friends she has made in the film as young women with issues similar to others without such mental health challenges (Chouinard, 2009). This is a progressive film as it contains realistic depictions of these young women, sometimes complicated, but individuated. This is important to recognize because 67 percent of films examined by Wahl et al present individuals with mental health challenges as violent with nearly two thirds of non-disabled characters afraid of them (2003). In this film, Lisa leads the other young women, including Susanna, in various activities including sneaking around at night in the hospital's underground tunnels and continuously provoking them and the staff, including the stern head nurse, Valerie Owens. Many of the behaviors of these young women would not be unlike behaviors of anyone their age, but at the same time, the film displays the behaviors of their mental health challenges. Shildrick (2002) avers contronting the monstrous aspects of the characters provides the opportunity for the viewer to acknowledge the other in oneself.

aaronneallucas (talk) 20:15, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: 22S-DIS STD-M114- Variable Topics in Performance and Disability Studies
— Assignment last updated by Elyonn (talk) 03:06, 3 June 2022 (UTC)