Disclaimer: This article deals with sensitive topics such as mental health struggles, suicide, and sexual assault. Please read with your own discretion. May also contain spoilers.
Sucicide prevention Hotline & Resources: https://afsp.org/suicide-prevention-resources
Nowadays reading or watching “Girl, Interrupted” has been associated with the brand or aesthetic of being a “sad girl” or a “thought daughter.” It has this connotation that a girl looks at herself as one who is contrived with sadness and has little hope. One who walks around looking for the next thing to tip her over the edge or to go on social media and post tumblr-esque black and white sad girl photos. Or who might be one step away from being in “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath.
For me, “Girl interrupted” by Suzanne Kaysen isn’t just an aesthetic that is trending on TikTok or was seen on tumblr to be read while listening to Lana Del Rey. Which, don’t get me wrong, this is something I have done. However, I think the memoir and the film go far beyond the appearance and allusion that they may give.
Both the movie and the book are different in their own ways, however, at their heart they both give the same message. Which is also why I think that even though the movie doesn’t follow the book’s plot and storyline exactly, I love the way it was crafted and the overarching theme: the idea that as a young woman growing into adulthood there can be many stipulations placed upon you. Back in the 1960s that was very apparent and something that a young woman couldn’t run from.
In Kaysen’s memoir she details a scene early on in the story where she explains when she had this office job where she kept getting mention from her boss (a male boss at that) that her skirt was too short, and that it had to be a specific length. Women are constantly being monitored and controlled in some way throughout history, even when it comes down to what we can dress ourselves in. Which leads to the idea of many women being deemed “crazy,” or put in mental institutions for not acting “right,” or having their behavior deemed “undesirable” by society.
How is your behavior different from if you’re a woman and your mental health is considered “unhealthy,” and you’re “highly encouraged” by your family or forced into a mental institution? How much of it is control and how much can it protect someone? Especially considering the notion that to be placed into a mental institution or hospital requires a lot of money. Hence, why many wealthy White people have been placed in the facilities throughout history.
Kaysen makes note of how she was within the asylum, and watching the war rage on outside during the civil rights movement. Considering the idea that Kaysen may have been underprivileged to be a woman, although she came from a well-to-do family who had enough money to place her in a facility to receive help for her mental troubles. What about the ones that weren’t protected? During the 60s, witnessing the Black people outside who had no protection while they sat and fought for basic rights to be fully treated as equals. What happens when their mental health gets bad from all the heartache, struggle, and oppression faced for just existing? Especially if you were a woman of color or a Black woman during the 60s.
Who were deemed as “crazy” and didn’t have a right to humanity? Where does that place an individual? When there was no mental asylum to retreat to, they were often the ones doing the caring for those in the facilities. A constant battle, and when did they get time to retreat?
In the movie, there is a Woopie Goldberg character, who is a nurse and the only prominent Black character in the film, who takes on the archetype of “the caregiver” or the “mamie.” There’s a specific scene where Winona Ryder’s character Suzanne Kaysen is being watched in the bathtub by Goldberg’s character to make sure she doesn’t cut herself with the razor as she requests to shave. Suzanne begins a tantrum and screams racially targeted words at Goldberg’s character. Many who have watched the film and reviewed it are often confused why that scene was included in the movie, as it’s not in the book.
However, now reflecting on it, I think that It is an important scene to reflect the racial inequalities and the difference in oppression that are seen between Black and White women. The reality of girlhood for a White girl growing up into a young woman is drastically different from that of a young Black girl becoming a young woman. Which is still seen in present time. There are many racial and oppression barriers that we have surpassed, yet the foundation is still there. The girlhood for a Black and White girl is very different which drastically shapes the person that you are.
Overall, throughout the memoir and the film, audiences witness Kaysen’s experience in a mental health hospital during the 60s, reflecting on her life up until that point and making note of the people she builds relationships and connections with whom have an everlasting effect. Which I believe is a theme that many can relate to, and the true heart of the movie and memoir. I truly love Kaysen’s story and the way it’s crafted in both mediums. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested!