Winona
plays a young woman who tries to commit suicide. Her therapist takes
this as a sign of her instability and recommends her to a nearby
mental hospital (Claymore). It is there she meets Angelina's character who makes
herself out to be a wild, self-destructive woman. 'Angelina' considers
herself to be mentally ill for a reason, and revels in it as a gift
that makes her special. This rubs off on 'Winona.' When they become
friends Winona indulges in the acting out right along beside her.
Angelina
adapts to her environment in the way of aggressive dominance over the
other patients. She has a strong spirit and appears to be
self-directing, but underneath her personal qualities of rage, she
has a poor relatedness with society and a weak competence in self
care which manifest themselves as an unhealthy goodness of fit in the
ward regarding her hositility.
When
Winona arrives at Claymore, she attempts to build relatedness with
the other patients by offering laxatives to Daisy, and befriending
women she sees as having disempowerment in their lives. As things
get hectic, she attempts to match these women with her own
maladaptive actions, but actually, this is a way of seeking
competence in a world she blames as unfair.
Winona
heightens the stress in her awkward relationships with other
patients, and rebels against authority figures. Later these
perceived dominant actions awaken her to a mis-aimed self-direction.
Winona escapes The Claymore Mental Health Facility with Angelina and
finds Daisy hanging from a rope, she then returns to the hospital and
opens her mind to the ways of recovery. Winona does what she can to
find a goodness of fit in the hospital with her precious life future
in mind. She fends off invitations to run away with her boyfriend,
and refuses to participate in Angelina’s rebellion any longer.
Daisy
is a perplexing character in this film. When Winona first sees her,
Daisy stares her down out of the security of her room’s door jam.
Daisy’s abrasive actions initially appear unwarranted as she
angrily orders people around and locks the ward out of her room.
This is displacement of emotions onto others, because of what we find
out later to be Daisy’s victimization by her father in an
incestuous relationship, which may have been all she’s known from
him since childhood.
Trauma
Specialist Dr. John Briere, Keck School Professor of Psychiatry and
Psychology, University of Southern California, says that, “severe
trauma associated with severe abuse causes repression.” Trauma
Specialist Dr. James Henry, College of Health and Human Services,
Western Michigan University found similarities,
“In
a 1993 study of 450 adults in psychotherapy, 60% reported a period in
their lives before age 18 where they had no memory of abuse. Those
that could not remember were more likely to have greater current
psychological symptoms, were molested at an earlier age, had been
victims of extended and violent abuse, had been abused by more than
one person, and feared disclosure.”(Henry, 10/16/08)
It
is obvious that Daisy has trouble expressing herself, resorting to
the compulsive eating habits and laxative abuse which make up her
eating disorder. This is one of the many possible coping mechanisms
that are characteristic of people suffering post traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD). Daisy’s denial is abruptly challenged when
Angelina tells her that everyone knows about Daisy having sex with
her father. Daisy calmly walks up the stairs like a zombie without a
spark of regard toward Angelina’s words. The next day they find
her dead from her suicide, hanging in the bathroom. The record
player repeating song lyrics such as, “I died the day you took your
love away.” Daisy’s inability to communicate to others and take
part in the therapeutic community was a contributor to her tragic
act, as were her toxic friends. Sandra Bloom states that trauma
recovering patients,
“.
. . were trying to ‘get attention’ because their transcendence
was dependent on a response from the social group, a shared
experience of pain that would allow them to find a place back within
the human community. They were desperately trying to engage the rest
of us in a transformative ritual. It was the social group that
needed to respond to their performance in a healing way, and it’s
this response that we had repeatedly failed to give, creating instead
a society that revolved around unconscious and repeated trauma
instead of change, transcendence and transformation.”(Bloom, pg.
193)
The
staff at the film's inpatient mental hospital (Claymore) did
demonstrate a trauma informed environment of healing overall. They
took the patients on small trips into the community and gave them
access to outdoor environments. “We learned that human beings need
settings that maintain a connection with the natural . . .”(Bloom,
pg. 126) Patients had their own rooms and communal settings for
fraternization. They also had lots of staff interaction,
“.
. . patients and staff needed frequent opportunities to connect with
each other. We needed the freedom to make our own choices about who
we would connect with most strongly, and we needed other people to
comfort us when we became very emotionally upset. But we also
recognized that we needed other people to help us understand when we
have crossed the line into too much connection, into over involvement
with others.”(Bloom, pg. 127)
Staff
showed values of compassion, empathy and education to the Claymore
patients while working together to show distinctive boundaries,
without abusing their authority.
“We
evolved a position that simultaneously condemned the [destructive]
behavior while supporting the person involved in the behavior. . . We
each learned how to mediate these situations individually by
demonstrating verbally and nonverbally that we understood that this
escalation indicated that the patient did not feel that he or she was
heard, at that we were willing to listen. Usually this was effective
in bringing about a change in the dramatic scene.”(Bloom, pg. 143 &
152)
Winona’s
Family was stereotypical of the stigma presented by society, in
regards to perceptions of mental illness. According to Saterian
theory, the way a family communicates self-esteem is a key concept.
Winona’s mother and father want her to go to college like their
family friend’s children. This is a classic example of the way
American society classifies success or safety/security in financial
and occupational directions. Winona’s desire to become a writer,
or to more or less find an unconventional path in life, was not
supported by her family. In fact, it was seen as a stain on their
otherwise upper social class status. As was the suicide attempt.
Winona’s
mother had an emotional breakdown as a result of hearing Winona’s
diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. With her, ‘whatever
I can do for you, just ask,’ personality, she could be seen as 'the
placator.' This is a familial role of one who serves others with
perceived selflessness. Winona’s mom also lived the role of ''the
victim' in this situation. She acted overwhelmed by Winona’s
suicide attempt, but avoids the subject by burying it whenever
possible, which places her in the familial role of 'distracter.' The
main 'distracter' is a family role played by Winona. Winona's
character plays the role of 'the family clown' (or family problem)
and reacts to them as such. Winona’s father plays the family role
of 'the computer' in the ways he appears emotionally disengaged,
however, his starring family role is that of 'the blamer.' He
criticized Winona for falling asleep during her graduation day by
commenting that she was, ‘pulling some kind of stunt.’ He
portrays a displeased authoritarian figure in these roles.
Bloom, S. (1997). Creating Sanctuary. New York, NY: Routledge.
Henry, J. (2008). SWRK 6310 Lecture Notes. Western Michigan University, Fall Semester, 2008.
*The premise of this paper was developed by Dr. James Henry.
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