Girl... INTERRUPTED

"Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl...interrupted."

Susanna (Winona Ryder) is a typical teenager displaying confusion and insecurity while struggling with making sense of the ever-changing world around her. During the two years she spent at Claymoore, she was able to create a real sense of self but not until after much strife. Boundaries were tested and questioned. The difference between friendship and betrayal was learned but more importantly the distinction between sanity and mental illness was defined, or was it? After watching the movie, did you feel you better understood a mental illness? Or did you even feel like you may have a mental illness? Or did you negate the real presence of mental illness in our society?

As the title implies, "Girl, Interrupted," many young girls and women are interrupted by societal expectations. If somehow we do not fit the "norms" there must be something wrong with us, maybe even a mental illness. These diagnoses are quickly placed on people, rather than considering the immense amount of stress and pressure they feel from the world around them. Girls, in my opinion, are especially interrupted from living ordinary lives. For Susanna, the pressures from home and school brought about a sense of insanity and even a suicide attempt. Her life was put on hold for two years until she was able to step back from society and redefine herself. In my opinion, everyone needs to take some time to themselves in order to escape insanity. Maybe even in a room of one's own...