question about helen in the beginning
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Panic in Needle Park
Eden_Monroe — 17 years ago(February 22, 2009 08:54 PM)
i only got to watch about half of the movie. i was just wondering what was wrong with helen. i remember she said she was bleeding a lot and had to use 3 pads in 10 mins. or something. anyway does anyone know what was wrong with her. does that scene have any relevance what so ever? or did i miss something? in the beginning it seemed she was sick a lot.
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orioleadams — 15 years ago(June 12, 2010 10:27 AM)
I don't think it was ever actually explained, the audience is just supposed to conclude that she's a 20-something girl living a hippie lifestyle and waiting in line at a welfare hospital when she's hemorrhaging so badly that it's probably the result of a back-alley abortion. This was fairly common prior to Roe v Wade.
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ginger-51 — 9 years ago(June 04, 2016 02:15 PM)
I know you wrote this a long time agobut I'm only just watching it now. They actually did explain it, though in typical 1970's subtle fashion. When she got home from her subway ride where she was clearly in pain (the opening scene), Marco asked her if it hurt. She said yes, and it was dirty there. He said something like "well it was a 'free scrape' as a favor. You can't expect Columbia Presbeterian" (hospital).