(spoiler) Considering only the movie – the cure would be possible?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Sybil
strattford — 14 years ago(May 17, 2011 03:25 AM)
I read lots of threads about the book (full of details, specially regarding her long time relationship with her doctor, etc). However, in the movie:
- She was abused in such a despicable fashion that it's a miracle she survived;
- The poor kid was VICTIM of negligence from her father, grandmother and doctor (in different degrees, in a historic period that it could be happen though don't give too much relief to the private tragedy she suffered alone for decades);
- His father should be hang by his disgraceful denying she never could talk with him about it, is mentioned twice I think)
- She was 29 years-old with such disturbing and sad acute mental disrupt and quite often the Doctor seems to have a "c'mon, get's real!", "face your worst memory (sometimes it remembers me "SAW");
- 11 years of treatment (I'm not sure), she tried to kill herself more than once in from of the Doctor, threatened many times and gave clear clues about that. However, she was sent to home instead a mental hospital (not a single time, the only time she got some assistance was in the depart of Richard, the injection, etc).
So, based on the movie solely, I don't think she would likely to have any kind of impressive improvement, left alone the impression of being cured. She didn't died in the process or even getting really bad (catatonic or something), the religious crank father wasn't sued by the doctor (instead, a friendly chat) and the old doctor was forgiven and didn't loss his license because it "happened too long ago" (followed by a smile by the Dr. W). Terrific and touching movie with some flaws that don't diminish the dramatic and compelling emotional appeal, but makes me think if anyone there really care, there was any justice, good sense
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cookiela2001 — 14 years ago(May 17, 2011 12:35 PM)
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based on the movie solely, I don't think she would likely to have any kind of impressive improvement, left alone the impression of being cured. She didn't died in the process or even getting really bad (catatonic or something), the religious crank father wasn't sued by the doctor (instead, a friendly chat) and the old doctor was forgiven and didn't loss his license because it "happened too long ago" (followed by a smile by the Dr. W). Terrific and touching movie with some flaws that don't diminish the dramatic and compelling emotional appeal, but makes me think if anyone there really care, there was any justice, good senseThe DVD extra featurettes mention that the script's writer found it impossible to condense the book, which covers so many years, into 4 hours. People often criticize movies, saying "The book was better!", but there are very tried and true storytelling techniques (that go back to when drama was invented by the Greeks) that pretty much have to be present to keep an audience connected to a story. Basically, the number of themes, characters and location have to be focused DOWN, and the passage of time generally has to be reduced. It is very alienating to an audience to have the story jumping around over a very broad period of time. So while in the book Sybil met Dr. Wilbur years before she finally started analysis with her in NYC, the film condenses the action into a few mere months (!)
Re: the father and the family doctor in Willows Cornersmaybe Dr. Wilbur was thinking that to bring charges against them would drag the patient into even more distracting drama that wasn't best addressed at that time. While it would give the patient a feeling of worth to have the people who assisted in her abuse brought to justice, neither was a threat to the public today, as the father had no more children and the doctor was retired.
I guess one reasoning you could apply as to why Sybil in the movie doesn't totally crack under the pressure of this accelerated analysis is she does, deep down, want to get well. Also, though I don't think this is addressed, people usually feel the benefits of therapy in small but significant ways as they progress, and this helps them be brave enough and determined enough to take greater risks in discussing deep fears, etcthe process is an evolutionary one.
But you're right.condensing the plot to such a degree does make it rather unrealistic, from a practical point of view.