Month: July 2022

Fatal Attraction: From Movie to T.V. Series

When the movie “Fatal Attraction” was released in 1987, it was an immediate success. It grossed over $320 million worldwide against a budget of $14 million. In the U.S. alone, the movie grossed over $150 million. It was the highest grossing film of the year worldwide, and the second highest grossing movie in the U.S. 

Along with all the success, however, came a lot of criticism. For those who are not very familiar with the movie, it is a thriller starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. The description of the movie is as follows:

“For Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), life is good. He is on the rise at his New York law firm, is happily married to his wife, Beth (Anne Archer), and has a loving daughter. But, after a casual fling with a sultry book editor named Alex (Glenn Close), everything changes. Jilted by Dan, Alex becomes unstable, her behavior escalating from aggressive pursuit to obsessive stalking. Dan realizes that his main problem is not hiding his affair, but rather saving himself and his family”.

    There are many movies that include obsessed, unhinged women, though none seems to have had more discussions and controversy than “Fatal Attraction”. Many specialists in the mental health community believe that the character, Alex, exhibited symptoms seen in people with Borderline Personality Disorder and sympathize with her. Many also believe that the way the character was written only helped to spread stigma on the condition and mental illness over all. The actress who played the role of Alex, Glenn Close, who has a sister with bipolar disorder, has stated about her character,

“Now she’s considered one of the greatest villains ever, and that to me is a mistake. I’ve never thought of her as a villain, just in distress.” 

Recently, after more than 30 years since the release of “Fatal Attraction”, it has been announced that a television series adaptation of the film is in the works. It is set to air on Paramount+, with the story now being told “through the lens of modern attitudes toward strong women, personality disorders, and coercive control“. Views on mental illnesses have definitely improved since the 1980s, however, stigma does still persist. Proof of this can unfortunately still be seen in the media. The movie “Split”, which has received backlash from those familiar with dissociative identity disorder in the mental health community, was released in 2016. Also, this year has seen over 300 mass shootings in my country, the U.S., and some blame it on mental illness. We clearly still have a long way to go when it comes to dealing with mental health stigma. I would hate for the new Fatal Attraction show to be another piece of media simply adding to it. 

What are your thoughts on this? See you in the next post.

Summer fun with The Umbrella Academy

I’m not a huge fan of the summer. At all. I mean, at least when it’s cold you can put on more layers, but when it’s too hot there’s only a certain amount of clothes you can take off, and you’d still be hot! However, there are some advantages to this season. For one, I don’t have to worry about extra accessories like a scarf or gloves when I’m going out. Another big one is getting a chance to bond with my family. Summer is usually when work and school would slow down a bit for my parents and siblings, so it’s a great time to get some bonding moments in! Our favorite way to bond is by watching shows and movies together, and right now my sister and I are watching The Umbrella Academy!

Birds of a feather flock together. People are generally able to bond best when they have interests in common. For this reason, my siblings and I love sharing movies and shows with each other, especially shows! Clips from the Umbrella Academy started popping up in my YouTube feed, and they were really funny and interesting. The videos and the comments under them made my curiosity pique, so instead of spoiling anymore of the show for myself, I decided to just watch it. At that point, two seasons had already been released. I binged all of the episodes, and got through them pretty quickly. I told my sister about the show, and she decided to give it a chance too. Now she loves the show as much as I do! 

If I had to describe the show in one word it would be chaotic, but chaotic in a good way! The show is so fun! However, what makes watching it even more fun is having someone to enjoy it with. It was so fun having someone to talk to about the first two seasons, and just as fun to have someone to wait with impatiently for the next season! Now that the third season is out, we’re back to binging the Umbrella Academy, and my sister and I both agree that it was another amazing season! We both can’t wait for season 4! Next up, Stranger Things! What shows are you guys binging right now? What are your favorite ways to bond with family and friends? See you in the next post! 

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started