The main character, "Carol" played by Julianne Moore, is a suburban housewife living in the San Fernando valley in the late 1980s. She spends her days having lunch with friends, taking dancercise classes (remember those?), remodeling her house, running errands, and going to baby showers. One by one toxic exposures are introduced: new furniture, interior painting, pesticide spraying, dry cleaning pick up, freeway driving, and her husband is shown dousing himself with aerosol deodorant, hairspray, cologne and aftershave. Then she gets her hair permed. She plunges into illness with coughing fits, rashes, respiratory failure, fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, and even has a seizure. Her doctor is realistically useless, her husband is an insensitive ass, and her friends look at her as if she's crazy.
Sounds fairly accurate, doesn't it? I think this movie would be fun to watch with other MCSers so we could all gasp, moan, and scream in shared horror, understanding and camaraderie. It has the potential to be a cult film. We would all yell DON'T DO IT in unison especially during the beauty parlor scene. Maybe that's what is comic about it? If it wasn't for the outrageously horrible acting, bad scriptwriting, and lousy plot, I might have empathetically enjoyed watching all that suffering. I can say it's one of the worst films I've ever seen.
"Carol" ends up at a co-housing retreat for the chemically sensitive. It's a strange place that would have given me the willies, but as the movie viewer I'm hoping it'll be a safe place for her and she'd find some relief from the L.A. poisons. They have creepy group meetings where they are forced to listen to sermons given by the cult-like leader, they chant affirmations, and they are given odd rules regarding meals, but the place is not so restrictive that her visiting husband can't wear his cologne. Hmmm...Strangely enough she continues to be sick and even gets sicker the longer she's there. Although she's very passive and soft-spoken throughout the movie, she timidly voices her concern about the fumes around her cabin. Management's response is a bit of psycho-babble. Hmmm...why is the place so toxic?
Then the theme and underlying message presents itself. Near the end there is a scene where the incredibly irritating guru-type leader is outside with a small group of participants and he's addressing each one individually demanding to know, "How did YOU make YOURSELF sick?"
WHAT? WHAT did he say? I thought my hearing was off, but thankfully he repeats the question over and over again so the audience doesn't miss it.
"HOW DID YOU MAKE YOURSELF SICK?"
Almost all the patients had stories about past mental trauma which created a psychological reaction which manifested itself into their illness. They felt overwhelmingly guilty. They knew their illness was their fault. WHAT??? As the guru questioned each participant, I waited for someone to clarify that MCS is not a psychological condition.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Carol smiles sweetly and passes, refusing to answer. Finally, the last patient he asks gives him such a hostile look I'm thinking she'll be the one to set it all straight. The leader taunts her and demands she be honest with herself and the group. She glares at him as if to say I'll give you honesty, ass-wipe! and through gritted teeth she yells she wants to get a gun and kill everyone who made her sick. HOORAY! Now I can relate to her perspective! Unfortunately, this character is only being used to show how very mentally disturbed MCSers can be and she is told she is not being honest with herself and until she is, she will continue to be ill. The ass-wipe sarcastically and condescendingly laughs as he shakes his head and explains to the group she has a lot of work to do. I don't know why she stays. I would have walked out. I was absolutely livid.
This ending explains the movie's opening scene with poor Carol bored to tears while having sex with her husband. It's an aerial view so you can see the look on her face which clearly screams, "I can't wait to get this over with!" Sex is something that is insufferable - a marital duty. Throughout the whole movie I was wondering what was the purpose of that scene? It seemed so out of place until the psycho-group scene which makes a very clear statement: we are all just nut cases creating this illness to deal with our boring lives.
By the end of the movie, even in this so-called safe environment, Carol's health has declined to the point where she is practically unrecognizable. I guess she still hasn't accepted she caused her illness and it's going to kill her. In the last scene we find her staring at the mirror in her porcelain-lined, sterile cabin saying to herself repeatedly, "I love you." She has caved and accepted she is the cause. Not the chemicals. Not the poisons. She is the cause of her illness. Now THAT is kind of laughable, but I really don't think it was supposed to be. Or maybe it was and I just don't find it funny?
I am shocked someone admitted to watching this movie for research let alone suggested I see it as if it is an accurate portrayal of chemical sensitivity. It was so poorly done. I was very surprised Hollywood would make a feature film on MCS, but unfortunately it fails in every way. I think the AMA or some chemical company produced it. Siskel & Ebert gave it two thumbs up. Really? I have lost all respect for Siskel & Ebert.
How did YOU make YOURSELF sick?
Easy answer: I watched this movie.
Never knew this movie even existed!!!!! Not watching it!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, don't bother. It should be cause for protest in the MCS community.
Delete