MovieChat Forums > Harvey (1950) Discussion > Is Harvey real ?

Is Harvey real ?

posted 11 years ago by gabrieldamotta
8 replies | jump to latest

In my opinion, yes, Harvey is real but certainly have some thing that need some analysis.

First, only three people in the movie had "real interaction" with Harvey, Elwood, Dr. Chumley and Wilson.

With Elwood, the bench on the end of the movie is swinging and the gate opened itself. With Dr. Chumley, the doors of the sanitarium opened themselves too and with Wilson the dictionary changed when he was reading.

For me, the only evidence that make Harvey real is the dictionary one because the others can be only imagination. For example, Elwood obviously has problems with drinking and quit his job after his mother's death and Harvey could be a way out of his previous life. Dr. Chumley had a hard day, worried about getting sued and chasing Elwood, and, I think it is mentioned, he was on a bar too...

Although, Wilson was sober and never had any sympathy for Elwood

What do you guys think ?

[–] Thread_Killer_of_IMDb 11 years ago

Veta Louise Simmons' purse was messed with as well. Plus, she pretty much admitted that she'd seen Harvey as well.

Thread_Killer_of_IMDb is out there. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until your post is dead.

[–] fibreoptic 11 years ago

I really don't think it needs to be asked on here. You pointed the stuff out yourself.

[–] nobboffin-1 11 years ago

Everybody has a "Harvey" at one time or another. Some help and some hinder. Depends on the person. Personally, I've found my "Harvey" very helpful. As a matter of fact, he told me to submit this reply.

[–] dalldorfw 10 years ago

They did imply rather heavily that Harvey is real.

[–] Strazdamonas 9 years ago

Yes and he is a Pooka.

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[–] bpollen 8 years ago

The question is whether the evidence of Harvey's existence could be explained away by other things, according to the viewer, or not. Is it possible that the camera was showing you what the characters THOUGHT they saw?

Harvey is real, I think, in the sense that Stewart's sensitivity picks up on Harvey's existence. Whether Harvey is real is unrelated to Stewart's mental state. Elwood could be perfectly sane and "see" Harvey, or he could be insane and "see" Harvey, just like he could be sane or not when he looks at his aunt. The two things are unrelated.

I choose to believe Harvey is real. It was Harvey's sensitivity and maybe imbalance that allowed him to see Harvey.

[–] thesnowleopard 8 years ago

While I agree that the question of whether Elwood is sane and whether Harvey exists are actually two different questions, the only real reason anybody thinks (consciously) that Elwood is insane is because he claims to see Harvey. So, the "evidence" that Elwood is insane rests entirely on the idea that Harvey doesn't exist. If Harvey does exist, well, Elwood isn't insane. I suppose one could argue that Harvey exists, but Elwood only thinks he sees him (and is therefore hallucinating), but the way he looks at Harvey in the moments when strange things happen can, I think, only be possible if he can see Harvey and what Harvey is doing.

Aside from that, Elwood doesn't have any delusions. He's a drunk, sure, and that's probably the real subconscious reason people have problems with him (as in "About a Boy," he's a rich eccentric who just floats through life without apparently contributing anything to it), but he is only eccentric for his peaceful and philosophical ideas. And those don't make you disturbed.

In addition, if you think about it, Elwood does actually contribute quite a bit in that he passes along Harvey's sage advice, and fixes people's lives and neuroses without their even noticing (or appreciating) it.

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[–] greenbudgie 7 years ago

I like to think that Harvey is part of the fairy twilight world. Harvey decides which sensitive human soul he wants to latch onto for himself.