MovieChat Forums > Interiors (1978) Discussion > The daughters weren't horrible people......

The daughters weren't horrible people...they were conditioned.


It seemed to me that the daughters were always searching for a greater existence, or deeper meaning. They were emotionally restless, a restlessness that was induced by a mother who had become increasingly discontented with life. I would imagine that it was difficult for the daughters to truly consider others (husbands, boyfriends, or anyone for that matter) when they were overwrought with self-doubt---disillusioned by it even. They were desperately insecure in every facet of their lives. Flyn tried to distance herself from the oppressive weight, and shrewd tactics handed down by her mother---by putting miles between herself and her wretchedly dysfunctional family members. Joey felt guilty for hating her malcontent mother. Even though she knew that her mother was a scathing egocentric. She could never quite trust herself to ascertain how much was attributed to an inherent insanity, or if it were all some sort of deliberate, sadistic, self-serving regimentation of the family. Renata escaped into a world of art and dark poetry. She knew that her mother respected those attributes, but she felt stifled by her mother's acceptance. She had an artistic outlet, but couldn't indulge in it like she wanted to---a desire for her mother's endorsement so deeply entrenched in her thoughts that even her own self-expression was a lie. This realization frustrated her to the extent of romanticizing death as a simple, yet final escape.

The mother was so engrossed with an ideal of what her family should be---and what they should be for her. She was incapable of seeing beyond some conceptual belief that somehow she mattered most, more than the others. She controlled her daughters with the threat of suicide, as well as her husband. They were frozen in fear of when it would happen---yet consumed with anger over the control she maintained over all of them. The father walked away, leaving the daughters to deal with it. I think that is why he was so concerned about Joey---his guilt for where his absence left her, 'floundering' in mother's melancholy sea. He left her in captivity, he traded his freedom for hers. Not that any of them could ever truly be free from her---being in her presence was so suffocating, and all-consuming that one became entirely nonfunctional.

The mother killing herself, to me, was a last, taunting defiance towards her family. She wanted to ensure that they suffered the rest of their lives for betraying her---for attending the wedding, and accepting dad's new wife. So absorbed in herself that she hadn't realized that she was actually setting them free. She gave them a chance to live on, through her death. The only selfless act she had ever offered, albeit unintentional.




That's funny, my dad's battle axe is missing

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Interesting analysis. Thank you.

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