MovieChat Forums > The Devil's Advocate (1997) Discussion > Question about Mary Anne.

Question about Mary Anne.

posted 3 years ago by TheMan18 (12480)
10 replies | jump to latest

After the first scene in that store where the lady's face morphs into some kind of demonic monster, does she tell Kevin what really happened, and also, did you find her reaction to it realistic?

Because although it is something no doubt unusual but afterwards, Mary Anne was complaining about Kevin and how he changes subjects or how lonely she feels etc, did Mary Anne and Kevin perhaps believe it was just a hallucination and that later Mary Anne would get treatment for it?

What I sort of also meant was, after that event, why doesn't Mary Anne ask or demand some kind of investigation into that lady lawyer who can appear as a monster or find out what on Earth it REALLY was? Hell, maybe it isn't a demon or something but some kind of weird illness that lady has etc...

[–] Druff (1446) 3 years ago

You take shit very literally bro...

EDIT: I just saw your earlier post where you wondered if this was meant to be taken literally or metaphorically/figuratively. I suspect you know the right answer, you just choose to ignore it for some reason.

[–] TheMan18 (12480) 3 years ago

Actually I don't. And I too have made points on how a lot of this film seems to be metaphorical. But even then, if we assume that all of the events in the film actually have happened, then...

[–] Druff (1446) 3 years ago

If the "events of the film actually have happened" then it would be a documentary. It's a fictional fantasy somebody made up around the theme of mankind's nature, fragility etc. Obviously it's all figurative. Don't be so dense.

[–] TheMan18 (12480) 3 years ago

Sure, haha. :)

[–] TheMan18 (12480) 3 years ago

In addition to this, was Mary Anne's breakdown of her mental health in this movie caused by the possession of Satan, Al Pacino's character? And is the main reason - spoiler alert, that she kills herself was at least partially because of how much the possession of her by him destroyed her? (When I first saw the movie in 2000, I actually as I said mostly interpreted it literally, and I thought indeed that basically Pacino's character possessed her and destroyed her and thus why she killed herself at the hospital.)

Was it all a sinister plan on his behalf? But then if the movie was meant to be a metaphor, then it could all be that Mary Anne was destroyed by how vanity corrupted Kevin Lomax' character to the point where he also stopped caring about her, and she felt a great sense of shame by how Lomax was achieving his goals and all the unscrupulous methods he used to be so successful at his profession. But it could be argued that Satan, however, caused it all to become too literal and extreme.

[–] Annkat (177) 2 months ago

The people around Milton are demonized not actual demons. Due to their own sins and influence by Milton, they have become possessed.

It was because Mary Ann still had some conscience and morals, that she was able to see what was inside them. At that point of spiritual sight, she could have thrown herself on God's mercy. She didn't, denied the truth and allowed herself to be driven insane.

God never gives anyone experiences that they can't handle. The film would like everyone to receive the impression that Mary Ann came up against something she couldn't withstand. Which is not true. They have Milton admit later that Mary Ann was not powerless but that she was weak in character. "Mary Ann in New York?" Mary Ann based her life around being the beauty queen big deal of small town Florida. Beauty Queens are an everyday thing in NY. So the move stripped her of her identity and she didn't have the faith to rise above it and recognize that what she thought was important didn't matter.

[–] TheMan18 (12480) 2 months ago

Also, SPOILER alert, why does she actually kill herself, was it really because those demon faces around her drove her insane, or was it to avoid being enslaved by demons or out of guilt and shame for how her husband acted as an immoral lawyer by getting guilty criminals off?

[–] mechajutaro (2788) 2 months ago

"why does she actually kill herself"

This was her(unsucessful)stab at preventing Sweet November from ever coming to pass

[–] TheMan18 (12480) 2 months ago

Lol, like it was meant to be meta-film or something...

[–] Annkat (177) 2 months ago

Despite her experiences, she never called upon God for help. She went to the Church but didn’t get further in faith.

She was under extreme demon oppression and couldn’t deal with the spiritual sight she was given.

She started to connect the threads when she confessed to Kevin that she knew they were profiting on lies. But then when the woman from the firm attacked her, she broke and committed the mortal sin of suicide.