why it failed


People simply didn't like Elizabeth Wurtzel. If this was the story of someone else it would have been an instant hit.

Nevertheless, ricci was great.

In the game of seduction there is only one rule: never fall in love.

reply

I agree with you one that one Another reason why people hated this movie was also because it wasn't much like the book.




"Let's rock...and ROLL!" - Freddy Krueger in The Dream Child

reply

Well, I liked the movie and I liked her, especially her big eyes (which when she becomes older probably'll look less attractive).
I've gotta admit that I didn't read the book. I think that helped me liking the movie.

'Olek where are you?' 'I think I'm in trouble.'

reply

People simply didn't like Elizabeth Wurtzel. If this was the story of someone else it would have been an instant hit.

Asking quite innocently here, why would people not like her?

reply

She's not a very likeable character. She does a lot of horrible things and is kind of pretentious after the fact.

She explains the whole thing off as depression, but even talking about her depression is long and tedious and very NO ONE HAS EVER FELT AS MUCH PAIN AS I HAVE AND IT'S ALL EVERYONE ELSE'S FAULT!!!! and I've got bipolar disorder and I know a lot of other assorted depressives who have never been that self-pitying for like.. what? Three hundred pages?

http://stanfordwank.livejournal.com

StanfordWANK: Because who doesn't like it rough?

reply

The self-proclaimed "tortured genius"

reply

I agree that she isn't a very likeable character. I haven't read the book. I don't think I will, but I do wish there were more books available for people to read with personal stories of mental illness.

She exhibits so much selfishness, blames other people and never comes to the point where she takes any responsiblity that it is hard to feel any empathy for her situation at all.

reply

Yeah she seems like a pretty selfish person...

On the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Centre, in February 2002: "I had not the slightest emotional reaction. I thought: 'This is a really strange art project.' It was a most amazing sight in terms of sheer elegance. It fell like water. It just slid, like a turtleneck going over someone's head...I just felt, like, everyone was overreacting. People were going on about it. That part really annoyed me." - Elizabeth Wurtzel


@ least Christina Ricci is bangin

reply

I really don't care what she thinks about 9/11. I'm sorry. I don't.

When I read the book I immeadiately idenified her as one of those girls who would've competed with other girls over who was the most depressed.

Where one girl says.

"I tried to kill myself last night."

So she would say:

"I didn't know I was pregnant and had a miscarriage and then I tried to kill myself twice and they had to strap me down to the stretcher with blood still dripping from my wrists!"

Depression isn't just a disease, it's a competition.

http://stanfordwank.livejournal.com

StanfordWANK: Because who doesn't like it rough?

reply

Thanks for your thoughts, I understand what you mean, and using depression as a competition surely is quite inappropriate.

I, male, now 43, felt as if she spoke to me when I read 'Prozac Nation'. Finally someone who expressed what depression can feel like. It makes you self-centered, helpless and suicidal. And that is no competition but a horrible mental illness and a constant nightmare.

Sorry to bring you down. Meds helped me during more than 30 years of treatment. More or less.

reply

I, male, now 43, felt as if she spoke to me when I read 'Prozac Nation'. Finally someone who expressed what depression can feel like. It makes you self-centered, helpless and suicidal. And that is no competition but a horrible mental illness and a constant nightmare.

I felt that way too. After starting on Prozac, I just had to read the book. I've been on the stuff for almost a year now. I'm still editing my memoir, which was inspired by reading "Prozac Nation."

reply

i'm sorry, i think you need to precise that to HER, 'depression isn't just a disease, it's a competition'. If Wurtzel isn't liked, it's for a reason. There is a slew of depressed authors and filmmakers and the like out there, but I doubt any can come close to the level of self-centeredness (yes, not a word, i know...) the book and the movie both screamed at me. I couldn't stand it. I hope this doesn't perpetrate the image that this is what people sufferring from depression are like. I can assure you, most are not.

reply

because shes an irritating, lying, self obsessed ASS!

reply

[deleted]

I agree that she isn't a very likeable character. I haven't read the book. I don't think I will, but I do wish there were more books available for people to read with personal stories of mental illness.

Try "Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D" by Lizzie Simon, or "Hannah: My True Story of Drugs, Cutting, and Mental Illness" by Hannah Westberg. I read both of these last year.

As someone currently on Prozac (since last summer) for depression, reading "Prozac Nation" and seeing the film was a must. After reading a the book, I got the idea to write my own depression and Prozac story (am current;y doing so). For more, see recent posts on my blog:
http://jannghi.blogspot.com

reply

its a shame the movie didnt do so good, its one of the best movies ever made in my opinion. and Ricci's performance deserves an award.

reply

Elizabeth Wurtzel is one of the poster children for the generation, and twenty years ago we didn't see how bad that would be. Characters like her and Ethan Hawke's in "Reality Bites" use to be perceived by peers as cool but they were elitist pseudo-intellectuals with nothing to show for it, and many of them grew up to be the parents of the crappy kids of today. Wurtzel recently wrote a piece spouting the same kind of stuff, which is even more sad from a fortysomething because she claimed a lack of responsible living.

reply

Elizabeth Wurtzel is not bad

reply

I didn't see this movie or even know it existed until today.

But I'm guessing it failed because the book, Prozac Nation, was part of the GenX zeitgeist when it was written, and that whole culture (which revolved around doom and gloom, apathy, anger) was dead and buried by 1995. You can see the difference in how the decade changed by looking at pop culture. One year, you had stuff like "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and then before you know it, "Mmm Bop" and "Barbie Girl." So, we were no longer "Prozac Nation" by 2001.

reply