Let down

Although I have suffered from clinical depression for a number of years (and am currently on Prozac), I find it very difficult to come to terms with Elizabeth being supposedly depressed. I know some people might jump down my throat for this, but if anything Elizabeth comes off mostly as a narcissistic, whiny, self-absorbed and self-centred psychopath with some other kind of issues going on - but not actual legitimate clinical depression. That said, she is just out of her teens and this was the 80s so maybe diagnostic criteria was different then?

While I haven't read the book and can't really speak for Elizabeth's character in it, in the movie it is Elisabeth's choices that seem to influence her state of mind rather than her state of mind influencing her choices - i.e. doing drugs, blowing her mate's boyfriend, following her boyfriend to Texas after appointing him to be her 'saviour' instead of hanging out with her mum over the holidays, sleeping with the first random guy who came on to her etc.; etc.; etc. so I find it immensely difficult to sympathise with her, even more so when she's lashing out at the people who are desperately trying to help her. I have had my angry moments and at my very worst I have said things I haven't meant, but I can never, ever recall saying things remotely as offensive as she said to her mother, Ruby and Rafe. The cherry on the cake was her attempting to 'kill' herself in Dr Stirling's bathroom. Really?!

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting when I watched this movie, but this was definitely not it. While I understand that everyone's experience with depression is subjective, this simply didn't seem to fit the bill.