MovieChat Forums > Pumpkin (2004) Discussion > Alternate ending theory

Alternate ending theory


There is a theory to the end of the movie that explains alot of the disconnect with reality. The theory goes that Carolyn did die during the overdose and the whole end of the movie was her escaping her living hell into Heaven. That is why/how Kent survives the car wreck, and the unrealism to alot of the ending sequences: like the fight, the intervention scene, the dinner scene, the weird house off campus, Jeanine's sudden acceptance of Pumpkin, etc. If you notice all these odd things happen after she overdoses.

I know it is a dark comedy and there is the obvious overtone of satire present, but just food for thought!

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that makes sense. I never thought of it that way. I think I like it better as being like her heaven.
" the first time in my life that I feel remotely affectionate for her, is when shes dead" igby

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That is interesting...

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[deleted]

This actually makes a lot of sense! Thanks for sharing

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That final shot, when she asks Pumpkin if he "meant that literally or metaphorically," and she looks back... I kind of thought that was the moment she realized she was in a waking dream. Yes, she did die from the overdose but until that moment I don't think she fully realized she was in her own heaven.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0YUh6DCWlI

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Great theory! I think I'm going to choose to go with that. :)

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Overdose??? I just watched it on a local channel here, if there was a scene where she overdoses it must have gotten edited out somehow!

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That theory could also explain Pumpkin's response to her question at the end - "When you asked me about the moon, did you mean that literally or metaphorically?" and he says, "What?" He reacts as though he doesn't have any idea what she's talking about...as though he is a dreamed up Pumpkin who doesn't have a memory of the real Pumpkin asking that question. Make sense?

My only reluctance about the overdose theory, when I rewatched it, is that she takes all those pills but just sits in the tub sobbing. She doesn't seem to be in physical distress over the drugs...

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Interesting theory - but I have to say I think people are reading too much into the "overdose" and the final line/glance back.

Just watched the overdose scene. She drinks Nyquil, takes some pills (can't tell what they are) and finally drinks some Pepto Bismol (seriously, you can see this in the last shot just before she gets down on the floor in front of the toilet.) In the next shot she's in bed, dazed and holding her stomach. Doesn't seem like enough to kill her! I just can't buy that everything that happens after the shot of her on the bathroom floor is a fantasy sequence, dream, etc...I think that the later events in the film, though pretty out-there at times, are just how the story is supposed to have played out. I take the final line/backward glance to be a commentary on the whole story we, the viewers, have watched. She asks if Pumpkin's question about the moon was literal or a metaphor. He doesn't seem to get the question, and THEN she stops and looks right at the viewer, sort of asking the same question of us - "do you think what you just watched literal, or a metaphor?"...I do see the movie as a metaphor, but exactly what the metaphor is would be a whole other discussion!

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[deleted]

I thought this too. It seemed too ''surreal'' after her overdose. Everyone showing up at her house in the the living room, the lighting and camera angles (more dream like) telling her it's alright and she can come to the sorority. I don't think she survived...

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