Multiple viewings - what I saw

I guess a lot of people who post here didn't like this movie, but I love it. In the nearly 10 years since this movie came out, I've seen it four times. With each viewing, I come away with new information. This post is full of spoilers. Please don't read on if you haven't seen the movie yet.

The first time, I saw it on home video months long after it left theaters. I had read a couple of favorable reviews which made me interested. I watched it just for the comedy. This is a funny movie.

The second time was years later. I thought the movie was a lesson in tolerance. There's a whimsical tone, something fantastic (as in, fantasy-like) that made the story work. The other characters in the story support Lars as he works through his delusion and they do it by being tolerant.

The movie shows the best attitudes one can have when meeting someone in a wheelchair. Or someone who's a foreigner and new in town. Someone who can't speak the language. In this second viewing, I saw love, kindness, welcoming, warmth, and tolerance in action.

The third time I watched this movie was last year. The big revelation to me in this viewing: Margo is the reason Lars purchased Bianca!

The psychologist Dagmar asked Gus and Karin if anything had changed recently which led Lars to buy the sex doll. Gus said it was Karin's pregnancy so that's the explanation that the characters in the movie went by. But I realized that Lars really liked Margo from the start but he didn't have the social skills and psychological well-being to interact normally with her. Lars needed to fix this. So he invented a girlfriend - Bianca the sex doll - to work through these issues.

Once he had Bianca at his side, Lars did all sorts of "normal" activities that he had extreme difficulty doing before. He had regular meals with his brother and sister-in-law and engaged in conversation. He attended a party and danced! He went bowling with a group and shook Margo's hand at the end of the evening.

As Dagmar the doctor observed, Lars made everything up including Bianca's illness and death. I think when Lars knew he had developed himself enough to socially interact with Margo, he was ready to put Bianca to rest. At the gravesite, he even tells Margo that Bianca told him not to be sad. Lars was preparing for Margo for months and now he was ready. He asks Margo to go for a walk. Miraculous! Six months earlier he couldn't even bear to have a conversation with his sister-in-law.

The fourth time I saw this movie was just a few weeks ago. Details I didn't notice before have popped up. Like, the wristwatch that Lars wears. He checks the time more than once in the movie, but it's only after he "resuscitates" the teddy bear that you get a glimpse of the watch. It's a very thin ladies watch that looks tight on him. I think it's his mother's watch.

Also, the blue blanket that Lars' mother made for him while she was pregnant? He wears it as a scarf in the movie, but as the film progresses, we don't see the blanket around his neck anymore.

I thought this was brilliant. Maybe if you didn't like it the first time, you could give it a second chance and see if there's something new for you to enjoy.



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The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.