MovieChat Forums > Shutter Island (2010) Discussion > Ending theory...

Ending theory...

posted 6 years ago by The_Rev (206)
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I dont know if this has already been discussed... But Andrew's last words were "Which would be worse; to live as a monster, or die as a good man?"

I get that it's a window into his dilemma, his disorder... But he shouldn't KNOW that if he's living in a world of denial... Like... He's essentially telling his doctor, and the viewer, that he's CHOOSING to live in his fantasy, which means he's conscious of it... I feel like that sorta flies in the face of what we know of disorders like Multiple personality disorder, or schizophrenia... In such cases, yes, long ago, after experiencing a trauma, one can tell themselves it's not real long enough that they disconnect from reality and act as if it never happened, create an elaborate story that explains away everything in their current reality... But the movie is suggesting that this decision is far closer to consciousness than what we know of these types of mental health conditions... It's as if he said to his doctor, yes, I know what I did, but I'm gonna go ahead and play out this fantasy anyway, just so I can keep my mind occupied on something other than the fact that my wife killed my children, and I killed her out of (understandable) rage...
I do study psychology, and I'm by no means an expert, but I really do feel like this doesn't jive with what we know of dissociative disorders... The whole POINT of dissociative disorders is that they completely hide the truth from the sufferer... So there's no logical reason that Andrew would know, consciously, that he's a monster, and thus choose to live as a "good man" in denial.
You know what I mean?

[–] The_Rev (206) 6 years ago

Actually, I'm gonna go one step further and say from the way he's acting, he's essentially "pretending" to be in denial of what happened. That's the only logical explanation to explain how he could allude to the fact that he's choosing to die as a good man. He knows full well what he did, but is pretending to live in this fantasy world because he can't face what happened... yet his memories still pop up from beneath a very shallow layer of "denial"

[–] peter_t_2k3 (968) 4 years ago

See i agree with what you have said but just for the end. He wasn't just acting but actually believed his own story but when they break him down to see the truth he decides to pretend to still be mad because he wants to forget

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

We, the audience, get to see Leo act as Teddy and feel regret for what he has done.

My theory is that Leo is actually Michelle Williams, as Dolores, thinking she is Teddy which makes a lot of the more questionable stuff of the movie make absolute sense.

I caught this first time around but it doesn't seem to have ever gotten any traction with people who posted on the IMDb boards.

He is a she who thinks she is her husband.

As for who killed the kids?

Doesn't really matter at this point but I'd hazard a guess that it was the real Teddy and she's punishing herself for it but living as him and blaming herself for not noticing.

I've only seen it the once, but please - try watching it again with my theory in mind.

[–] captainbucky (15252) 6 years ago

You are missing the whole coin flipping insland theory. Which explains in detail what was gong through officer sandiagos head

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

But that's down to you to decide which side of the coin is right.

Someone else's push onto what should be your own free choice.

[–] captainbucky (15252) 6 years ago

That is very true good sier but you are forgetting catagorically the mystical ology of the ending scene with the cliff and how cold and fridgid the sharp spikey water was. The water was black