MovieChat Forums > Ask Me Anything (2014) Discussion > the ending- SPOILERS / author explanatio...

the ending- SPOILERS / author explanation

posted 8 years ago by keepitonthedlo
6 replies | jump to latest

i just watched this movie today, and while I loved it the ending really threw me for a loop and left me so unsettled that i, like many others, looked into possible theories for the ending. i decided to browse Tumblr, and one of the users on the website posted this after contacting the author!!!!! hope this helps someone else cuz it helped me :)

from super-nova-bitch 's tumblr account:

So I emailed the writer/director of Ask Me Anything telling him all of my theories about what happened, hoping he would give me a clue and this is what he said

“Ashlyn, one thing is certain. It’s not the man who molested her, as she posted the letter the night she disappeared, so he would not have time to receive it yet. I think you should pick the ending that best helps you to sleep. :)

Here are some insights that you might find useful.

There are a million movies/stories out there that fulfill the emotional need for story resolution. Indies films and literary novels, I think, are different and should not feel obligated to tie up everything neatly. This movie from its very inception, from the moment Katie appears as a skeleton in the first scene, was about a girl on a path of self-destruction.

The world that we shift to at the end of the movie is merely the realistic version of the world that we have just left, the world as presented by Katie, who has embellished and concealed and distorted things a bit to protect her identity and perhaps to inflate her sense of importance. Now we see who the people really were before Katie distorted them in her blog. But in the difference lies the difficulty for her mother (and us) in ever discovering what happened to her. She has been lost in the miasma of social media. Self-branding, which is so prevalent these days, is really a hall of mirrors that conceals who a person really is.

In a way, not knowing what happened to Katie/Amy is the point of the movie.

What matters is not so much whether someone hurt Katie, it is that anyone might have, as her beauty, sexuality, youth, and recklessness inspired such intense anger and desire in men…..

At the end, we don’t know if Katie is alive or dead. But we do know one thing: her “reality show” is over. And we have been its most loyal audience. We have been voyeurs.

I know it’s difficult, but you have to see if you can embrace the ambiguity. If you can, it becomes a much bigger and better movie. At least I think so. It’s not just about one girl. It’s about the world we live in

.I hope this clears it up for you a little bit. The novel version – undiscovered gyrl – includes a ton more about Katie – there is even a dead body at the end…but it still doesn’t give you a final answer.

best, Allison”

[–] cmsc 8 years ago

Thanks for that insight. I loved this movie, and while disturbing, it was beautifully portrayed by all cast especially Britt.
The ending had a huge effect on me as I initially thought this was a true story. But as the author explained this story is "true" on many, many levels.

[–] speakinginmonotone 8 years ago

Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting words from Mr. Burnett. I agree with what he said about the book. It gives a lot more insight into Katie and it's definitely worth reading.

[–] kliftonk 8 years ago

Finally watched this one, and while somewhat disturbing, I get the author's point. However, I don't see the "path of self-destruction" - junkie, alcoholic, suicide, prostitution, . . . ? No. Poor decisions - yes, but nothing self-detructive. IMO that's way too harsh of a characterization of Katie/Amy's path.

Also, while I see the desire she created in men, which is limited to three, I do not see the anger. Only at the end do we get told of any anger, and it's from her blog followers. Presumably, the anger is in response to her choices and prospective choices (e.g., sex with older men, sex with a married man, getting pregnant, having an abortion) and NOT from men only. So where is the anger she generated with her looks, youth, and sexuality? Not in the movie.

The " figure it out for yourself" ending, is okay here. The possibilities range from somebody hurting her to her being married by the father of her baby. However, the movie simply fails to tie her disappearance to her blog. If that's what the viewer is to get, the movie fails in that respect. Also, not much of a conversation starter as the social media aspect is overshadowed by the story of a young woman exploring her sexuality juxtaposed against her coming to terms with her sexual abuse as a child. Go watch an episode of "The Internet Ruined My Life" for a focus on social media and youth.

[–] Horsewomyn 8 years ago

I see plenty of anger from her sexual partners. Her boyfriend tries to strangle her and punch her. Her mother's boyfriend pulls him off and tells him never to hit a woman. Can't be more obvious than that. But her first older man sex partner also gets angry when she tells him there are possible other fathers of her baby. Typical reaction from a cheater...he can have multiple partners, but not her. Kind of a double standard, wouldn't you say? So, while not every man in her life exhibited anger, she was surrounded by a lot of it.

[–] anon17 8 years ago

I liked the movie, but did have a problem with the ending.
kliftonk said it best by stating it didn't tie the ending with the blog, which is true, and leads to the most logical conclusion that things happened to her in real life that she didn't blog about. Which would explain why the actual actors are different (all very attractive people) and her blog was the best parts of her life, while that may be a disturbing prospect. If the blog and the movie was her inner 'play/movie' of her life, then the audience has no way of knowing what really dark stuff may have happened to her.
its a pointless curveball. It's way too meta without having the quality in story to back it up.

first 90% of the movie, awesome

[–] JesseVJames 7 years ago

This was a great explanation. Thank you!