#pause
So I just finished watching Prozac Nation. It's based on a book that I've picked up several times (I adore the cover, I'm not sure why, but it always catches my eye) and tried to read as many times. I somehow never quite manage to get through it. It may be because it holds the same potential that anything I've ever read by Joyce Carol Oates does: a destroyed sense of self worth and an abundance of interior monologues. Be that as it may, the film adaptation popped up on the movies page of Hulu today and I figured why the heck not.
Having watched the movie, I'm even more certain that the book would be a mind-altering experience for me, and not necessarily for the best. I found the movie to be powerful and confusing and depressing and entrancing all at once. While I don't know that I could particularly put my finger on any one part of it as responsible, I thought that it did an excellent job of capturing a sense of futility and terror and, well, depression.
Everything about the film - the narration, the color fill, the flashes of others - served to highlight and enhance Lizzie's difficulties, the state of her mind, and to help the viewer feel something of the same. I don't know if it's a movie for everyone but I certainly found it to be powerful, and I hope it does the book justice.
Honestly, my head is still kind of reeling from it, and I certainly wouldn't suggest watching it if you're already in a bit of a down mood. But if you like pseudo-biological stories of people experiencing and overcoming mental illness - or if you want to voyeuristically (my spell check says that's not a word...) experience mental deterioration - then I highly recommend the watch. Plus it's free on Hulu.
Heck, just go watch the movie. It made me want to write, so that must mean it's good art.
#play
