Lars

Over the weekend, Luca and I watched Lars and the Real Girl. It's about a reclusive man who buys a Real Doll online, and then takes her around to meet his family, to work parties, out in public, as though the doll were his girlfriend.

Everyone in the community is very supportive of him. While they know Lars is mentally ill, they see his behavior as harmless, and do their best to make Bianca (the real doll) part of their lives and to treat her as though she were a person. They humor Lars' delusion for as long as it lasts.

I won't give the plot away entirely, but it all works out in the end, suffice to say.

What struck me about this movie was the contrast between how this imaginary community embraced Lars despite their shock and horror about his bizarre delusion, and what would have happened if this were Real Life^TM.

In Real Life^TM, likely his doctor would have chased him around with a depot injection of haldol, he would have been ostracized from his family and community, and he would probably have been put on some sex offender watch list and prohibited from being near children.

Yay, rest of life!

Not to pooh pooh the benefits of anti-psychotic medications for certain patient populations, or anything.

I found the community's embrace of him a heartwarming break from reality. Also, I appreciated that the film maker took great pains to portray Lars as a person, and not just as a crazy person.

Also, I should add, the movie was funny. As one might imagine.

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Anyway, back to studying econ!