http://www.marypipher.net/About.html Dr. Pipher is a clinical psychologist and the author of nine books, including Reviving Ophelia, which was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for 26 weeks. Her area of interest is how American culture influences the mental health of its people. She lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with her husband Jim. Her passions are her family, being outdoors, birds, books, and protecting her state’s environment. http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/reviving-ophelia/article/author-mary-pipher-interview The "Reviving Ophelia" Author Interview Dr. Mary Pipher’s best-selling book, “Reviving Ophelia,” is a groundbreaking work that has helped countless families navigate through the rocky period of adolescence. She is …show more content…
How do you think adolescent culture has changed since you first wrote “Reviving Ophelia”? In the early 1990s you observed that the space and time called childhood had become shorter. Is that window of innocence even shorter …show more content…
· My biggest goal for this movie is that people who watch it have real serious discussions about it afterward, and obviously that would apply to people who have someone in their family in an abusive relationship, but it would also apply to families where there are sons, talking about what is and isn’t an abusive relationship; and families where there are daughters, talking about warning signs and “How would you handle it if you were with a boy who started to seem controlling?” The best thing about this film is it raises a lot of really important questions, and one of them is “How can such a great girl find herself in this kind of a mess, and how can the boy find himself in it?” When you think about it, they are both understandable. Men learn that to be really manly means to be in control and you certainly don’t apologize to women and you certainly don’t let women control the situation. All you have to do is watch a few hours of television or go to the movies every now and then to realize we are a culture that constantly teaches violence as an acceptable form of behavior, so men learn that. They almost learn that they are wimpy if they are not aggressive, if not pushy. Where they draw the line is tough, because they are also struggling with
Each of these concepts are utilized at the advantage of men, and the disadvantage of women, and has shown to provide detrimental consequences and results for women in society. However, in this film, and other films by Tyler Perry, appear to take the added step to combat these aspects that are present in the media’s portrayal of women. While these are present in the movie, he often makes a point to combat it with an inverse portrayal of each
The characters begin to genuinely listen to one another and make the most of the unpleasant situation they are put in. The students put aside their differences and end up becoming true friends. The movie achieved a great amount of lasting success because of the amazing and talented John
Although Ophelia is not aware of Hamlet’s madness - a saddening and very dramatic piece of irony at the time - his emotional abuse slowly leads her to a downward spiral into her own blackening hole of madness. Eventually, due to her father’s death, Ophelia snaps and loses her mind, however; her madness would not have been orchestrated as drastically if
As counselors, we will be faced with unique and not so uniqueness family and individual issues. Often, we will have to listen to what is not being said to fully assess our client/family situation. The movie Precious is moving, thought provoking, disturbing, and brings awareness to the many different forms of abuse, and different types of mental illness. Three Identified Symptom in the Family Counseling Session
Pipher wants her audience to connect their stories with the people around them, and together work on impacting some part of the culture around them. Throughout
The world is a hostile and violent place and the woman had a right to be fearful of him, but it troubles him that he cannot change the fact that he was the cause of this fear. He begins to understand that he has the opportunity to change the enviorment around him solely because of him being a
Pipher refers to this by referring to the story of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In this story Ophelia starts out innocent without a second thought in her mind but then she meets Hamlet she then “lives only for his approval” (18). She is then is overwhelmed with all this effort that when Hamlet disapproves of her she drowns in a stream. Mary Pipher uses this to help exemplify the fact that theses “destructive forces…affect young women” (16-17). It also represents how young girls begin to live their lives only for the approval of others than to show their true colors.
Her use of scenic imagery helps to contrast Ophelia’s actions with the beauty around her while also distracting the reader from the somber events taking place. The “willow [that] grows askaunt the brook,/ That shows his hoary leaves in the glassy stream” portrays an almost dream-like reality, tinting everything with a touch of fantasy while minimizing the harsh pain of the real world (166-167). The willows drooping branches creates an image of demure sadness and, paired with the glassy stream, helps to create the physical embodiment of Ophelia’s sorrow. Gertrude’s use of excessive detail and imagery depicts Ophelia in a positive light despite her madness. This continues as Gertrude describes the flowers Ophelia picked for the “fantastic garlands” she made for her father’s funeral (168).
Cultural theories by Kathleen Rowe, Laura Mulvey and Stuart Hall can help the audience seek an explanation to how these stereotypical gender roles are portrayed in the movie and how it can create power for the specific
but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth.” His depression over his father’s illness is very real but often rolled up in his faked madness. On the other hand, Ophelia is genuinely “mad,” sick with grief over her father’s death and unable to fit in with the court society. Her scene with her brother, who just confirmed his father’s death, is heartbreaking. She doesn’t recognize him at all.
In John Updike’s “A&P” and Joyce Oates’s “Where are you going, where have you been” there are multiple intriguing similarities and differences between both protagonists. Both stories involve an adolescent 's main character who goes through a type of struggle, however, the severity of their struggles differ greatly. “A&P” includes a young man named Sammy who loses his job grows an attachment to a small group of girls that are regular customers at the shop he works at. The situation in “Where are you going, where have you been?” is much more grim for the protagonist, a young teenage girl, Connie. She is put into a set of circumstances that put her life in danger.
Thus, Ophelia’s “madness” is determined by the extent to which she subverts female gender expectations. The more she exhibits traits traditionally associated with men, the more “mad” she becomes. In this context, Ophelia serves as both a caricature and a warning against female enlightenment as told through a patriarchal lense. She is ultimately ostracized from society, implying that women who seek freedom will receive the same fate as
Ophelia is grieving the loss of her father after Hamlet kills him. Ophelia doesn't know that Hamlet killed her father. But Ophelia has gone mad from learning about her father's death. Also, after Hamlet telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, Ophelia is a little bit discouraged. She is discouraged because Hamlet had told her before that if Ophelia would sleep with him that they would get married.
The cause of Ophelia’s death has been debated over the years, was it a suicide
The true importance of this movie is that it is okay not to be what others think are “normal” and that you will find more happiness being yourself then conforming to everyone