Borderline Personality Disorder,  Celebrities,  Odds and Ends,  Substance Abuse

Rachel Getting Married and BPD

Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting MarriedSo, when I read about the movie “Rachel Getting Married” I heard a lot of my wife as a young adult in the Anne Hathaway character. Here’s a review that agreed that the character is probably BPD:

The story is simple enough: two big, intelligent, loving, and interesting families gather at the big, comfy, casual Connecticut home of the bride’s dad for the wedding of a sweet daughter of one to the gorgeous and loving son of the other. Immediately, though, you know there’s trouble. Another daughter, Kym, (played by Anne Hathaway, looking the part – no glam here) is getting a weekend pass from rehab in order to attend. Aside from her substance abuse problems, Kym is a classic borderline personality (Google “borderline personality disorder” for more info on this diagnosis), addicted also to drama and crisis. She has guilt but almost no ability to resolve things in her own mind. Without trying, she creates squirmingly difficult situations. How others react to her made me squirm – it feels so familiar. Debra Winger is the mom, divorced from the good-guy dad. She is perfect – you know her. The bride-to-be is loving, patient, but you sense a simmering underneath. The script rings true. The camera work (director Demme made “Silence of the Lambs”) made my friend a little sick – there’s a lot of handheld, closeup, herky-jerky filming. Sit toward the back of the theatre and it won’t have that effect. The rehearsal dinner and the wedding go on a little too long – not unlike actual events. I loved this movie, I think the inner state of Kym is shown with burning accuracy. The music and dancing is a thrill to hear and watch. The people are real-people beautiful. It’s great that way. The competitive loading-the-dishwasher scene (not a spoiler here) reportedly really happened years ago between screenwriter Jenny Lumet’s dad Sidney Lumet and Bob Fosse, and Lumet used it in this terrific movie.

Anyone seen it? I haven’t yet.

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