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Reel Disorders – Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

I’m kinda a homebody myself, but i’ve never been a garage-body… Sorry for that one. Hopefully I can make up for my bad puns with this diagnosis for Lars and the Real Girl!

Subtitles:

it’s not enough that every woman in the

world finds him attractive now he has to

woo the inanimate ones just leave some

for the rest of us man

when you first read the premise of Lars

and the real girl you might write it off

as a creepy movie of a guy who falls for

an inanimate object or a quirky romantic

comedy

weekend at Bernie’s style but this film

is so much more as it discusses openly

and sincerely mental illness it digs

deep into important messages such as

compassion and acceptance a town coming

together for one of their own and the

transitions into becoming a man and

building relationships that’s what makes

this film such a wonderful piece of

media and leaves me very excited to

analyze it as always I’ll be discussing

crucial plot points throughout my

diagnosis so if you haven’t seen it yet

go rent it on Netflix pop a squat watch

it and come back all good okay let’s go

the protagonist of the film is Lars

played wonderfully by Ryan Gosling he

exhibits a social traits gets very

anxious when around others and displays

no interest in romantic relationships or

really any relationships for that matter

that is until his soul mate gets shipped

right to his door now the great thing

about this movie from a clinical

perspective is that we get to piece

together the characters history

witnesses behaviours in therapy and

observe his transitions after treatment

based on the film’s account Lars has

lived in the same fictional small town

his whole life his mother passed away

during childbirth so he grew up with his

father and his older brother Gus because

of his wife’s death Laura’s father

slipped into a depressive state and was

reported as never wanting anyone around

as soon as Gus was old enough he left

home leaving Lars at the mercy of his

father’s depression now having a

depressed parent is one of the most

dysfunctional things for a child to grow

up with since children require

socialization and high-energy activities

for their own development but when they

refused these interactions it becomes

socially isolated and anxious and can

sometimes become depressed themselves

generally childhood friends can help

lubricate those social gears but Lars

never really mentions friends and tends

to associate his success growing up to

the accomplishments of his brother Gus

and I are most very lucky with women

she’s

so let’s talk about his presenting

symptoms when in uncomfortable and

anxious situations he tends to blink a

lot in psychology we call this a tic

disorder specifically a simple motor tic

this includes behaviors such as licking

one’s lips shrugging shoulders or

blinking excessively the blinking is

best seen when larsa’s in social

situations so to emphasize its

prevalence I’ve spliced together two

different scenes one when Lars is with

Bianca and one without

another behavior the large displays is

an avoidance to touch according to him

whenever anyone touches him he feels a

painful burning sensation at the point

of contact so you don’t let people touch

you Lars isn’t that hard to get away

with I’m not really here because I have

all these layers and that helps this is

called a conversion disorder a condition

in which you show a psychological stress

in physical ways as touch is important

in conveying closeness or intimacy this

could be the brains way of reacting to a

perceived threat such as when Lars

assumes no one cares about him and

people just end up abandoning him okay

but one of Lars most predominant

symptoms is his detachment and social

isolation he prefers to be alone rather

than take part in group activities and

this is evident up until the third act

when he begins to initiate relationships

with others now there are three

diagnoses that can account for social

isolation and anxiety around others

schizoid personality disorder avoidant

personality disorder and social anxiety

disorder but the main reason that

schizoid fits bass is that number two

and three center around the concept of

fear fear that others will judge you

fear that you will make a fool out of

yourself or that you’re undeserving of

attention or love Lars exhibits fear in

the film but it’s in response to

appropriate scenarios such as when he’s

afraid of Karin dying during childbirth

or when he finds Bianca unconscious and

she’s rushed to the hospital never do we

see Lars worried about other people’s

opinion of him instead he seems less

fearful and more so uncomfortable when

around others since he has adopted

solitude as an important personality

trait this distinguishing characteristic

is crucial in making the diagnosis for a

schizoid personality disorder and

finally we get to delusions now if you

remember in my video on

wilkes we discussed the different types

of delusional disorders well Lars

doesn’t necessarily fit any of these

paradigms so instead he is diagnosed

with unspecified type now it is

important not to make a diagnosis for

fetishistic or any other paraphilic

disorder because the character of Lars

is not sexually involved with Bianca nor

does he ever hint to any sexual interest

instead his interest lie on having a

caring and dependable relationship but

more importantly his subconscious is

interested in developing that

relationship with another living person

and Bianca is his key in transitioning

to that place

let me explain throughout the film we

see Lars and almost every scene with

this blanket wrapped around him we later

learned that his mother made it for him

just before she passed away the way that

he treasures it is similar to a child

with their favorite toy never leaving it

from their sight I remember when I got

my favorite toy growing up and when my

friend got his so it is in all intents

and purposes a safety blanket that

represents his childhood but when Bianca

arrives she is – Lars a symbol for

adulthood and growing up in the movie we

see Lars attempting to prove to Bianca

that he’s ready for manhood but in

reality he’s attempting to prove it to

himself

maybe she watch me chop wood – and when

Bianca rejects his marriage proposal

it’s actually Laura’s telling himself

he’s not ready for the responsibility or

even worthy of it

Laura’s also talks to his brother about

what it means to be a man since he is

desperately trying to make the

transition well it’s not like you’re all

one thing or the other okay there’s

still a kid inside but you you you grow

up when you decide to do right okay and

that what’s right for you what’s right

for everybody even when it hurts Bianca

is what he needs to break free of his

social isolation and step out into an

uncertain world as Bianca comes into the

picture

we start to see less of the blanket and

as the film goes on we see Lars

displaying a greater desire to interact

with others towards the end of the movie

Lars is putting himself out there in

social situations finally able to touch

another person without that searing pain

that follows and even contemplates a

romantic relationship so altogether this

explains his excessive blinking is

tactile sensitivity a social behavior

and delusions that’s why I’ve decided

that Lara’s meets the diagnostic

criteria for provisional tic disorder

conversion disorder schizophrenia

disorder and delusional disorder this

has got to be one of my favorite roles

by Ryan Gosling as he portrays Lara’s

development and a realistic and

respectful man but truly the unsung

heroes are Gus and Karen all the town

citizens and dr. Dagmar played fantastic

lead by Patricia Clarkson psychologists

are too often portrayed in the media as

manipulative all-knowing or blubbering

idiots and it is so refreshing to see an

honest adaptation of a mental health

worker who truly cares about the

well-being of their patient Loren trio

girl is a fantastic film on growing up

acceptance and unconditional love and I

feel very honored to have analyzed it

for you guys for this video I thought

I’d offer some resources on personality

disorders personality disorders and very

difficult to diagnose since the symptoms

tend to be ingrained and who the

individual is and people with the

disorder tend not to seek treatment it

is most often through the help of family

members or secondary symptoms like

anxiety or depression presenting

themselves that personality disorders

are even uncovered I’ve included some

info on topics and hotlines to call if

you require help for you or someone

close to you that may have a personality

disorder

thank you for watching I’ve been getting

a lot of recommendations for movie

characters to diagnose next and I’m very

excited to tackle those if you haven’t

seen it yet check out my diagnosis on

Annie Wilkes from misery or Martin Riggs

from the Lethal Weapon series be sure to

click that like button and subscribe and

I’ll see you next time on real disorders