Lars and the Real Girl
Lars and the Real Girl is a 2007 movie that follows the life of Lars, a socially awkward man. Lars developed a romantic relationship with a “RealDoll” called Bianca. Before acquiring the doll, he lived a secluded life in a town in Wisconsin after the death of her mother and distant grief-stricken father. He has a brother who goes away but later comes back to live in the house proper with his pregnant wife, Karin. Lars avoids social contact with his brother’s family, colleagues, and members of his local church. Gus and Karin realize that Lars a mental health problem when he acquires the lifelike doll and convinces him to see a therapist pretending that it is for Bianca. Following therapy, Lars overcomes his dependence on Bianca and learns to trust people.
The film provides critical knowledge of mental health problems and the need for therapy to overcome, heal, and have a healthy life. It is among movies that discuss common mental health challenges as a theme. The movie presents a typical case of mental illness common in society. It explains how many people in communities around the world struggle with various mental disorders, some caused by environmental factors. For example, in the case of Lars, the leading cause of social isolation is the death of his mothers, neglect by his father and brother, who leaves home as soon as he could be independent and only returns to inherit his father’s property. The movie provides essential knowledge regarding mental health and available alternatives to intervene.
The movie has important lessons related to psychology. It shows the actual mental health problem that Lars is suffering from. Social isolation is common in cases such as Lars’ who suffered the loss of his mother and the distant that his father kept as he mourned his wife. Besides social isolation, Lars suffer from loneliness and social anxiety. For example, he cannot maintain a conversation with other people. He appears to feel safe in his isolated world. As a result, he lacks confiding relationships, social networks, and social support. The film also reveals the importance of mental health treatment because many people suffer from underlying health conditions without their knowledge. Lars is lucky to have people who cares for him, such as his brother and wife. They help him to get therapy and eventual recovery.
The movie provides information about the critical help the Lars need to have a normal life. The therapist, Dagmar, is committed to helping him to discover the cause of the psychological disorder and implement an intervention to treat him. The therapist understands that Lars’ delusional behavior is caused by underlying problem that they should understand and address. One of the recommended supports is to treat Bianca as a real person to get Lars to cooperate. The therapy is effective because Lars begins to interact with people in the town and overcome the social isolation. However, it has some aspect of unethical practice because Gus, Karin, and the therapist tricks Lars into attending the therapy. He believes that he is doing it for the lifelike doll, while in real sense they want to help him to overcome the psychological problem. Regardless, the approach helped him to overcome the mental health problem, he opened up to his brother and eventually his dependence on Bianca started to end.