"GOTHIKA" REVIEW

                              by

                           Joe Doe 


            AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: 
                A DISCUSSION OF THE MOVIE "GOTHIKA"
 

As you might imagine, I was rather anxious to see "Gothika."  But 
it is much more of a psychological/supernatural thriller than a 
"women in prison" movie.  It doesn't have any strip search scenes, 
although its communal shower scene definitely has a strong element 
of exposure and humiliation.  The film also contains a number of 
elements of power transfer and role reversal that members of the 
group might find entertaining.  However, the themes were handled 
in a much more subtle and understated way than they would be in a 
story on this forum. 

I'm not going to review the move in the traditional sense, as there 
are dozens of reviews you can look up on the web for that.  I'll 
try not to "spoil" the plot of the movie, but rather discuss the 
elements of the movie that might be of interest to a reader of this 
forum.  If you don't want to know ANYTHING about the movie, stop 
reading now. 

I mean it.  Stop reading. 

I'm not kidding. 

Still there?  Good.  The movie opens promisingly with a sharply 
dressed Halle Berry playing the crisp and professional Dr. Miranda 
Grey, a psychiatrist at a psychiatric prison for women.  Miranda is 
the platonic ideal of a Joe Doe heroine: well-educated, beautiful, 
intelligent, resourceful, coolly confident, and professional.  But 
she also has a rather haughty and superior attitude; when the movie 
opens she is listening with clinical detachment to a horrifying 
rape "fantasy" described by a patient played by Penelope Cruz, who 
was no doubt imprisoned there by Nicole after she found about her 
affair with Tom. 

So far so good -- an insane asylum that looks like a post modern 
remodeling of Dracula's castle, a beautiful but smug young doctor 
who treats her patients in an unsympathetic and condescending 
manner.  If Dr. Miranda had kept up to date with the literature 
and read Dr. Nerdly's theories of "cosmic justice" she'd realize 
the danger she was in. 

Before long Miranda wakes up on her own asylum.  Now SHE is the one 
whom no one believes, and SHE is the one whom everyone is talking 
down to.  Not so snooty now, are we, Miranda?  I know that short 
little medical smock shows quite a bit more leg than the stylish 
skirt you wore when you were a doctor.  And that busted button on 
the back does leave your shoulder seductively bare.  But you're 
going to have to get used to wearing the clothes we give you, just 
like the other patients. 

But, while the shortened hospital gown is a nice touch, it is also 
(from the point of view of this group) the film's first major 
disappointment.  The film has initially dressed Miranda in a 
stylish and sophisticated black sweater and skirt combination, 
but then it never takes the time to relish stripping her out of 
those expensively stylish but (alas!) wholly inappropriate clothes. 

Imagine Dr. Miranda's humiliation at being forced to slowly 
surrender each of her garments under the amused gaze of the 
interns and nurses she had ruled over for years.  "That's right, 
Miranda.  Take off your skirt and put it in the box.  Fold it up 
neatly...we don't want you to wrinkle it, dear....  The bra, too.  
We can't let you have anything you might hurt yourself with....  
I'm sorry, but José and Tyrone have to be here in case you have 
a seizure....   Yes, the underpants too, dear....  Now bend over.  
I'm going to have to examine you to make sure you don't have any 
contraband." 

Though the lack of a strip search scene is a major disappointment, 
during the next 20 minutes or so we do get to watch a sadistic 
nurse teach the proud and independent doctor a lesson in humility. 

As a side note, I was traveling when I saw the film and ended up 
coming into the theatre about 30 minutes late.  Since I wanted to 
see the entire movie, I stayed around for the second show.  While 
I was waiting for them to clean up between shows, I ducked into 
another theatre that was showing "Gothika," and, as luck would 
have it, I got to watch the central "processing/shower" section 
of the movie twice. 

I mention this because this unique viewing method allowed me to 
witness the reaction of two separate audiences.  A number of the 
male (and several of the female) audience members greeted each of 
Dr. Miranda's humiliations with lusty laughter and cheers.  When 
the truly hateful nurse informed her, in a "isn't-it-just-peachy" 
sing-song voice, "It's time for your shower!" the audience laughed 
appreciatively.   One gentlemen snickered, applauded, and nudged 
his girlfriend (who was also laughing).  The reaction was the same 
in both showings with the laughs coming in all the same places.  I 
don't claim any great insight from this; I'm just reporting what I 
observed.  As I continue with my review, I'll mark the places the 
audience laughed, hooted, or applauded thus: 
[LAUGHTER]. 

And now that our popcorn break is over, back to the movie.... 

Dr. Miranda wakes up in her cell and meets with Dr. Pete Graham, 
played competently, but not particularly memorably, by the 
incomparable Robert Downey Jr.  In the opening scenes, we had 
watched the smug and superior Dr. Miranda cheerfully shoot down 
Dr. Pete's pathetic advances, so now our poor heroine is placed 
in the rather ticklish position of being under the complete 
control of a man she rejected.  (Oh dear!) 

The movie rings the bell of the power issues raised by this 
dynamic, but it never opens the door.  At one point Miranda 
pleads with the head of the asylum for another doctor.  His 
blithe dismissal of Miranda's justifiable concerns was so 
condescending and unsympathetic that I'm sure the screenwriter 
was inspired by stories in this group.  (Smile!) 

However, the needs of the plot dictate that the audience be kept 
on the fence about Pete.  (Friend or foe?  Unlucky single guy or 
frustrated sex maniac?) 

In the film's early scenes, Dr. Miranda is clearly the one in 
control.  ("You have to eat something," Dr. Pete pleads.  "Not 
with you I don't," she replies happily, as she walks away from 
him with a big smile on her face.)

In these opening scenes Dr. Pete is a pathetic loser, begging the 
married Dr. Miranda for a date (and presumably an affair) that he 
will clearly never get.  Dr. Miranda's jaunty rejection underscores 
the power structure of their relationship.  Dr. Miranda (always the 
crisp professional) returns to her office to work on her computer.  
Pete presumably eats his pizza alone while searching his cable dial 
for re-runs of "Monster's Ball." 

It is quite tasty when poor little Dr. Miranda is forced by 
radically changed circumstances to answer to the suddenly 
all-powerful Dr. Pete.  He  decides when she will be restrained, 
when she will be medicated, and whether or not her "delusions" 
are worthy of belief.  But, in an attempt to keep us guessing 
about Pete's motivations, the director never allows him to display 
so much as a sly smile at Miranda's humiliating predicament. 

During her interview with Pete, Miranda is dressed in her short, 
off-the-shoulder hospital gown, but she is given more normal 
clothing before she is released into the general population 
cellblock.  The cellblock appears to be the dayroom dumping 
ground for the female mental patients, and the tubby middle-aged 
nurse seems slyly amused as she escorts Dr. Miranda to her new 
playpen. 

Miranda is soon approached by Chloe, the patient portrayed by 
Penelope Cruz.  Dr. Miranda had dismissed Chloe's rape story 
as an "embellishment," and Chloe makes it clear that she for 
one is delighted to see Miranda in her reduced circumstances.  
"You're not a doctor any more," she teases.  "Now you're one 
of us." 

In the first scene the orderlies had hauled Chloe away when she 
tried to touch Dr. Miranda.  Now Chloe teasingly pats and squeezes 
Miranda's face with total impunity as she taunts her.  It's a nice 
physical representation of their role reversal; now that Miranda is 
a patient, the larger Chloe can touch her anytime she wants. 

When Miranda says, "You know I don't belong here," Chloe responds, 
"If you are here, you must belong here," cheerfully adding that 
"the more you protest, the crazier you'll seem."  She also gets 
to repeat a line she used earlier in the show ("You can't convince 
someone who thinks you're crazy") only now the person trying to do 
the convincing is Miranda rather than Chloe. 

Revenge is sweet. 

After another restful nightmare Miranda is awakened by the pudgy 
Nurse Ratched impersonator, who tells her to "rise and shine...it's 
another day."  When Miranda says she wants to see Pete, the nurse 
coolly informs her that "you can see the doctor later."  This 
exchange emphasizes that Miranda is no longer a doctor summoning 
a junior colleague, but rather a mental patient begging to see a 
doctor who presumably has more important things to do. 

The nurse holds out a small paper cup with pills.  In her best 
faux Mary Poppins voice, she cheerfully announces, "It's time 
for breakfast!"  [LAUGHTER] The nurse is obviously tickled by 
the idea that the great Dr. Miranda is being forced to swallow 
tranquilizers -- dopers that will further rob her of her identity 
and aid in her transformation into a docile and manageable mental 
patient. 

After the obviously unhappy Dr. Miranda swallows her medicine, the 
smiling nurse condescendingly tells her that she's a good girl and 
merrily adds that "now it's time for your shower." 

The opening of the shower scene is definitely a highlight.  The set 
designers obviously studied my stories carefully.  It is a gang 
shower, large and open, with no walls and no curtains.  The girls 
are forced to cluster together in a recessed pit and shower under 
the eyes of watchful guards on the sidelines.  If all of the women 
were as fit and trim as Ms. Berry, the scene would be perfect. 

The matron certainly appreciates the Joe Doe spirit.  "Time to wash 
away our sins," she says as Miranda, obviously aghast, looks at the 
showering women she'll soon be joining.   The subtle implication is 
that the humiliating gang shower is somehow a punishment for 
Miranda's "sins": pride, success, independence.  

As Mary Pols in the Times wrote: 

	EVERYONE WHO USED TO LOVE MIRANDA -– FROM THE LOCAL SHERIFF 
	(JOHN CARROLL LYNCH) TO THE FORMERLY LOVESICK PETER (THE 
	MERE SIGHT OF DOWNEY INSPIRES HOPE THAT THE MOVIE CAN BE 
	SALVAGED, BUT IT IS NOT TO BE) -– NO LONGER HAVE [sic] ONE 
	IOTA OF SYMPATHY FOR HER.  HER COLLEAGUES IN THE PSYCH WARD 
	ACTUALLY SEEM EXCITED TO GET A CHANCE TO BRING THE GOOD 
	DOCTOR DOWN A PEG; A NURSE PUSHES MIRANDA INTO A NUDE GROUP 
	SHOWER WITH AN EXPRESSION OF BARELY CONCEALED GLEE. 

The nurse naturally makes Miranda surrender her robe a good twenty 
feet from the shower.  Why miss the fun of forcing her to prance 
across the room butt naked in front of a dozen people?  The look 
of shame as the lovely former doctor reluctantly walks towards the 
shower, birthday bare, is simply too precious to miss. 

But the shower scene quickly changes tone, and a violent 
supernatural incident erupts.  Miranda is injured in the 
shower by other-worldly forces, and the puzzled staff 
determines that she must have smuggled in a scalpel "somehow." 

This is a missed opportunity.  Although Dr. Pete "examines" Miranda 
after the attack, his examination is nowhere nearly as thorough as 
we would like. 

Dr. Pete never even bothers to search her for a weapon!  Let's 
see....  She was naked in the shower.  Where might she have 
hidden a shank? 

Dr. Joe Doe would have instituted a new policy requiring thrice 
daily cavity searches for both Miranda and her nearest companion 
during the attack, Chloe.  Regrettably these searches would have 
to be conducted in the presence of male orderlies strong enough 
to subdue the women in the event of another incident.  Similar 
precautions would need to be taken in the shower: the female 
nurses were obviously totally unable to control the women during 
the attack. 

On the brighter side, I suspect there will be no shortage of 
minimum wage male orderlies willing to keep a close eye on 
Miranda during her showers.  I'm sure they'll be happy to 
check every nook and cranny and assist in making sure that 
the snooty former doctor remembers her place. 

The rest of the movie is a standard supernatural thriller, and 
it doesn't warrant any particular consideration from the point 
of view of this forum.  There are some reasonably entertaining 
images of Dr. Miranda scampering around the prison in her t-shirt.  
Indeed, the 87 pound actress seems extremely adept at bowling over 
people three times her size and running through security doors that 
seem to have been left open just for her.  This entire section of 
the movie reminded me of Roger Ebert's definition of "Harrison 
Doors" -– doors in the movies that are powered by the star's 
charisma and slide shut just slowly enough to allow the star to 
escape while cutting off his pursuers.  (These doors are named 
after Harrison Ford, who makes good use of them in "The Fugitive" 
and in his Indiana Jones and Star Wars films.) 

I also enjoyed the scene where Miranda eluded capture by hiding 
under the desk of a sympathetic guard.  The guard covers for her, 
but, since he doesn't demand the services one might expect of a 
woman kneeling under a desk, I must conclude that he is not a 
reader of this forum. 

The movie does have some rather unpleasant images of kidnap and 
torture, and I can't say that I particularly recommend it based 
on the plot of the movie itself. 

None the less, I thought I should review "the good parts" as a 
service to our readers. 

See you at the movies. 


END


Edited by C. Lakewood