Why I Love Glenn Close

TRIGGER WARNING: This entry mentions self-harm, suicide, sexism, violence, cheating, kidnapping, animal abuse, & killing.

   Fatal Attraction. A film intended by its screenplay writer James Dearden to depict a horrible, awful, crazy bitch who can’t let go of a real catch that’s married. Glenn Close was among the only people at the time able to see the many flaws in this story.

   Did you know Close made her backstory with the help of psychiatrists? The character Alex Forrest was, in reality, just intended to be a random chick who was crazy for no reason, and that’s it. Gee, what psychology course do you think Dearden took? Toxic Masculinity 101?

   The psychiatrist helped Close see that Alex was likely sexually abused by her father at a very, very, very early age, long term at a time when the brain is doing most of its developing. That's the typical backstory of a woman with these behaviors and issues. In the DSM, this mental illness is called borderline personality disorder. This disorder caused Alex Forrest to mistake sex with Dan Gallagher as evidence of love. Desperate to fill her emptiness, she feels she needs him and can’t live without him.

   Close developed great sympathy and compassion for her character and wished the audience would have appreciated the original suicide ending over the killer ending. Close explained her thoughts as, “I think because Anne Archer was beautiful and so wonderful and Michael was this star that everybody loved, she told People TV, “It was so upsetting to everybody. That even though I killed myself,” she laughed, “it wasn’t punishment enough.” She continued, “The audience wanted to believe that that family might be able to survive. So they got their catharsis by shedding my blood.”

   Imagine a world that hates a woman a man cheated with so much they prefer her murdered than just to die. Or why die? Putting her in prison or a mental hospital should be enough. Was Alex so awful? That depends on your point of view. As one with BPD, I’ve done what Alex has done. I’m not proud of it. Using suicide as a threat with every ounce of willingness to follow through to prevent abandonment is a common experience with BPD. It’s manipulative and wrong, yes, but the pain is genuine, and so is the intent.

   But in this scenario, why are we rooting against a woman a married guy started an affair with, knocked up, and then kicked to the curb? He started the chain of events by betraying his wife. And he seemed perfectly happy to take that secret to his grave as his wife was left believing the lie of having a loyal husband. He only came clean when he got caught.

   Why do we always blame the single mistress with no commitments instead of the married man who chose to stab his wife in the back? Women can be attractive, and sex is good. But there’s no mind control or possession that forces a man to participate. Perhaps we, as women, have allowed men to tell us what to think instead of using our heads. 

   Did Eve make Adam sin? Who put the apple in Adams's hand? Adam did, of course. But Eve was beautiful, so it was her fault. Adam had no choice because he would die if he didn’t fuck, right? Right?

   People CHEERED when Dan Gallagher shoved her to a wall and threatened to kill her. This threat came before she tried to kill anyone but a rabbit, and while I prefer animals to people, I know killing an animal is not equivalent to killing a human being. The apparent lack of compassion this world has is evident in their cheers. And their willing blindness is worse. To cheer Dan as a hero when he showed no redeeming quality in the entire film simply because he’s a supposedly attractive man. What a topsy-turvy world. 

   Those with BPD can often relate to Glenn Close’s portrayal of Alex Forrest. And while we don’t have to end up like the character, she has a lesson for us to learn. Just because you’re crazy doesn’t mean you don’t deserve respect, and holding a man accountable for his actions is not just recommended. It's necessary. What kind of respect would you receive if you didn’t?

   But when love isn’t mutual, or it’s faded away, regardless of the fear and pain, you must let them go. Easier said than done, but with therapy Alex could have had a different ending. But the rest of us are still here and, therefore, have hope. 

-Anemone