TRANSCRIPT HERE
For our TENTH episode, Maz Fornasier joins us again as we dissect the ethereal adolescent world of The Virgin Suicides (1999) directed by Sofia Coppola and based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. Listen as Maz and I explain our journey of love and hate of the film, and how it’s narration through the male gaze causes some problematic influence on the audience. BIG trigger warning, as we discuss suicide at length. (It’s also the title of the film).
Apologies to the audience for the weird sound quality today, and to Eugene Levy for everything.
CONTENT WARNING: Suicide, abuse and neglect, seclusion and containment, suicide, sex shaming, depression. Suicide.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE: Maz and I at times use the words “successful attempt” and “completed suicide” when discussing suicide. These terms stem from judgmental connotations and are to be avoided. We get it wrong sometimes and we apologize. We will aim to replace these words with neutral terms such as “suicidal behaviour” and “fatal suicide” when discussing these in future.
NOTE: This podcast is not designed to be therapeutic, prescriptive or constitute a formal diagnosis for any listener, nor the characters discussed. The host is not representative of all psychologists and opinions stated are her own personal opinion, based on her own learnings and training (and minimal lived experience). Host and co-hosts do not have the final say and can only comment based on their own perspectives, so please let us know if you dispute any of these opinions – we are keen for feedback!
Host: Stephanie Fornasier
Cohost: Maz Fornasier
Music and artwork: Michael Watson
Editor: Nicholas Fornasier
Find us on instagram, twitter and facebook @psychocinematicpodcast and join our patreon!
ARTICLES REFERENCED
Huffpost: Kirsten Dunst talks rehab
Oh! You pretty things: Imagine, emotion and the feminine sublime in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides
Film and Fishnet: The matyrdom of the Lisbon Sisters
Little White Lies: Girlhood and sexual repression in The Virgin Suicides and The Beguiled
The Guardian: Families in literature: The Lisbons in The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Guardian: Sofia Coppola on making The Virgin Suicides: 'When I saw the rough cut I thought: Oh no, what have I done?
The Guardian: The Virgin Suicides at 20: Sofia Coppola's debut continues to haunt
Fighting Pressure from Both Sides: Gender and Feminism in the Virgin Suicides
The Simple Cinephile: The Virgin Suicides: ‘Girls Are Just Women in Disguise
Vulture: 25 Years Ago The Virgin Suicides Kicked Off the American Obsession With Teenage Tragedy
The Atlantic: Why The Virgin Suicides Is Still So Resonant Today
Literary Hub: Does The Virgin Suicides Hold Up 25 Years Later?
Scout: The sixth Lisbon: On having a ‘Virgin Suicides’ phase, and romanticizing mental illness
Bright Wall/ Dark Room: Issue 62: Body Woman is the Loneliest Creature: Growing up with The Virgin Suicides
Episode 30: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory aka Things Roald Dahl Hated (with Maz Fornasier)
Episode 29: Encanto - Disney Does Intergenerational Trauma (with Heidy White)
Episode 28: Crazy Ex Girlfriend, living with Borderline Personality Disorder in musical form (with Dr Elise McGlashan)
Episode 27: Special, one person’s journey of life with Cerebral Palsy - emphasis on one (with Peta Hooke)
Episode 26: Don’t Look Up and death anxiety, aka Steph makes her psychologist proud
Episode 25: Atypical, and how autism representation has and hasn’t progressed since Rain Man (with Eric Michael Garcia)
Episode 24: Touched With Fire, aka the non-hollywood Bipolar movie (with Jossie Williams)
Episode 23: Silver Linings Playbook, aka David O. Russell’s Bipolar Movie
Psychocinematic Trailer
Episode 22: The Muppet‘s Christmas Carol AKA Cancel Tiny Tim
Episode 21: Clueless, and why Cher Horowitz, like, totally has ADHD (with Maz Fornasier)
BONUS: Crip Camp, the Disability Rights Movement, and who you should listen to instead of me
Episode 20: Split, Primal Fear, and Identity, aka Having DID does not make you a murderer (with Maz Fornasier)
Episode 19: Steel Magnolias, Type 1 Diabetes, and women supporting women
Episode 18: Mad Max- The social model of disability in post apocalyptic Australia
Episode 17 - Sybil (1976), Sybil (2007), and the big question: Does Dissociative Identity Disorder exist? (with Maz Fornasier)
Episode16: Ari Aster, Who Hurt You? Part 2: Midsommar
Episode 15: Ari Aster, Who Hurt You? Part 1: Hereditary
Episode 14b: Forrest Gump. Part 2: It was capitalism all along (with Maz Fornasier)
Episode 14a: Forrest Gump: Part 1 - The creation of Forrest and erasure of American history (with Maz Fornasier)
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