MovieChat Forums > Orphan (2009) Discussion > Do you feel Esther has the right to live...

Do you feel Esther has the right to live a normal life?


I empathise with her condition. But do you feel that she should be aware that her approach to finding love was wrong?

How does she feel this was the right approach?

reply

Wasn't it mentioned in the film that she was a psychopath and had killed another family?

---
You got your mind right, Luke?

reply

Not that she was a psychopath, no.

reply

According to a dictionary, a psychopath is "a person who is mentally ill, who does not care about other people, and who is usually dangerous or violent."

I think that description fits Esther, even if the word "psychopath" was not used in the film. As I recall, the Saarne Institute guy who spoke to Kate on the phone gave a similar description.

---
You got your mind right, Luke?

reply

Psychopaths are generally considered to not be capable of caring for other people, and Esther was; her entire struggle was around finding love.

reply

A psychopath's version of love. So it's not what the norm would describe as caring for others. What kind of husband or father would allow some psycho to kill his entire family so that they can be together? Not normal. Totally psychopathic.

reply

Wrong, she never envisioned killing the whole family from the beginning; she just wanted the husband, and even to see herself as the mom of the kids. Only after he rejected her did she kill him and the family, part of a meltdown to sort of forget they existed. It's explained in the trivia; she wants a father figure and proven devoted husband, kinder than her own father was, but if he rejects her as her own father eventually did (telling her she could never be a real woman), she'd have a massive flashback-type meltdown and go mental.

reply

Still in no way justifies what she did. The girl had some serious mental issues.

reply

No, justifying it doesn't even factor in.

reply

It was only mentioned that she was dangerously violent..
I think she wasn't a psychopath, she was a sociopath..

"Gar nicht so รผbel, du kleine Schlampe. Man sieht sich immer zweimal, Kleine."

reply

No, sociopaths have no emotion or need for affection. Exactly the opposite of her.

reply

http://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/sociopath/can-sociopaths-love-or-even-fall-in-love/

I can confirm (most of) this is true, as I'm being one myself..

"Gar nicht so รผbel, du kleine Schlampe. Man sieht sich immer zweimal, Kleine."

reply

I have no idea what you mean, but that shows my point. They can't love, and she not only could, but needed it.

reply

I have no idea what you mean


Obviously..

โ€ข When love is a tool to be used to trap and manipulate someone, sociopaths can love.

โ€ข When love is a shallow lie told for personal gain rather than an expression of connection, sociopaths can love.

โ€ข When love involves pretending, playing a role to gain something for yourself, then sociopaths can love.

I guess you missed those..?

"Gar nicht so รผbel, du kleine Schlampe. Man sieht sich immer zweimal, Kleine."

reply

Yes, I clearly understood what the link said, supporting my point. I was talking about your words personally.

reply

Didn't she burn down an orphanage or something?

reply

No, not an orphanage.

reply

I have been watching Little Women of LA and they have not trouble finding men. Some Little and some Average size. Esther could look more womanly if she tried. I am sure there are plenty of men who would want her.

โ˜…

reply

Very true :) But she didn't know that, poor thing; she didn't think they'd accept her.

reply

She was mentally unstable. That said, the second time I watched it (knowing the twist), I couldnโ€™t help but wonder if her mental instability was a product of her condition and if she would have still been like that had she been able to grow normally.




(Response notification is off.)

reply

The Saarne Institute doctor tells Kate that Esther murdered another family and then burned down their house. Maybe if she had had treatment early in her life she could have become healthy, but in the film's time frame I think it's a bit late for that.

---
You got your mind right, Luke?

reply

The trivia explains she was abused by her father starting in infancy, until she killed him at a young age. She'd need severe therapy to recover from that.

reply

Not at all. She was mentally disturbed. Everyone goes through issues in their lives and they deal with them. Giving someone a free pass because they were "abused" or have some condition is absolutely insane. Then everyone could go out and kill people just because they had a "rough childhood".

reply

Oh please, no one's making excuses or giving free passes; obviously she needs mental help, for a long time. But I think she deserves loving care. And it's a little hard to "deal" with something like rape from a parent beginning in infancy when you don't know anything else in life.

reply

๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘Œ๐Ÿ‘Š๐Ÿ‘

reply

"Then everyone could go out and kill people just because they had a rough childhood"


That doesn't always have to be a bad thing..
If children are allowed to kill the people who sexually abused them, then pedophilia would (hopefully) get extinct fast..

.. or women who got raped were allowed to murder their rapists, instead of getting arrested for carying a weapen without a permit..


"Gar nicht so รผbel, du kleine Schlampe. Man sieht sich immer zweimal, Kleine."

reply

I think she would have if she'd never killed anyone.

reply

[deleted]

she's a psycho....what happiness 4 a normal life and love? she gave that up her first fam killing.

There is no one looking out for us. We are all alone. Graham Hess

reply

A person with a condition of dwarfism that she had does deserve a normal life. Her as a person however does not. She was clearly mentally ill and a danger to society.

------------------------------------------------
Resistance is impolite, Friendship is mandatory.

reply