Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl

Abstract

The insane situation of the protagonist, Lars Lindstrom who is a shy, soft spoken and mild-mannered character is brought about in a comic way that garners sympathetic attention from the church and community as a whole. The situation of Lars is depicted to be very much in a hopelessness manner. From avoiding contacts with his family and remaining aloof from being touched or love to purchasing a doll and trying to make it appear as a real life object in his life, there is everything in this character that may point out to his condition as being hopeless. However, as the events in the film unfold, the plot demonstrates that how a mentally ill person can be put on the road to improvement by affording him with more love, attention and understanding. Though coming up with a positive message over how the mentally ill should be treated by the society, the film converges on incidents that are unrealistic, and the examples of which cannot be found in the real life.

“Lars and the Real Girl” outline a religious lesson for the Christians which is that life cannot be free of obstacles and problems. Rather these challenges should be seen as a chance to be more kind and loving. This comes out strongly when all the characters in the film from Lars' brother and sister-in-law to friends and relatives, try treating Lars with more love and sympathy rather than ridicule him for his insane overtures. The characters prove to be more understanding than one could possibly imagine. In real life such an act as that of Lars means ridiculing oneself and becoming the laughing stock of the community. This is something the protagonist manages to evade due to the nature and attitude of the characters in the film (www.newenglishreview.org).

Another concept that the film evolves is sketching a positive image of the church. In the film Lars is portrayed as a character that evokes a sympathetic response from the Christian community. This film contrary to most other films, presents a different image of the church that turns out to be a positive one. The church turns out to be hospitable to the awkward couple of Lars and his doll, and treats them with love and kindness. This is evident when the council of church holds a meeting to deliberate on whether to allow Lars' doll into the church. The character of Mrs. Gruner takes the initiative by convincing the council that everyone is beset with problems, and hence must be accorded with moral support. This results in the congregation making allowance for the doll when Lars brings her to the church. The doll is even welcomed with flowers (www.spiritualityandpractice.com).

Such an image turns out to be a far away from the real image of the church. There is no doubt that in real life the church would have preferred to rather ban Lars from entering the church on grounds of ...