'Hello, I'm an Ellen Jamesian.'

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I am a woman and I would NEVER mutilate myself to protest ... well, ANYTHING. How does this help at all? If I were Ellen James, I would also be horrified at this "women's club"!

I also have only read the book, but I've heard that the film was excellent.

I agree with you. What happened to Ellen was a terrible thing and was done against her will. It is in a sense detracting from women's power to imitate the crime. It takes AWAY strength, in my opinion. That is, these women should be using their voices to speak out rather than alienating themselves from the rest of world. I can see how it might make sense to them, but this is a highly ineffective way to make a point about anything. They will most likely be dismissed as crazy people, rather than taken seriously.

Also it's very interesting to note how Ellen actually feels about it. I think this should be the most important factor. She is angry at the fact that she has become a pawn. She hates that she can't talk. So it makes her even angrier that other women have voluntarily done such a thing to themselves. I believe the "Ellen Jamesians" were misguided extremists who felt lonely and needed to band together in an obvious and irreversible way. We see the devastating effects of this choice directly in the demise of Pooh Percy.

You mean these people actually exist? I thought it was part of the movie! It's a very sick thing to do. My God, no wonder Ellen James herself condemns what they do. No sane person would deliberately mutilate their own body no matter how much they empathise with a cause. It's horrible that any woman should go through what happened to Ellen, but if you're so outraged by it that you want to do something, how about volunteering at a rape crisis centre or campaigning for tougher punishments for convicted rapists. How the frigging hell is cutting out your own tongue going to help anything?!

I'm astounded!

I understand the statement that the members of the Ellen James Society are trying to make, but it seems that what they do would be affected by the fact that Ellen herself did not approve. You would think knowing she did not approve that they would at least re-think what they are doing and possibly consider some other form of protest. As for Garp's criticism of the group, I really don't think it's any of Garp's business; however, I think Garp feels it is his business because the women are involved with his mother, but on the most basic level, I don't think it is any of Garp's business. He ended up making his statement by writing the book called "Ellen", which, if memory serves in the movie, his publisher refused to publish, but beyond writing the book, Garp really had no right to bother these women.

I think it's important to appreciate that Garp, in the book, forever resents and is disgusted by the actions of the Ellen Jamesians, but that he eventually learns a greater sense of compassion to the fact that their actions are an expression of their damaged souls. One plot development from the book that was cut from the film *spoiler* was that the real Ellen James came to live with Garp and his family. As a result, he takes it even more personally than he already had. But he does regret taking such an angry stance and in fact writes a letter apologizing. As for Pooh, she was just nutty.
I think Irving wants us to agree with Garp, but share Jenny's sympathy for these poor souls.

To the person who thinks there are real Ellen Jamesians: No! The whole thing is fictional, satire of extremists.