MovieChat Forums > Misery (1990) Discussion > Did you sympathize with Annie?

Did you sympathize with Annie?

posted 12 years ago by capkronos
24 replies | jump to latest

I was watching this with a couple of friends last night and was shocked when they said they felt sorry for Annie when Paul was beating the s--t out of her at the end. I was like "Whaaa?"

There's a scene early on where Annie talks about her husband leaving her, says that the Misery character seems almost like a friend and how the books brought her so much joy over the years because she was lonely in real life. OK, I get that that generates some sympathy for her early on. However, all that's before we see the extent of her psychosis and learn how many people, including babies, she has murdered over the years. By the end I was wanting to see the crazy bitch dead!

My horror movie blog:
http://thebloodypitofhorror.blogspot.com/

[–] Mimapopaluck 12 years ago

I didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for her. I don't think she got punished enough by Paul. She tortured him, broke his ankles, killed the nice Sheriff, and held him prisoner for weeks. After reading her scrapbook and learning she killed new born babies when she was a nurse, there wasn't enough pain in the world that would be a suitable enough punishment for her.

[–] bdasher89-419-398402 12 years ago

A little. She was a sick, twisted woman who lived in her own fantasy world and lashed out violently at anyone and anything she saw as a threat to her imaginary bliss. But she was also a pretty pathetic figure, a woman who was so deluded and utterly broken mentally that she shut herself off from the rest of the world and had nothing else to live for except a series of dime store romance novels. I've got to say, though, how Paul got over what she put him through enough to put a semi-positive spin on it is beyond me.

[–] the-one-who-knocks 12 years ago

I didn't. I think to sympathize with her the whole thing would have to be told from her POV.
And I was thinking she made that whole husband thing up just to make Paul sorry for her, but I dunno.

[–] Mimapopaluck 12 years ago

I think the husband story was real because in the King novel she was married once upon a time.

[–] the-one-who-knocks 12 years ago

Ahh okay, thank you. I thought it seemed weird because they never show him in that scrapbook. I guess it was just assumed that he would be in there.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Mimapopaluck 12 years ago

Ahh okay, thank you. I thought it seemed weird because they never show him in that scrapbook. I guess it was just assumed that he would be in there.

They also omitted any pictures of her mother. In the novel she had one on the mantelpiece in her home. She was always quoting sayings that her mother used to say to her.

[–] kellymariekitty 12 years ago

yeah i felt a bit sorry for her too.
Not when she was getting battered no, she deserved that the crazy bitch. :0)I felt sorry when she bought the type writer, paper etc and then said 'Did i do good?'' I felt like aaah you poor bugger'' she seemed like little child that needed a hug and to be taught whats right and wrong.

[–] ridiculonius 12 years ago

Yes and no. Mostly no, because, well yeah, she's absolutely psychotic, a remorseless murderer, and scary as all hell. (And if you read the book, you know that she has not only murdered countless hospital patients but her father, several of her neighbours [who had bratty kids she used to babysit], her college roommate, her lover, a young cop [she killed him by beating him within an inch of his life and then RUNNING A LAWNMOWER OVER HIS HEAD], and her cat. The first murder happened when she was, like, 11, too.)

But at the same time I feel bad for her in the same way I feel bad for anybody so trapped by their own psychosis. Annie believes that what she does is right, that she is completely healthy and that she is doing good. Most of her psychotic episodes and moments of cruelty seem to be the doings of a completely different person - not that she's got split-personality disorder, but she really seems to transform into a different Annie when she loses her temper. There's a moment at the end of the book when Paul is attacking her and she stops fighting back, she just looks up at him all confused and betrayed like she's forgotten why she's on the floor and has no idea why he's hurting her. (Then it passes and she starts fighting him again. But still, the moment's there.)

This, of course, doesn't excuse any of her actions. She's still twisted, and I didn't feel sorry for her at ALL by the end.

[–] transmentalist 12 years ago

book-Annie isn't movie-Annie

book-Paul isn't movie-Paul

book-Annie is more like Anne Ramsey than Kathy Bates, much scarier, less human

book-Paul is more like Alan Cummings than James Caan

In the novel, Paul considers writing about his experience, but knows he'd wind up making himself look more heroic than he actually was

I like to think the movie represents Paul's take on himself - he sees himself as James Caan

[–] Jaws81 12 years ago

I don't feel bad for her at all. She was at fault for being "trapped" in her own psychosis.

When you boil it all down, it's a result of the fact that she was too weak to face the rejection and harshness of reality. She was never good enough to accomplish anything on her own, so she murdered her way into everything she ever did. Whenever anyone ever threatened (most often completely inadvertently) her warped view of herself/the world, she literally took them out to protect her ego. She is the embodiment of weakness and selfishness.

[–] nobodies666 10 years ago

She was bipolar obsessive

A-M-E-R-I-C-A! Home of the free, sick and depraved. A-M-E-R-I-C-A! Why the fv*k are you looking @ me

[–] ElectricWarlock 9 years ago

I personally felt sorry for her. Although she did many horrible things I couldn't help but like her. As bad as it sounds she sort of reminded me of myself in that she was rather lonely and got lost in her favorite fictional worlds because she preferred them to the real ones. Other than the killings and violence, I saw a lot of myself in her so that's part of why I could sympathize with her.

[–] DarklordRB 9 years ago

I sort of felt sorry for her in that scene were Paul bashed Annie's head in with that metal pig statue. Of course the scene was so sympathetic in delivery with her final sad look and that music playing as she collapses on Paul dead, also for the idea that she will never read the climax to the new Misery book. I think I have that 'I wanted to see the crazy bitch dead by the end' feeling more with Mrs Carmody from The Mist than with Annie Wilkes.

[–] willjohn 9 years ago

Hell no! She was a psychopath. I'm surprised she was not locked away for life after her previous convictions..

[–] HarveyManfredSinJohn 9 years ago

The thing is, most of the people who post on the IMDb have probably got a lot more in common with Annie (the obsessed fan) than they do with Paul (the creative genius). And that's the sad truth.

[–] 9 years ago

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