MovieChat Forums > In Her Shoes (2005) Discussion > Wha'ts the rift between maggie's father ...

Wha'ts the rift between maggie's father and grandma?

posted 16 years ago by honsheung18
5 replies | jump to latest

I did not get it competely.

Thanks.

[–] Jazzy_Darien 16 years ago

Their grandmother always wanted to keep their mother on her medication and she did not approve of her getting married so soon and having kids so soon as well.She knew their mother was very risky when she was not on her medication!

Their father did not believe that she had to be on medication all the time so he didn't force her to take it and eventually she went batsh*t crazy and killed herself because she thought he was going to take her away to an asylum!

Anyway he just didn't want their grandma to say "I told you so" and he felt terrible about it then he kept all her letters and birthday cards from them and ended all contact with her!(he was kinda a douchebag)

Hope that clears everything up!

[–] honsheung18 16 years ago

very clear , thanks.

[–] dollvalley 10 years ago

That didn't make sense to me though. Grandma wanted her on medication, father didn't want that. However it turns out he wanted her committed, which is much more strict than just being medicated! If I had been grandma and learning about this I would be pissed, wanting to have her daughter committed, and only because he was stupid enough not to do what she said was best. So he basically screwed up her daughter and then wanted to dispose of her by locking her up. Nice.

[–] devildog1982z 9 years ago

That didn't make sense to me though. Grandma wanted her on medication, father didn't want that. However it turns out he wanted her committed, which is much more strict than just being medicated! If I had been grandma and learning about this I would be pissed, wanting to have her daughter committed, and only because he was stupid enough not to do what she said was best. So he basically screwed up her daughter and then wanted to dispose of her by locking her up. Nice.

For people that don't know how it works, this is what happens: The commitment would've only been temporary, as she is a danger to herself & others and would've been long enough to get her back on her medications and have them in her system at a therapeutic level.

It is highly doubtful that he meant to commit her & throw away the key, as that is pretty much impossible to do these days. Additionally, her being off her meds for some time and having two pregnancies with all the hormones more than likely didn't help her mental condition.

He wasn't trying to be mean, he was just at a loss what to do and scared for his two daughters safety. This is why Shirley MacLaine's character didn't condemn him when Toni Collette told her the story. She knew he was in over his head and had to do something.

[–] SoAudreyHepburn 9 years ago

It's like this:
Grandma Ella knew that Caroline (the girls mother) needed to be on medication for her bipolar disorder. Caroline's husband probably didn't think she needed to ALWAYS be medicated and since bipolars are known for their highs and lows during manic episodes he probably only saw the highs.
One day while Maggie and Rose were little kids (Maggie was 6, Rose a bit older) Caroline took them into New York without their father's knowledge or permission and he threatened to have her committed if she didn't stay on her medication and Caroline freaked out thinking he was going to get rid of her for good so a few days after his threat she killed herself.
The reason the rift between Ella and Caroline's husband is because the husband felt like Ella would have said "I told you so" while Ella felt like she let her daughter down by not being their for Maggie and Rose when she should have. Ella sent cards and letters but the dad kept them from the girls.