MovieChat Forums > Grey Gardens (2009) Discussion > Were they mentally ill or rebellious or ...

Were they mentally ill or rebellious or at wit's end?

posted 12 years ago by Zuider_Zee
5 replies | jump to latest

The first viewing of this movie (and the 1975 documentary) left me with the feeling that these two women were nuts. I have began to re-think this and wondered if they were simply embracing a Bohemian lifestyle or if they were simply overwhelmed. Once the money was gone and the servants were gone, these two women hadn't a clue as to how to take care of themselves or of their home so they more or less coped with their deplorable conditions because they didn't know how to do anything else. I have to applaud little Edie for sticking by her mother when her brothers didn't but wonder if her life would have been better had she refused to return from New York.

[–] JeffTG 12 years ago

This, but also I feel as though Big Edie guilted Little Edie into staying. As you said, her brothers were nowhere to be found and I always felt as though Little Edie felt it to be her responsibility to take care and look after her mother. All Little Edie could talk about in the documentary was how much she wanted to get out and go back to New York.

[–] Grimaldi_J_B 10 years ago

I have to think that all three of those things applied to both of them.

Edie Jr didn't seem to be particularly talented but, with the right training, who knows? She was photogenic and it isn't inconceivable that she might have been successful in Hollywood, more so there than on Broadway.

[–] hilljayne 10 years ago

Not crazy. Just shut off from the real world. And Little Edie was being supported, which is why she stayed...she could've left at any time.

Dammit Carol Sue, where is the vodka?!

[–] BugisStreetAnnie (1296) 8 years ago

I had wondered what became of her when Big Edie died. On Wikipedia it was said she moved around a lot but didn't say where she was getting the money to do this. She lived in Canada for a while, then California with some family, then moved to Florida twice. Just the moving around would seem to be hugely expensive.

[–] Otter (24464) 7 years ago

After Big Edie died, Little Edie sold Gray Gardens and some people think her cousin Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis gave her some money. Edie eventually bought a condo on the water in Florida, and spent her golden years living on her own and dressing oddly.

So in the end, Little Edie not only got the independence she'd always wanted, but a showbiz success with the documentary that made her famous. Just like she'd always wanted.