“Nell”

            I truly enjoyed watching the movie “Nell.” The movie really made me think about what I would do in that situation and also really related to what we’ve been talking about in class and reading about in our books.

            Chapter four discussed the origin of words. It discussed that we put meaning to words. For instance if I wanted to call a light bulb a landerman, I could. No one else in the world would understand what I was saying, but I would. I would ineffectively communicate with other people, however, if I made up my own language and no one else understood it. Nell was very similar. She was unable to be understood, because she was speaking differently than the rest of the world. She understood what she was saying and she was in no way dumb. She simply did not know how to speak so others would be able to understand her easier.

            Another thing that was discussed in the movie was the idea of communication meeting needs. Chapter one of the text discussed that communication met four basic needs and I feel that those needs were also met by Nell’s communication in the movie. The first of those needs was the physical need. We need to communicate to stay physically healthy and happy. Nell verbally communicated even when no one was around. She would stand on the rock in the river and sing and sit in front of the mirror and talk to herself. She stayed alive by communicating.

            The second need is the need of identity. Nell’s identity was created by the way she was born and raised up. She learned how to communicate and how to live by how the people around her communicated. The third need is the social need which was the main point of the movie. Did Nell need to communicate with others in order to survive socially? Well she was socially isolated, but to her she was a part of a society. It might not have been the typical society that most people around her lived in, but she was living a life. For a large part of her life she was living with other people, with whom she could communicate and they would understand. She quickly learned how to communicate with the doctors once they arrived and her social skills increased.

            The fourth need communication satisfies is practical. In order to maintain what Nell thought was safety she used her voice and actions to keep people away, when she wanted some popcorn she communicated that, when she wanted the doctors to understand that her sister had died there she communicated that.

            Nell communicated just like everyone else does, just in a different way. Communicating is perhaps what kept her alive; it just wasn’t the typical communication that “normal, civilized” people see everyday.

            It would be hard to say what I would do if I were in Nell’s position. Granted, I’m not sure she knew that anything else existed in the world, until she went in to the city. I’m not sure she longed to be any place else, because she didn’t know that she had that option.

            If I were the doctors, I’m not sure what I would do. For part of the movie I agreed with the psychiatrist that wanted to take Nell back to the city. I agreed that she deserved to know what else was out there for her. I think that everyone should have the option to chose how they want to live their lives and unfortunately for Nell, she didn’t know beyond her woods for years. As the movie grew on and it was obvious that Nell wasn’t all that unhappy, I began to sympathize with the country doctor that Nell was fine to live on her own. She was happy. She had a life. She lived her life. It’s hard to say what I would have done, had I really been in that situation. I do agree with how the movie turned out. Nell got the best of both worlds. She got to see and understand how society works and functions beyond the woods, but she also got to stay in the environment that made her feel safe and happy.

            I really enjoyed the movie; it definitely made me think throughout the entire thing about what I would do and what I believe. I could have done without the love story, it was cute, but why does EVERY movie have to have one??

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