WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. Do not read unless you have first watched LARS AND THE REAL GIRL.
I showed this movie once to a group at a writer’s conference. Afterward, as I wiped away tears and blew my nose, I asked a woman how she liked it. She said, “I don’t see why we had to watch a movie about a man and his sex doll.”
Oh, my friend. This is anything but a movie about a man and a life-size doll. This movie is about family and love and community. And even Jesus.
THE PLOT ANALYSIS FOR LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
Obvious Problem: Lars is being pressured by his sister in law to have breakfast with her and his brother. Lars refuses. (A simple matter, but it’s something he just can’t do.)
Hidden need: Lars is deeply, painfully shy and cut off from people—even those he loves. Why? This will be answered in the backstory—which is in the BACK of the story, not up front. His hidden need is emotional and physical connection.
Admirable qualities: So many! He’s cute. He’s lonely (makes us sympathize with him because we’ve all been lonely). He’s concerned for his SIL, and gives her a blanket because it’s cold and she’s pregnant. He goes to church. He’s a good man, despite his social awkwardness.
Inciting incident: two things happen, and the first leads to the second. First, he meets the new girl at work, and she’s cute. This leads to the ENTRANCE INTO THE STORY WORLD, which is when Bianca arrives via the UPS truck.
Lars establishes a goal: He wants a relationship with Margo, but he simply can’t—he’s not ready. So he will have a relationship with Bianca, a doll, because he can’t have a relationship with a real girl. This relationship is innocent, it’s like a first crush, because this is all new territory for Lars.
First complication: His brother and sister in law don’t know what to do about Lars’ new friend. They decide he’s crazy. SWING from negative to positive: they take him to the doctor/shrink, who wisely explains that Lars has a delusion, and he will have it until he doesn’t need it any more.
Second complication: Can Bianca go to church? The church folks have a meeting and are inclined NOT to allow Bianca until someone asks, “What would Jesus do?” Then Bianca is not only invited to church, she is given flowers and warmly welcomed.
Third complication: While the doctor treats Bianca for her “sickness,” she is also treating Lars. She learns (and we learn along with her) that Lars is worried about his SIL’s baby. Women die in childbirth—his mother did. He never knew her, and probably suffers from guilt. But he is attached to the blanket she made for him—it symbolizes her love, something he needs. (Note the presence of the blanket throughout the film—where it appears and where it doesn’t.) In these treatments, Lars exposes a problem, and the doctor talks him through it. We also learn that Lars cannot stand the human touch and was likely unattached as a baby.
Fourth complication: the office Christmas party. Lars goes with Bianca, and a situation that could have been filled with taunting and jibes turns into a supportive affair. Oh, the guys make rude and suggestive comments, but Lars ignores them all.
Meanwhile, at work, another complication: Margo, the new cute girl, begins to date someone in the office. Since she is the real object of Lars’ interest, he becomes even more attached to Bianca. Bianca is voted onto the school board, she gets a new hairdo, she reads to the children at the hospital . . .
Complication: Margo breaks up with her boyfriend from work. She invites Lars to go bowling, but Lars has learned some lessons about growing up, and a “man never cheats on his woman.” So Margo and Lars go bowling as FRIENDS, and that night—he takes off his glove to shake her hand.
Note: Consider the aspect of seasons—in what season does the movie begin? How is this significant? What about when Margo/Lars are talking and he says, “Winter’s not over until Easter.” (Resurrection theme.)
Now that Margo is available, Lars and Bianca begin to fight. And after Margo and Lars make progress in their friendship, Bianca begins to weaken. Finally, Lars announces that she’s dying.
The bleakest moment: Bianca dies. Lars has no hope of a relationship with her, he suffers the loss of his first love.
What is the symbolism involved in the scene at the lake? We are born in water (childbirth again, and baptism); Bianca “dies” in water. Lars is the one raised to walk in a new life. Why did the filmmaker choose to have us see this through Gus’s perspective, from a distance?
Helper: the entire town helps Lars through his grief. At the funeral, when the pastor talks about Bianca’s courage, he’s really talking about Lars’s courage. Consider the subtlety of when the minister says, “When I was a child, I thought as a child . . .” and we are left to fill in “but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
Lesson Learned: Lars realizes it’s time to put his doll/delusion away. You could say that Lars does this subconsciously when Bianca begins to die.
Decision Made: When Margo approaches at the graveside, Lars decides to ask her to go on a walk . . . with him.
Resolution: And we see him doing something he could not have done at the beginning of the movie.
In the “hero’s journey,” the protagonist comes back bearing a gift for the people of the “ordinary world.” What is Lars’ gift to the town? They have all grown closer, learned compassion, and worked together to help one of their own.
Until next time,
Angie