The Virgin Suicides: How Empathy Drives us to Insanity
Maybe in due time, I will own a love as big as the world. I know there is cruelty destined to be just like it already is. Cecilia Lisbon is the first of her sisters to commit suicide; the four others follow shortly after, but not before the word of love tears them down. What a massacre to believe a lie, as only chaos can ensue evidently in the heart, mind, and soul thereafter. Some people know in an instant what must be done to reverse the effects of sadness, to find rapport anywhere and in anything. Will we ever understand why people feel the way they do to drive themselves to end their lives?
Defeat feels as if you are stuck at the bottom of a well on the other side of the world, maybe even the universe. Why do we feel so selfish in moments of defeat? Is it the embarrassment, the hurt, or the damage that we must now face because what is done is done? We look for signs to keep going, but what about the opposite desire to finally end the pain? Tactics and strategy frame the foundation of political philosophy to see the light at the end of the tunnel after a panic attack, but sometimes even the answer to a solution can feel as clear as a thesis (just without any evidence). Cecilia Lisbon is detailed through her actions more definitely than through the perspective of her fellow male neighbors. This is due to the fact that she is a hyper-sensitive person. Quiet and disarmed, speculations based on little giveaways can have brutal consequences when put into verbal and physical action. Billie Eilish wrote a song called Everything I Wanted where she wrote the lyrics: “If I knew it all then, would I do it again, would I do it again? If they knew what they said would go straight to my head, what would they say instead?” A mantra repeated over and over again throughout this movie is to take a second look, preferably without the rose-colored glasses, and ask if someone needs help.
In the final moments leading up to Cecilia's suicide, she is met with Joe Larson, a neighbor diagnosed with Down syndrome at her mother and father's attempt at a prescribed social outing from Cecilia's psychiatrist, whom she first interacted with after her first suicide attempt. In the moment when Joe introduces himself to Cecilia by simply wavering a “Hi,” she seems to be transported to a motion of otherworldliness kindness, weeks after being subject to mental agony after undergoing her first suicide attempt. Joe is kind by nature, simply because the societal aspect of teenage pressure to “fit in” will never accustom to his mentality, making him a pure soul. Cecilia is engaged with Joe after being in silence since returning home from the hospital, even cracking a simple and grateful smile at Joe and returning a “Hi” back to him. He deserves kindness because he is simply kind. How refreshing to find something untainted by the many cruelties in this world. We want to protect these things from harm as much as possible because they are simply too rare and positively lasting to ever walk away from; a reminder of what the world could be without insufferable pain.
As soon as their 5-second interaction is over, the other boys in the neighborhood begin to take advantage of Joe’s unassuming nature and start to make fun of his lack of social awareness to build themselves up as funny individuals, when in reality, they are cruel for using him as a form of entertainment. Not being seen as a person because you are simply different can understandably drive empathetic individuals such as Cecilia to snap back to the harsh reality of the world, feeling as though the weight barred by these horrors is too heavy, and ultimately finding that the only way out of this depression is to end it fervently. Cecilia kindly asks her mother to excuse herself from the party and walks up the stairs gently, the bullying of Joe continuing, ultimately guiding her mentality with every step. The next thing we know is Cecilia dead outside her window, impaled by a sharp fence. Joe is horrified and irrevocably so, denoting a sudden tone of change that will stick with him forever because as much as he is pure, he is also impressionable. An act of pure horror can be situated through any forthgoing, but the aftermath will always have irreversible consequences. Because as much as Joe’s personality shines through even his own lack of awareness, the uncomfortableness of watching a helpless person be subject to the cruelty of others is never easy for the faint of heart. It feels useless to even exist when you know that not everything can be fixed.
As she sat with the psychiatrist and plainly answered his superstition of the psychological analysis of a 13-year-old girl, we are told in her demeanor that he just does not understand Cecilia’s empathetic morphology; she is here to feel and act accordingly as an angel amongst the heathens. Even angels get tired of ruckus. An angel can be a mother giving her own life to her child every day, from the moment a biological happening brought on by love occurred. An angel is a protector of a nation, killing others and oneself for anything but a selfish reason. It is funny how love can bore out so many beginnings and endings, standing along the shore waiting to be held itself, for all the work it has put into making our lives worth fighting for. Insanity is what we know it to be; unexplainable to our minds but understandable to our souls. What drives each and every one of us to either see it through or write our own ending is what fills our cup and is also what we search for as soon as it falls short of empty; do we jump right into the next drink, wait for the rain to amass its volume, gift our lessons to those who need it most, or die of dehydration?
