Watched Play Misty for Me recently. Its a movie that has aged well even if the story unfolds predictably for a modern viewer:
When the stalker is a man, the story often follows a formulaic, predictable route. When the stalker is a woman, the story paves the way for a more compelling thematic orientation and the potential to revise societal tropes. One highly singular film was produced and released at a time when stalking themes, and especially female stalkers as villains, were still unheard of.
Evelyn smothers the man she is fixated with with adoration. At first he does little to resist it but the suffocation grows over time and he tries to break free. What is depicted in an extreme degree in the story parallels how real-life relationships work too. Each person has a comfort zone of how much adoration they can tolerate - cross beyond that point and you make them angsty. This is not just in intimate relationships but between people in general.
Recently, I was chatting with my niece about how some people are the glue that keeps family together - they do all the hard-work and are rarely appreciated let alone rewarded for their troubles. My niece is one of those people - she wants family to come together, be there for each other and so on. She tries hard and is often disappointed by how little weight everyone else pulls. And sometimes she can get quite upset which these folks then make their reason to more difficult. We talked about the value of being such glue. My told her my view - its that is in the nature of the person, they should just do it because it brings them joy but not imagine that they are serving some greater cause that they need to be lauded for. I believe she and everyone else will have it easier and happier if she did all she does so well while inoculating herself against disappointment that everyone else fell short.
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