An Invisible Sign

I loved this movie and guess I'm one of the few based on so - so critical reviews. I think this film portrays the story of a young woman who coped with traumatic childhood experiences as best she could with the psychosocial resources she had. She is not dowdy because she likes math - she appears dowdy because she disconnects from social/worldly concepts and ideologies that serve no purpose for her or are of little value to her like fashion. The film successfully depicts her development of obsessive compulsive pathology in attempt to cope with severe losses in her life, as well as the social awkwardness that attaches itself to these circumstances. It tells the compassionate story of how her "weird" behaviors develop in a way that makes sense and helps us to better understand and empathize with these anxieties and oddities. I think this movie is misunderstood. It doesn't lack soul. It sensitively shows how we can with all our quirks (no matter how incapacitating they might seem), overcome our fears and find a way to progress. It's not about complete resolution but rather about moving forward and embracing our potential and counting our successes along the way. It does deal with very dark subject matters like child neglect but I appreciate the way the film shows a tenderness and earnestness toward identifying the need for love and security and belonging that is essential in childhood. It does not ignore these needs at all but instead requires significant resolution for healing to occur. I found this movie to be clever, sweet, empowering and delightfully entertaining.

I found the cartoon scene where a family was being voluntarily dismembered in order not have one of them killed was wholly inexcusable. There is no acceptable way to do the unacceptable and to attempt to portray this in a light, cartoonish fashion only made it worse. Much worse.