The Universe and Me

Monday, January 30, 2006

Not so simple

Movie: The Plain Truth. This was disturbing in so many ways and, being a Lifetime movie, I doubt in ways it was meant to be. First, none of the Amish had accents. One of the male actors tried towards the beginning, but it sounded more Irish (which, if it hadn’t been so irritating, would have been funny) but after a couple scenes, he seemed to give up even trying an accent. Secondly, while I don’t know any Amish personally, it’s my understanding that they are not at all narrow-minded and do allow their children to choose whether they want to stay in the community or leave and live in the outside world. Disowning them for attending college can’t possibly be common practice. This made the Amish father seem psychotic. Then, the daughter apparently sees and talks with the ghost of her dead sister? This subplot was never developed, but it made her seem psychotic too. Then, everyone who knows her insists she wouldn’t lie, but as the movie unfolds, you find practically every word she’s said is a lie. Also, it’s made an important point in court that Amish don’t commit murder. Ever. I don’t know if it’s true that no Amish person ever has killed anyone, but hitting the viewer and jury over the head with this point and then having one of them turn out to be a baby killer couldn’t be more disturbing. It would have been better if this character had said, the baby was already dead due to the infection the coroner later found and she just disposed of it. Instead, the movie completely contradicted itself. That’ll teach me to watch anything Lifetime has to offer.

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