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Mental Issues In Lars And The Real Girl

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In the 2007 film, Lars and The Real Girl, the protagonist, Lars, is a very emotionally challenged man. Lars is seen throughout the film showing very obvious traits of mental issues (such as traits of personality disorders and maybe even a bit of schizophrenia), delusions, and a very troubled childhood. These things make his daily life a struggle for himself and the others around him, but they all try their best to satisfy his needs because of the love they have for him. Let’s discuss these topics a bit further. Lars seems to suffer from multiple mental issues throughout the film. At first, he is very distant and shy. He refuses to speak to people or participate in almost any social interaction. Even when his own brother and his sister-in-law invited him for dinner, he’d refuse and stay in the garage of their home alone. Then, one day, he suddenly came to their door and asked to have dinner with them. This time, he seemed excitable and happy. He stated he had gotten a girlfriend, for which his brother and sister-in-law seemed overjoyed. But, it turned out his so-called girlfriend was actually a life size doll. It seemed that Lars was having delusions, believing the plastic doll was a real girl. After some time, it also appears that he is using …show more content…

As expressed before, Lars’s mother passed away when he was just a baby, leaving him and his brother, Gus, alone with their father. He never knew his father well, presumably not having a very strong relationship with him, as Lars didn’t even know his profession. When he and his brother grew older, without warning, his brother ran away from home. He left Lars alone with his father, being the second person in his family to leave him. Although, Gus did come back for him and eventually apologized for what he did. Still, Lars was greatly affected by his childhood and a lot of his delusions and mental issues are products of

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