Gary was a narcissist, and narcissists view their families as extensions of themselves, as trophies. Not because he actually thought I was gifted or talented. To the other parents, I suppose it seemed that Gary was harmlessly lauding his new daughter. After that, I was given the lead in all the school plays that he directed. Gary was among the judges who awarded me first prize. On the night of the show, various kids performed their acts, and the winner was chosen based on audience response. He signed me up for his drama club too and encouraged me to sing in the school talent contest. This was a real convenience, as he demanded I join his, and only his, after-school clubs. Then, based on his findings, he labeled certain kids - the kids he liked and wanted to spend more time with - as "gifted." Instead, he gave kids a short multiple-choice test, the Mickey Mouse kind sold in bookstores. Trouble was: Gary had no real training or authority to be administering IQ tests. The gifted and talented club was invitation only - Gary's invitation, that is. Some days Gary would oversee an after-school activity. Inevitably, a few of his favored 10-year-old students would still be hanging around - joking with him or sitting on his lap. Every day at 3 p.m., as soon as the bell rang, I was expected to climb those stairs and report to Gary's desk. My classroom was on the first floor of the elementary building - just a staircase away from Gary. Being polite means keeping one's mouth shut.Īnd so I, the newly minted Mooch Lundquist, became a third grader at Delaware Township School. But social norms dictate that we do not insert ourselves into other people's personal lives. No one seemed to care that my school records displayed a different name or that Gary was not my legal guardian. In 1976 no one seemed to question any of this. Now, with the flick of a pen, I was Mooch (a nickname) Lundquist, daughter of Gary, new student at his out-of-state school. Since birth, I had been Michelle Brechbill. Lensing marks a stylistic return of sorts to “Or,” also shot by Laurent Brunet, though here there’s a far heavier use of closeups, especially in the first two-thirds, which emphasize Tammy’s constricted world.In Michelle Stevens' powerful, just-published memoir, Scared Selfless, she shares how she overcame horrendous child sexual abuse and mental illness to lead a satisfying and happy life as a successful psychologist, wife and mother. Turjeman and Grad give what are generally called “brave” performances, and there’s no question they opened themselves up emotionally for this punishing psychological ride. Shuli, meanwhile, is merely Good Samaritan, a far-fetched notion in keeping with Yedaya’s roughly sketched notions of personality, designed to make a statement rather than present a real human being. With “That Lovely Girl” (originally titled “Away From His Absence,” like the novel it’s based upon), the helmer returns to the more minimal intensity of her freshman work, yet her characters are defined only by their psychological deformities – Moshe as monster, Tammy as traumatized victim. Yedaya’s superior debut feature, “Or,” featured another kind of dysfunctional family, involving a teen girl and her prostitute mother the follow-up, “Jaffa,” was less about the dynamics of parents and children, though still concerned with family power plays. Such thoughts remain unaddressed as Tammy ping-pongs between Daddy and her new protector, unable to break away from her codependency. Surely the word “die,” which Tammy carved on her own arm, should have given Shuli enough pause to consider that maybe she’s a little out of her depth here. Who is Shuli? Does she have a job, or a life other than one devoted to this young woman she’s just met on the beach? Given the obvious lesbian overtones, including penetrating gazes and body language, audiences are led to think that Tammy is fated to be yet another victim of exploitation - it would have been a more interesting twist than the one Yedaya takes, of a selfless woman trying to break Tammy free from her abusive father. Fortunately, Shuli (Yael Abecassis), a stranger, calms her down and takes her home, allowing her to stay the night and tending to her latest batch of self-mutilations. With all the new activity, Tammy loses her purse and becomes distraught. When he brings his new g.f., Iris (Tal Ben-Bina), to Passover dinner, Tammy sulks and finally runs away to the beach, where she lets four guys have sex with her. Later he scolds her for getting fat: She cries, so to make her feel better, he roughly takes her from behind before leaving again. Daddy returns, bandages the wounds, and treats it all like a minor nuisance. While he’s out, she binges and vomits, then pulls out an X-acto knife to add further cuts to her heavily self-scarred limbs.
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