Line #6 Fridge/DropDeadFred


1	[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
2	* Janie only attacked Fred because she didn't want to attack Lizzie, who was clearly having some very serious problems.
3	** Also in her outburst, Janie reveals she is cheating with a married man. For all the "best friend" advice she gave Elizabeth to cope with her husband leaving her for another woman - Janie is doing the exact same thing. Basically, Liz is surrounded by horrible people.
4	* For all its other problems, this movie does do a magnificent job of delving into the mind of a child. Children see the world in black and white terms, which is part of the reason KidsAreCruel, and can often manifest horrific revenge plots against tormentors. It makes sense that little Lizzy would create these fantasies with such an unloving mother. Further, younger children don't understand that death is permanent. To them, it could be a more extreme version of being grounded. This could explain why, from an adult's point of view, Fred is a horrific persona bordering on a psychopath.
5	* A lot of Fred's behaviour seems destructive and counter productive to helping Lizzie get her life back, but it makes more sense when you look at it through the lens of Fred being motivated by Lizzie's own unhappiness with her own life. Her mother is controlling and abusive? He gives her demeaning nicknames and mocks her sexuality, helping to shift Lizzie's view of her from some all powerful irresistible force into something more human and manageable. He shows no sympathy for Lizzie trying to get back together with her husband, even sabotaging her attempts? Her husband is a self-absorbed jerk who not only cheated on her but is still seeing the other woman. He sinks Janie's houseboat? Janie's having an affair with a married man right in front of Lizzie, who, as mentioned above, has just been cheated on and had her marriage fall apart. He mocks Lizzie's appearance, tells her he hates who she's grown up to be and keeps pushing her throughout the movie? Lizzie's haircut and dress choices are her mother's idea, Lizzie herself is unhappy with who she's become and by continuously pushing her she finally stops being so passive and starts snapping back at things that are upsetting her. He's destroying her life so she can build a better one.
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7	[[AC:FridgeHorror]]
8	* ''Drop Dead Fred'' is supposed to be a light-hearted comedy about a woman whose ImaginaryFriend from her childhood causes her mischief in an attempt to teach her to confront her childhood fears. However, with the many disturbing implications throughout the film, it could just as easily be about schizophrenia.
9	* It's pretty much shown that the imaginary friends only appear to children who are deeply unhappy. At the end of the movie Fred is shown to now be the imaginary friend of Lizzie's new guy's daughter, indicating said daughter is deeply unhappy.
10	** That's not necessarily the case. The only time we see other imaginary friends besides Fred is when Lizzie's been taken to a child psychologist who specialises in treating "Imaginary Friend Syndrome", so of course those kids have problems, but it doesn't mean that ''all'' kids with imaginary friends do. I got the impression that imaginary friends only appear to kids who don't have real ones.
11	*** Considering the babysitter looks like a stereotypical matronly 50s housewife, I think it's safe to say the little girl at the end is having the same problems Liz had with her own mother trying to force her to be a certain way when really these girls just want to be kids and have fun, not be obedient good little girls.

Context Fridge / DropDeadFred