History Fridge / WhenMarnieWasThere

* Marnie hints at not being in the same timeline as Anna when she explains why she disappears from time to time. When Anna confronts her at the end for leaving her behind at the silo, Marnie says something to the effect of "at that time, you simply ''weren't there''", referring to the fact that Anna wasn't born yet.

* Marnie hints at not being in the same timeline as Anna when she explains why she disappears from time to time. When Anna confronts her at the end for leaving her behind at the silo, Marnie says something to the effect of "at that time, you simply ''weren't there''".

* Marnie hints at not being in the same timeline as Anna when she explains why she disappears from time to time. Sometimes when Anna confronts her, such as the final confrontation at the end, Marnie says "at that time, you simply ''weren't there''".

* Nan and the maids are mean to Marnie because she's living there during the post WWII occupation of Japan. Assuming the story takes place in the modern day, Marnie would have been a girl around WWII. During the war an obviously western family wouldn't have been allowed to live there. However after the war the Japanese would have had no choice but to allow American businessmen. Nan and the maids don't dare take out their resentment of the "foreign invaders" on the parents but a young girl that's all alone is a different matter.
** Oh wow. That makes a crazy amount of sense. Probably not entirely intentional given (I assume) it was the same in the book which wouldn't be set in the same time. Though for the adaption the dates line up near perfectly if we assume Hisako is in her early to mid sixties (and it's set near the time it was published).

* Marnie and Anna's story absolutely plays out like a love story. And yet Marnie is Anna's grandmother. But look at their interactions: Anna is the one blushing and staring in awe. Marnie is delighted to be with Anna and says she loves her, but doesn't seem flustered or infatuated in the same way. Because if you take her by her words when they first meet, she's watched over Anna and knows ''just'' who she is. In fact, her vocal cadence sometimes seems quite grandmotherly, ditto for the way she comforts Anna or teaches her a skill.
* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having a [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship romantic friendship]] for Marnie at the very ''least''. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet. This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to is part of her history and her background - and Anna becomes able to fall in love ''with herself''.

* Nan and the maids are mean to Marnie because [[spoiler:she's living there during the post WWII occupation of Japan. Assuming the story takes place in the modern day, Marnie would have been a girl around WWII. During the war an obviously western family wouldn't have been allowed to live there. However after the war the Japanese would have had no choice but to allow American businessmen. Nan and the maids don't dare take out their resentment of the "foreign invaders" on the parents but a young girl that's all alone is a different matter.]]

* Marnie and Anna's story absolutely plays out like a love story. And yet [[spoiler:Marnie is Anna's grandmother.]] But look at their interactions: Anna is the one blushing and staring in awe. Marnie is delighted to be with Anna and says she loves her, but doesn't seem flustered or infatuated in the same way. Because if you take her by her words when they first meet, she's watched over Anna and knows ''just'' who she is. In fact, her vocal cadence sometimes seems quite [[spoiler:grandmotherly]], ditto for the way she comforts Anna or teaches her a skill.
* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having a [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship romantic friendship]] for Marnie at the very ''least''. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between [[spoiler:her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet.]] This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to [[spoiler:is part of her history and her background]] - and Anna becomes able to fall in love ''with herself''.

* Marnie and Anna's story absolutely plays out like a love story. And yet [[spoiler:Marnie is Anna's grandmother.]] But look at their interactions: Anna is the one blushing and staring in awe. Marnie is delighted to be with Anna and says she loves her, but doesn't seem flustered or infatuated in the same way. Because if you take her by her words when they first meet, she's watched over Anna and knows ''just'' who she is. In fact, her vocal cadence sometimes seems quite [[spoiler:grandmothly]], ditto for the way she comforts Anna or teaches her a skill.

* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having, at the very least, a [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship romantic friendship]] (if not flat-out romantic feelings) for Marnie. She behaves completely different with her friend at the end of the film; she barely knows Marnie, but Marnie is instantly ''special''. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between [[spoiler:her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet.]] This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to [[spoiler:is part of her history and her background]] - and Anna becomes able to fall in love ''with herself''.

* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having, at the very least, a [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship romantic friendship]] (if not flat-out romantic feelings) for Marnie. She behaves completely different with her friend at the end of the film; she barely knows Marnie, but Marnie is instantly ''special''. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between [[spoiler:her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet.]] This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to [[spoiler:is part of her history and her background]] - and Anna becomes able to literally fall in love ''with herself''.

* Marnie and Anna's story absolutely plays like a love story. And yet [[spoiler:Marnie is Anna's grandmother.]] But look at their interactions: Anna is the one blushing and staring in awe. Marnie is delighted to be with Anna and says she loves her, but doesn't seem flustered or infatuated in the same way. Because if you take her by her words when they first meet, she's watched over Anna and knows ''just'' who she is. In fact, her vocal cadence sometimes seems quite [[spoiler:grandmothly]], ditto for the way she comforts Anna or teaches her a skill.
* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having romantic feelings for Marnie. She behaves completely different with her friend at the end of the film; she barely knows Marnie, but Marnie is instantly ''special''. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between [[spoiler:her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet.]] This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to [[spoiler:is part of her history and her background]] - and is able to fall in love ''with herself''.

* Marnie and Anna's story absolutely plays like a love story. And yet [[spoiler:Marnie is Anna's grandmother.]] But look at their interactions: Anna is the one blushing, staring in awe, getting jealous of Marnie dancing with a boy. Marnie is delighted to be with Anna and says she loves her, but doesn't seem flustered or infatuated in the same way. Because if you take her by her words when they first meet, she's watched over Anna and knows just who she is. In fact, her vocal cadence sometimes seems quite [[spoiler:grandmothly]], ditto for the way she comforts Anna or teaches her a skill.
* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having romantic feelings for Marnie. She behaves completely different with her friend at the end of the film; she barely knows Marnie, but Marnie is instantly ''special''. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between [[spoiler:her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet.]] This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to [[spoiler:is part of her history and her background]] - and is able to fall in love ''with herself''.

* Anna, on the other hand, is framed as having romantic feelings for Marnie. She doesn't react to any other girl in the same way. So learning what we learn, what's the point of that? Anna isn't just struggling with her feelings of abandonment, but with her identity. This could be her sexuality, but it's also more explicitly her ethnicity. She hates having anyone look at her at first, freaks out when people notice her eyes, and says she thinks she's ugly and an outsider. She doesn't like wearing traditional Japanese clothes or attending festivals because it highlights her other-ness. Being infatuated with Marnie and the mansion, feeling compelled by them as if in a forbidden romance, could represent feeling torn between [[spoiler:her unknown past/Western background and the Japanese family that she still doesn't see as 'hers' yet.]] This also explains why when she thinks about Marnie, she forgets the relatives she's living with and vice versa. She doesn't yet see both of these things as a part of her identity, until she learns that the girl she's drawn to [[spoiler:is part of her history and her background]] - and is able to fall in love ''with herself''.

** Oh wow. That makes a crazy amount of sense. Probably not entirely intentional given (I assume) it was the same in the book which wouldn't be set in the same time. Though for the adaption the dates line up near perfectly if we assume Hisako is in her early to mid sixties (and it's set near the time it was published).

* Oh wow. That makes a crazy amount of sense. Probably not entirely intentional given (I assume) it was the same in the book which wouldn't be set in the same time. Though for the adaption the dates line up near perfectly if we assume Hisako is in her early to mid sixties (and it's set near the time it was published).

* Nan and the maids are mean to Marnie because [[spoiler:she's living there during the post WWII occupation of Japan. Assuming the story takes place in the modern day, Marnie would have been a girl around WWII. During the war an obviously western family wouldn't have been allowed to live there. However after the war the Japanese would have had no choice but to allow American businessmen. Nan and the maids don't dare take out their resentment of the "foreign invaders" on the parents but a young girl that's all alone is a different matter.]]