As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance:
- Sweet Pea being the true protagonist of the film. It may initially seem like an ass pull, but it's hinted at early into the film—she's the girl sitting on the bed in the "theater" (in the exact position Baby Doll was in the beginning of the film), rehearses the lobotomy scene as the patient, and is the "star" of the brothel. Like Baby Doll, she isn't supposed to be in the asylum, but unlike Baby Doll, Sweet Pea (who is the remaining survivor of the team alongside Baby Doll) appears to be the only girl who has a place to return to—a family.
- Sweet Pea is also wearing a blonde pig tail wig, in the same style as Baby Doll when she's up on stage.
- The deleted scene
shows that Sweet Pea's dance is themed on what appears to be a witch-burning, and ends with her wearing angel wings and rising from the flames. - She is the Narrator All Along. For the matter, the way she narrates is the way narrating protagonist in some films do.
- She also says in her introduction "You gotta help me. I'm the star of the show, remember?"
- The nickname Baby Doll refers to both a toy for kids and a cute girl or woman with youngish looks. In the end, Baby Doll is lobotomized, becoming an Empty Shell Uncanny Valley Girl and the man who wants to play with her does not take well to this and is punished for it.
- The deleted dance scene causes this to kick in with regards to the specific outfits of the girls in the Fantasy world. Baby Doll costumes the girls in her fantasy based on outfits she sees them wearing in the brothel, with the inspiration for the other girls' costumes coming from their dances:
- Baby Doll herself wears a schoolgirl outfit, based on the schoolgirl-type dress she first wears when brought to the brothel, and that she wears the first time she dances.
- Sweet Pea's outfit is basically a more elegant, medieval-style version of her dance costume, complete with the same armored shoulder pad.
- Rocket's outfit is probably the closest in comparison with her dance costume, as it's basically a less glittery and more streamlined version of her nurse's outfit, although she now has a bandana on her head instead of a nurse's hat.
- Amber's outfit only has one small indication of its relation to her dance costume in that she's wearing the exact same choker in the fantasy sequence that she is in her French maid costume. My best guess is that the nature of her role in the fantasies, as the one who basically carries the girls around in her vehicles and escorts them from place to place, is comparable to that of a maid, in that she's just "cleaning up" after the girls.
- Blondie's outfit is the least like her costume in the brothel, but it's based on a very clever pun: Blondie's dance is clearly Indian-inspired, as seen by the Taj Mahal backdrop behind her. Her costume, on the other hand, has Native American touches: the long buckskin-esque fringes and her use of a tomahawk. Now, what is the popular name for Native Americans, especially back in the 1950s? Indians.
- Beyond that, Vanessa Hudgens has (among other things) Native American ancestry. Assuming that Actor-Shared Background applies, then this aspect of her costume represents Babydoll seeing Blondie as she truly is, rather than the fetishized, "exotic" version of her the brothel's patrons see.
- The very first scene in the brothel has Sweet Pea complaining that while a helpless mental patient can be sexy, a lobotomized girl isn't, which is exactly Blue's frustration when attempting to rape post-lobotomy Baby Doll. Arguably, Baby Doll took Sweet Pea's comment to heart and submitted to the lobotomy knowing it would ruin Blue's plans for her.
- The idea they are fighting monsters in the dark by dehumanizing them ("Don't worry, they're not human", and other things with families and lives as shown in the preview shorts, but explicitly not shown in the movie FOR A REASON) like they are dehumanized during most of the movie and by the audience of the movie (Based upon the
Unfortunate Implications in YMMV, they sadly are).- They are also attacking those in the dark to the ultimate end of taking back their own life, which Sweet Pea ultimately does.
- Not to mention, Babydoll uses the monster-fighting fantasies as a form of escapism, to help her cope with the stressful situations she's going through. Of course she'd try to imagine most of her enemies down to being more along the lines of punching bags.
- The Dance = escaping into another world. This is the one thing which is common among all dancers, of all disciplines, in all worlds, who do everything from paid hardcore ballet dancing to random dancing in the street to their favorite song.
- Calling the social room a "Theater" in reality, while it turns into a real Theater in the brothel.
- The only time we see Baby Doll in her glittery "show" costume is at the end, when she sacrifices herself to save Sweet Pea. Basically, she's all dressed up for the most important "dance" of her life, and her "audience" is the guards she distracts so Sweet Pea can get away.
- Also, like all the other tools the woman use to escape the asylum she's shiny, just like the lighter they use, which also glows gold after being stolen...
- The only blood seen in the movie is in the asylum and beginning, never in the brothel or fantasy. Considering that the brothel and fantasy are both dreams and not real, the fact that the blood only shows up in the reality is somewhat brilliant.
- Using the action sequences in place of the dances. It's to show the effect they have on the people around them. Not everyone is going to get turned on by a sexy dance (since what's sexy to one person might be Fetish Retardant to another). But the action scenes - even someone who doesn't like action is still likely to be impressed by the CGI, explosions, choreography etc. It's to show how exciting watching Babydoll dance is. Regarding the above point, the majority of people who watch her first dance are women.
- Also showing Babydoll's dance in its entirety would be objectifying her, thus ruining the film's moral. "You have all the weapons you need, now fight". Babydoll's 'weapons' are her dancing and sex appeal and the movie shows her fighting back with a literal scene of her 'fighting back'.
- Sweet Pea's comment after the first dance - "it should be more than just titillation". The first action sequence is rather pointless. Babydoll discovers what she needs before she has to fight the giants, so the fight is just there for Rule of Cool. But all the rest of the scenes have a purpose - to steal the map, the lighter and the knife. Just like all of Babydoll's dances are there to be distractions while the others steal the items. She's finding a purpose for her talent and using it to her advantage.
- Sweet Pea is the voice of reason and the only one who calls Babydoll out on how risky her plan is. She's the only one sane enough to realise this.
- Also the plan itself is almost laughably reckless. Each time the girls went to steal something, it was obvious who the culprit would be. Blue would know Sweet Pea took the map since she was hanging around his office. Likewise, Amber would be the obvious suspect for stealing the lighter as she was the one entertaining the mayor. It would have been obvious that the girls took the knife from the cook, as they were working in the kitchen that day. And the key was on Blue's person so that would have been obvious too. However, Babydoll only had five days. She had no time to come up with a better plan. And even if they hadn't been caught, they still would have had the items and enough time to escape (presumably they'd be making a break for it immediately after taking the key).
- The songs during the fantasy missions actually corresponds to the objective and outcome of those missions:
- "Army of Me" plays during the snow temple scene where Babydoll have to beat the robot samurais by herself.
- "White Rabbit" plays during the map retrieval mission where the girls have to do a lot of jumping to reach their destination and escape. Amber's Mini-Mecha also has a rabbit painted on it.
- "Search and Destroy" plays during the third fantasy mission where they have to search for a baby dragon and kill it, and to do that they have to dispatch a lot orcs and knights who stands in their way.
- "Tomorrow Never Knows" plays during the final fantasy mission where the girls have to retrieve the bomb in a certain amount of time. Unknowingly, a Mook apparently survived their onslaught and foils their victory, causing the mission to fail at the cost of Rocket's life.
- Blue must have seen lobotomised patients anymore, so he should have known Babydoll wouldn't be the same afterwards, and shouldn't have been so upset. But not only does he show violent mood swings, but it's also implied that he tried to rape her before the lobotomy, and that's when she stabbed him. This corresponds to her stabbing him in the brothel world and explains his injury, and why he waited till after the lobotomy to try again.
- Also adds motivation for Babydoll to accept the lobotomy, to escape what she became sure was his intention, or even possibly because she knew he wouldn't want it afterwards.
- All of the fantasy sequences happen because of Dr Gorski. When we first see the asylum theatre, she's delivering her therapy, which involves her telling the patient that they are safe, and in control of their world - which is exactly what they start off as providing. The patient in question is Sweet Pea, which would reinforce the theory that the brothel world is her fantasy, where she is the star and can make demands of the others. Because of Babydoll's influence in the asylum world, she begins to realise the false empowerment of the brothel world too, which leads to it falling apart.
- The cook listens to "Lacrimosa" (lit. "weeping/tearful"), part of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's requiem. It's part of the "Dies Irae" sequence of the requiem, which deals with the Day of Wrath/Judgment Day. Baby Doll is dreading the arrival of the High Roller, and shortly before the kitchen scene she is crying. Rocket steals chocolate and immediately meets the wrath of the cook. He attempts to assault her, but is immediately faced with Baby Doll now in action mode and not letting him get away with his potential crime.
Fridge Horror:
- Since the events of the hallucinations are implied to have happened in the real world (under more realistic context), one can only wonder how Blue killed Amber and Blondie and attempted to rape Baby Doll.
- Well, apparently Snyder did say none of the girls actually got killed, so it's likely that in reality, Gorski intervened and took them out of the room after catching Blue yelling at them.
- Either that or they got lobotomized like Baby Doll, becoming brain-dead, a sort of "mental death".
- They definitely didn't die or get lobotomized. When Dr Gorski in the real world is talking about everything that's happened since Baby Doll arrived in the asylum, she never mentions any deaths. Neither do any of Blue's cronies when he's trying to be alone with Baby Doll. And the lobotomy on Baby Doll only went ahead because Blue forged Gorski's signature, which he mentions is a great risk. He would not stick his neck out like that for an additional three girls, and triple his chances of being found out.
- Since Sweet Pea has only ever been seen in the fantasy brothel but at the end of the movie it's revealed that a member of the asylum did escape, there's a possibility that she's in the asylum for a reason.
- From what I understood, Rocket ran away from home & Sweet Pea went to get her. Maybe Rocket had gotten herself into some trouble and they were both incriminated.
- Actually Sweet Pea seems to be the girl on the stage in the asylum during the opening sequence. Still holds; why was she in there?
- As the second troper said, she went after Rocket. Given what the 'verse, even the outermost (asylum) version is like, it's entirely possible that sane people might get put in the asylum.
- It's also subtly told in the brothel scenes that Sweet Pea is the only sane member of the group. She's the one smart enough to point out that Baby Doll's plan is crazy, she's the voice of reason and generally the only realist amongst the other girls' more idealistic personalities. When Baby Doll tells her that she's the only one who could have survived outside, that's really her realising that Sweet Pea is the only one of them who is truly sane.
- There's also the fact that Sweet Pea could have simply recovered from the reason she was in the asylum to begin with. Dr Gorski's intention with her therapies is to help the girls get better.
- Considering the urban legend that some asylums are in fact a cover up front for prisons and the IRL "Rosenhan Experiment", as well as the era that this takes place...It's possible that Rocket ran away, got in some trouble with the law, and had been sent to the facility while Sweet Pea, who went after her, either voluntarily or when caught as an accomplice, also ended up there.
- The steampunk Zombies in The Trenches retain some of their humanity.
- The logic of how Pedophilia, incest, sexism of all sorts and various other things are apparently glamorized in the movie. They are shown in the worst possible light.
- what
- You mean that they're the actions of the villains? You're not supposed to support them, or agree with them, or sympathise with them. They're the bad guys. They do bad things to good people, and the good people suffering these things are the ones we are supposed to support. Star Wars didn't promote telekinetic stranglings.
- I think he's saying that because the movie has been accused of promoting sexism when the movie paints it in a negative light, our society is like that of the bad guys.
- There's a blink-and-you'll miss it example on the blu-ray version—the play itself is actually shown. As it turns out, Gorski and Blue also perform; she dances, he sings. If, as we've been led to believe, the inmates' 'performances' are actually their mental escape from instances of sexual abuse, then are these two also being raped? Think of how distraught Blue is at the end of the film—and also that he is dressed similar to other inmates. No one said Lennox House was only for insane WOMEN, after all!
- Maybe not sexual abuse, but perhaps abuse in general; also, for some reason I thought that The Stinger of showing Blue dressed similarly to other inmates was that he was also an inmate, albeit a particularly conniving and sneaky one.
- As for Gorski, it's clear that she is stuck in a system where she has little control and is stuck doing what others want her to. Maybe she "performs" to deal with her frustration of not being allowed to help the inmates as much as she would like to, and being forced to deal with inmates according to her bosses' whims?
