This is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination. However... if you have any negative experiences with dissociation, and especially if any form of "mind control" was involved in your abuse (FUCK YOU if you think programming, RA and mind control is bogus or fantasy, btw), I strongly urge you to avoid this movie like the plague. Best, TW

ps. I watched it several nights ago and it was a HUGE mistake.

Yes. Although I thought it was a very good movie, it is also a highly triggering movie for survivors of sexual abuse.

Dude, the depictions of mental illness in this movie are simply obscene. I am genuinely curious - how could you overlook that to find a "very good movie"? (handcuffs, violence, murder, etc)

The movie affected me in a very emotional way. To me, the best movies are the best because of the emotion they stir up inside of me. Sometimes, this includes emotions like repulsion and shock.

I saw this one awhile back and found it pretty triggery. Guys who have issues with dissociation and mind games will definitely want to avoid it, though yes, I thought it brought up some good issues.

Much love,
Larry

Sorry if I was a little aggressive - as you can ascertain it really got to me. I just felt like 1) the movie really played into the notion that people who dissociate are capital C crazy and 2) SPOILER ALERT the end of the film actually plays into the idea that the protagonist had no right to exist and actually would be better off killing himself. Not to mention that the perp in this film is portrayed as making nothing more than a one-time, drunken act of bad judgment.

It really, really got to me...

I thought Donnie Darko (from roughly the same milieu) was a much smarter, equally charged film that dealt with alot of the same issues.

I liked that imagery and thought experiments in this film, but there were HUGE plot holes and I simply wasn't buying into the notion of someone's senses being warped into a (seemingly) contrived way, for (seemingly) the sake of expedient stories and screenplay.

They could have gone without the make-believe time-travel scenarios and simply made a straight-forward drama, while keeping all the ugly elements of abuse and such, but, ....... well......we can't just have a film with good character development and no sensationalist special effects now, it wouldn't sell tickets in an American movie theatre.

I loved the movie...but that's just me. I'm pretty chill with all movies.

I just saw this movie a week or so ago. I liked it, although it really hit me hard. What with the events of the kids past and then the mothers miscarriages (2 huge triggers for me) I was a huge mess by the time this movie ended.

Oddly enough, the hardest part of the movie for me was when that kid beat the snot out of that dude in the movie theater.

Yeah, that was me at that age...except I didn't always win.

Bryan

I really liked the movie, saw it yesterday. It made me think about things and hit me pretty hard (the directors cut). I didn't find it offensive at all. Must just be me **shrugs**

It Triggered the HELL out of me.

I remember I was in a good mood before I saw it and after I was almost in tears

I agree with the warning--Beware of This Movie.

I really liked it, i have it on DVD, i like the part when he goes back in time to when he was a boy and tells the guy not to touch him or the guys daughter again, i thought it was really powerful, and i liked the film in general too

Just watched it last night. What a huge mistake. It was beyond triggering for me. I went into a kind of shock from it. I'm fighting the urge to dissociate now just typing this.

I am surprised that some of you liked it. I cannot judge this movie whether I liked it or not...I was way too off the deep end from the emotional effects it had on me to even have that sort of objectivity.

Mike

(((Mike)))

I started watching this tonight. It's really powerful. The warnings are valid. If you have open issues it might overwhelm you. It is very raw. My childhood was very raw. The stories need to be told.

It shows the power of flashbacks and "feely - touchy" flashbacks associated with strong dissociation. They are really like that. The guy has DID from having kiddie porn done when he was little. He calls them memory blackouts. They are DID episodes. I had that done to me.

So much can go on and parents don't have a clue. Then they have to put up with a kid who is almost disabled by dissociation and anger and sexual emotions. I know. I've been there.

Allen

pufferfish

I first saw The Butterfly Effect years before my memories surfaced. At the time, I couldn't understand why I became so obsessed with it. There's two sequels if anyone's interested.

Anyone that can't handle this should stay away from Pink Floyd's The Wall. Thats even more intense.(at least to me)

I finished watching The Butterfly Effect today.

It seems to be more of a fantasy or science fiction than a reporting or dramatization of child abuse and its effects. Yes it does show a lot of potential effects but they are in the realm of the paranormal.

How many times have wished you could go back and undo the abuse you experienced? That is the main thought in this movie.

The leading character somehow has the ability to revise his personal history and that of others by having kind of a super flashback in which he can re-enact what happened to him. He keeps doing this several times until he is stillborn. Have you ever felt so angry with your existence and what you went through that you wished you were never born?

In the early part of the film he went through a kind of kiddie porn abuse which twisted his whole life and that of others. This resulted in his having DID (dissociative identity disorder). He writes his story in a journal. But later, after reading this journal, he is able to go back and "unmake" the event and other events in order to neutralize the horrendous consequences. At this point, the story states that he was 7 years old. This was not realistic because the boy actor doing the part looked about 11 years old.

I felt it necessary to analyze the movie to nullify the depressing effects it had on me. That has been my adaptation to my own life history. To understand others and why they did what they did is an initial step toward healing.

The movie caused me to wonder about what happened to other children who were involved in the abusive events I experienced as a child. That has largely been beyond my grasp and maybe it's something I shouldn't take very seriously.

But if we live in a realm in which the paranormal can be experienced, then even the bad stuff we experienced becomes meaningless. We can't really change history. But we can change the effect it has on us as we modify our own attitude toward what we went through and the people involved with us. I believe that this thought is central to the idea of forgiveness.

Allen

pufferfish

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ROFLMAO!!!! I had never heard of this movie, so I looked it up. I nearly jumped outta my skin when I saw Ashton Kutcher in the lead. AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! You guys gotta warn people......KUTCHER ALERT would help.

Then I read this in reviews....LOL:

As for the movie itself... don't be put off by the idea of Ashton Kutcher in the lead role. He does quite a good job in a serious part quite different from his usual TV persona.

So oops.....sorry Kootch!

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