Deadgirl Revisited

Awhile back Jessica wrote about the movie Deadgirl. Her response to it was horrified despite the fact she hadn’t seen it. Then davenj, who had seen the movie, gave her opinion.
When I first read about it, I was pretty horrified but at the same time fascinated. I kept reading as much as I could about it. I wasn’t sure whose side to take here. I saved the DVD on Netflix but I was torn if I was actually going to watch it. Well, I received it today and finally did see it.

I think davenj explained the actual movie pretty well, so I’m going to focus on what was said on the behind-the-scenes feature on the DVD. The writer described the two main characters, Ricky and J.T., as the opposing sides of himself. Ricky is who he really is, while J.T. is what he wanted to be. Like, we all have experiences where we later think of what we wanted or should have done but it’s too late now. J.T. does the things that the writer wanted to do but never did. To me it seems that the writer realizes that’s not the best way to go as J.T. is the most psychotic character and there are a lot of psychos in this movie. The actor who played J.T. said at one point “It’s a commentary on how we are taught to treat women.” Unfortunately they don’t show him elaborating on this train of thought.
On the comment that Ricky is the guy who constantly thinks “I should have done this.” That’s apparent throughout the movie. When he comes home after first finding the deadgirl, he dials 911 but hangs up when his mom’s boyfriend comes in the house. Throughout the entire movie he feels he should have called the police but won’t now because he thinks he’ll be in trouble for his involvement in his “friends” actions. He tries to free the deadgirl a couple of times but then stops because he’s afraid of how J.T. will react.
Ricky also represents caving to pressure. The mom’s boyfriend later commented on Ricky’s wounds from his fights saying “I hope she’s pretty, that girl you’ve been fighting over.” He is constantly told that women are less than man, that their worth is measured by their beauty. During the climax, he seems to be fighting this belief by trying to keep Joann from being turned into a new deadgirl and he doesn’t try to stop the deadgirl’s attack of Wheeler and J.T. But ultimately he becomes like J.T. At least that’s what is implied as the final shot of the movie is Joann tied to the table like the deadgirl was at the beginning.