Representation of Mental Illness in the Women of Sharp Objects

    In 2018, HBO released an 8-episode mini-series adaptation of Gillian Flynn's book Sharp Objects. Helmed by Big Little Lies director, Jean Marc-Valle, it followed the story of a journalist, Camille Preaker, who returns to her childhood hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri to write about the murder of two teenage girls. As details of the murders are uncovered and Camille’s stay is lengthened, old childhood traumas resurface, and Camille is forced to confront her past. The show was lauded for its realistic characterization because Sharp Objects’ representation of mentally ill women, particularly women who are broken by the oppressive culture of violence in the South, shows audiences a reality that society doesn’t typically want to confront.

    

    Sharp Objects explores intergenerational trauma and familial relationships through three characters: the matriarch of the house, Adora Crellin; her daughter, Camille; and Camille’s step-sister, Amma Crellin. Camille is the outcast of her family. Immediately after she graduates, she flees the town and gets a journalism job in Chicago. When she returns, it becomes evident that she doesn't longer adhere to what Wind Gap’s expectations of a young women should be. She rejects femininity, choosing not to wear dresses, but rather long, black attire to hide the scars of her self-harm. When confronted about having children, she acts almost repulsed by the idea. Camille suffers from depression and has tried to commit suicide in the past. She cuts words into her body and her entire body is scarred. The story actually starts shortly after she is released from a mental facility. Trauma from her mother and her sexual assault in high school have left her a broken woman.

    Adora and Amma Crellin on the other hand, fit perfectly into the deep South's model of womanhood. Adora has gained respect and given her family a good name in the town. She is a perfect, delicate Southern Belle, who dresses in flowery and feminine dresses. However, as the story develops, audiences learn that Adora is deeply disturbed as a result of the abuse that she endured as a child, and the implied sexual violence that she went through. She uses her fragile personality to manipulate people's perspective of her. Adora's character completely upends previous stereotypes of what her character should be like. Even though she gives off a meek appearance, Adora may actually be the most powerful character in the show. Her abusive childhood led her to grow up with a need for attention, and with this need, she cultivated habits of inflicting her own pain into others and continuing a cycle of abuse to her daughters. While discussing any bit of Adora's mental illness would be revealing a huge spoiler, its actually one of the instances of this disorder being explored in media through a thoughtful lens that examines what could have led someone to develop this dependence.

    

    

    The youngest daughter of the show, Amma, shows a final perspective (and arguably the most impactful) into female mental illness. Amma embraces her femininity and burgeoning sexuality and she uses her body to get the attention of older boys. Like Adora, she deeply craves attention, which she was receives plenty of from her mother. Although she is barely fourteen, the show's costume designer dresses her in mature and revealing clothes and she is seen doing drugs at parties. It can be argued that Amma shows sociopathic tendencies, and she has learned how to pass the abuse she has received from her mother to others, 

    Sharp Objects' representation is discussed and analyzed so often because mental illness and trauma, especially in women is not often explored in this fashion. Rather than portraying Camille as a monster, or crazy, or a danger to society, Sharp Objects is incredibly empathetic to her illness. This type of representation is so incredibly important to take away social stigmas against depressed and suicidal people. And while Amma and Adora aren't depicted in a particularly positive way, their characters still highlight the dangers of abuse and how much it can impact a person's development and perspectives on life.