Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming...

Over 2 years ago, I wrote a post about Finding Nemo and all the mental illness implications within the movie.

Courtesy of Pixar

Little did I know that this post would become the runner up to the most popular post on my blog. Since 2/23/11, the post has received over 11,200 hits.

That's a lot of people checking out Finding Nemo.

So perhaps folks might be interested in knowing that Pixar is coming out with a sequel called...yep. You guessed it: Finding Dory.

There is a lot of speculation about how Pixar will handle having a main character who suffers from significant mental and cognitive disabilities. One can only assume that she gets lost somehow, courtesy of her disorder, and Marlin and Nemo will likely be looking for her. While she was a only a supporting character fish in Finding Nemo, she will take center stage. 

Dory isn't just quirky. That's important to put on the table. She not only suffers from short-term memory loss, she also has a lot of anxiety, confusion, and disorientation when she's left on her own. There is arguably some dependent personality disorder traits exhibited as well, but this is muddied by her mental handicap which prevents her from living independently. 

Michael Arbeiter of Hollywood.com likened Dory and Marlin's relationship to that of the relationships between Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. This got me thinking of all the similarities. Tom Cruise utilized his mentally compromised brother to forward his goal of getting their father's inheritance. He took advantage of him, and Marlin does the same with Dory's ability to read English and talk whale. Tom Cruise was frustrated by his brother's handicaps (such as not being touched, not being able to fly, having to watch certain shows at certain times, wear certain types of underwear, etc). Marlin wants to pull his hair scales out with Dory's mental handicap, and eventually leaves her alone toward the end of the movie, which really does a number on Dory.

I just want to see Pixar show a heroine challenged by mental illness but not beat down by it. People (and fish) can rise above their limitations. Pixar has shown that they can go deep with certain movies, such as Toy Story 3 and Wall-E. I sincerely hope that they go there with Finding Dory.

Let's Analyze

Have you heard that Pixar will be releaseing Finding Dory in 2015? What do you hope they do with the film?

And I'm still offering a giveaway of Julie Lessman's newest, Love at Any Cost! Just click here to enter the giveaway!

And HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! I'm so proud so many of my family members have served or are currently serving. Thank you to Allan, Marion, Dave, Cheryl, Jason, Gene, Mark, Wes, and George. Your service is and always will be greatly appreciated.