Discussion Main / HystericalWoman

Removed this:

• Rose Byrne's character in Knowing devolves into hysteria laced with Arbitrary Skepticism towards the end, screaming about "the children," and completely refusing to listen to Nicolas Cage (as a comparatively calm, rational astrophysicist) as he tries to tell her exactly how to save them. It doesn't end well for her.
  • However, this may be a slight subversion to the letter of the trope. While yes, she did more or less lose it, one must consider the circumstances: In about a single 24-Hour period, she learns that her prophecy-spouting mother, whom she and everyone else assumed was just Bat-Guano Insane was right all along, that the world was going to end and everyone would die, and that their only hope-they assumed-was going to amount to nothing. Also, everyone else was pretty much loosing it too, men and women (wouldn't most people?). Didn't you see all those fires and riots in New York? Plus, Nicholas Cage didn't seem all that well together either. Until the Energy Beings left with their kids and he just accepted the inevitable.
    • Comparing the two main (adult) characters, it's pretty clear both were dealing with a difficult situation (to put it mildly), and that both were more than a little disturbed. But it's also perfectly clear that one of them was in full-out hysterics by the end, and the other one, though hardly in top shape... well, wasn't. It's also clear that the character who was in hysterics was making things worse as a direct result, while the other was being as productive as possible under the circumstances. So on the whole, the trope fits this film very well.

This trope is about a women being portrayed as more emotional and unreliable than men. It's not about an instance where a woman is having a fully justified freakout in a situation where anyone would fall to pieces and a man happens to be more calm for whatever reason. (Not that Cage is a great example of 'calm' either, as he's slowly growing more unhinged as the movie goes on - justifiably unhinged, but then so is she.)

Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Troublesome definition, started by Prfnoff on Mar 28th 2011 at 3:46:43 AM

J

Just wondering if this would count as a subversion; Alice has just lost her best friend, and the next couple of appearances have her crying over her loss. A month or so passes, and Alice is later shown to be still depressed, but no longer a basket case over the situation. Then, after a particularly traumatic event, Bob is shown crying and Alice consoling him.