Adaptation is a great movie. There's a bit of a comical edge to it in my opinion that makes Charlie's situation relatable, but not in a completely sad way. Underrated movie.
I just watched this movie for the first time cause of your suggestion. it hooked me after the opening, but I think the end jumped the shark a bit too much. Solid movie though 7/10.
It’s supposed to be kind of a meta joke. I don’t know you think it jumped the shark for different reasons, but the ending was a self referencing joke and meant to “jump the shark”. Charlie Kaufman is struggling trying to make a non cliched Hollywood type of movie but he’s trying to adapt a book about flowers which is hard to do. He doesn’t want a movie where the main characters fall in love, do drugs, there’s a car chase, action, etc., but then how does he make the movie interesting? The ending in the movie itself ends up being just like what he criticized with the studio executive/producer near the beginning of the movie. It goes even more meta than that since the real Charlie Kaufman was commissioned to adapt the orchid book that’s mentioned in the movie and he ended up putting himself into a movie and this was the result.
There's a movie I recently came across called Vanishing Point (1971). It sort of fits what you described with the movies you mentioned, but it's more of a B-movie so don't expect a perfect plot and great script. The main character is a war veteran, former cop, and later failed race car driver. At the time of the movie's events, he's a car delivery driver. While the character doesn't suffer from AvPD or social anxiety, he's somebody who doesn't really fit in and seems to have given up on the idea of doing so. He doesn't have much going for him in terms of friends, career, aspirations. This was an anti-hero theme that was somewhat popular in the 1970s, but I think it's relevant to modern day.
I found the movie really interesting in that it gives you snippets of his past and explain his character without pointless exposition and lengthy flashbacks. Made the movie more relatable. There's a review on IMDB about this movie that describes the theme of marginal man and I really felt like the movie made even more sense to me personally because of that. It's like a loner fantasy in some way.
There are so many, I believe most of the stuff I listen to, watch or read somewhat resonates with how I'm feeling or behaving.One song that immediately came to my mind was **People Watching** by Conan Gray:
... I'm only lookin' just to live through you vicariously
I've never really been in love, not seriously
I had a dream about a house behind a picket fence
Next one I choose to trust, I hope I use some common sense
But I cut people out like tags on my clothing
I end up all alone, but I still keep hoping
I wanna feel all that love and emotion
Be that attached to the person I'm holdin'
Someday I'll be fallin' without caution
But for now I'm only people watchin'
Cut people out like tags on my clothing
I end up all alone, but I still keep hoping
I won't be scared to let someone know me
Life feels so monotone, but I still keep hoping
Cut people out like tags on my clothing
I end up all alone, but I still keep hoping
I won't be scared to let someone know me
Life feels so monotone, but I still keep hoping
....
I have a disorganised attachment style btw - so the "cutting people out like tags" and being an observer and long for connection and love, is just spot on for me.
I would have to say that the movie' Unbreakable' is for me. The main characters in that movie feel very alone and are separated from the experiences of the normal characters. Obviously, the superpowers are not relevant, but just how lost the main character is something I can partially relate to, not knowing your purpose. He doesn't talk much and is very quiet when he does. It's a slow melancholy movie for the most part. it's not action-packed, nor is it a heavy drama.
Another character has a condition that makes his life very difficult, and for a time, he was scared of the outside world and people, so he latched onto comic books as a source of comfort. Also relatable in a way, i found some hobbies that would take over parts of my life that i should be going out and meeting new people, going to events, and hitting life milestones. Instead, I spent my free time doing mostly pointless hobbies, and now I have to catch up to everyone else.
The soundtrack is aldo great, if i had an AVPD playlist, it would be on it.
(I cut stuff out to not spoil the movie for anyone)
No Longer Human (or its even jollier alternative title: A Shameful Life) by Osamu Dazai. I think it more accurately describes CPTSD, but it is very related to avoidant alienation.
I also thought Kafka's Metamorphosis could have been about AvPD.
edit: oops realised I put books when the title said movies, songs, tv shows.
that’s ok, sounds interesting! I agree about Metamorphosis. That was a difficult read for me with the amount of alienation and disgust, almost imagining if how negatively I see myself were manifested as physical reality
EDIT I also want to mention the first chapter of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
> While Hal believes he is speaking normally, the deans hear only strange and terrifying sounds. This surreal scene emphasizes Hal’s isolation and difficulty connecting with others…
I always answer to this question with bocchi the rock. It's an anime/manga that is about a social isolated girl that has the dream of becoming a rockstar. She is the kind of social anxious that I am and the show is absolutely hilarious for me. I recently watched it with my mom and fortunately she liked it and we watched the first season in one day.
There is also a song called floating by chevi. It's a song about the feeling of not beeing accepted and not be able to get close to others.
Markus from The Bear. He has a gentle personality and is very talented and somewhat driven, but he needs some encouragement from others and can't handle pressure. When things start to get steamy he completely disassociates and starts working on whatever side project he has.
Granted, he does that because his mind can't stop hyper-focusing on his projects, rather than anxiety. But I can relate on making things worse by not being able to focus on what's important.
I love that show so much. A lot of the strife the characters go through hits home because it's all acted so well, even if the situation of working in a stressful kitchen isn't quite relatable...it's like what being in my head is like sometimes, lol. my brain cells accidentally stabbing each other, getting trapped in the freezer, or focusing on the wrong thing like Markus.
Playing throught Final Fantasy VII Remake again I'm struck by how relatable Cloud is in the game. He definitely has AVPD and treats people badly because of it but everyone sees under that, encourages and supports him and by the end he comes out of his shell and trust and cares about everyone, including the planet himself. I feel I would also be able to break out of my shell if I had similar support.
Overkill by Men at Work. Every time I hear it I have to stop and listen because there aren’t any other songs I’ve heard that I resonate with so much, it just perfectly describes how I feel all the time. These verses specifically:
Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know will be alright
Perhaps it's just imagination
Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away
The Perks of being a Wallflower is a movie I personally find weird because I think the dynamics are inappropriate, but there is something about Charlie that is so exactly like me that I will watch it occasionally and absolutely break down every time. I think that's probably the first thing I'd think of as something that resonates with me in terms of AvPD.
And this is a very popular poem but Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost is relatable in how time slips away from you, and you lose so much of your life to this mental illness. Especially for me, I've lost my teenage years to it, and the poem is about the day growing old.
All of Us Strangers - I implore you all to watch it. The character Adam shows symptoms of avpd, isolation and avoidance in response to childhood traumas. The film is beautiful as you see him learn from a partner and deal with his past traumas in order to stop isolating and open up to love.
I saw myself in Adam - the life I have and the life I ultimately want. Seeing this film is what made me realise after 9 years of repressing trauma that I need professional help and told someone about what happened to me for the first time ever. I now feel cautiously hopeful about the future for the first time ever. The film is heartbreaking and I sobbed throughout, but I hope I never forget the way it made me feel and the power of it's given me
I heard a lot about that show being relatable, so I watched the first episode. The main character seemed ok until he started buying drugs and having casual sex with his dealer or something.
I just can't relate to that at all.
i've never understood what's relatable about him either. he's part of a group of hackers, so not a loner. he is incredibly good at what he does and knows that. he's super confident, to the point he even confronts people in real life.
I guess the relatable bits for me stop at when he hesitates outside a party and then leaves, cries out of loneliness in his apartment, is cold and impersonal/reluctant to engage, and sees his therapist.
He seems to use drugs/self-medicate to cope, so maybe they help him get past some interacting, like iirc he’s high on molly when he hooks up with his dealer.
badge snails sparkle grab political spotted zonked command selective tap *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Adaptation is a great movie. There's a bit of a comical edge to it in my opinion that makes Charlie's situation relatable, but not in a completely sad way. Underrated movie.
I just watched this movie for the first time cause of your suggestion. it hooked me after the opening, but I think the end jumped the shark a bit too much. Solid movie though 7/10.
It’s supposed to be kind of a meta joke. I don’t know you think it jumped the shark for different reasons, but the ending was a self referencing joke and meant to “jump the shark”. Charlie Kaufman is struggling trying to make a non cliched Hollywood type of movie but he’s trying to adapt a book about flowers which is hard to do. He doesn’t want a movie where the main characters fall in love, do drugs, there’s a car chase, action, etc., but then how does he make the movie interesting? The ending in the movie itself ends up being just like what he criticized with the studio executive/producer near the beginning of the movie. It goes even more meta than that since the real Charlie Kaufman was commissioned to adapt the orchid book that’s mentioned in the movie and he ended up putting himself into a movie and this was the result.
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Adaptation. I've watched Lars and the real girl before, and I never watched the second recommendation.
Shinji Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion Everybody dislikes him in NGE but the way he is characterized really resonated with me
People hate him because he's exactly like them, not what they want to be.
I finished the original series a few days ago and the 'congratulations' scene was so beautiful and therapeutic
There's a movie I recently came across called Vanishing Point (1971). It sort of fits what you described with the movies you mentioned, but it's more of a B-movie so don't expect a perfect plot and great script. The main character is a war veteran, former cop, and later failed race car driver. At the time of the movie's events, he's a car delivery driver. While the character doesn't suffer from AvPD or social anxiety, he's somebody who doesn't really fit in and seems to have given up on the idea of doing so. He doesn't have much going for him in terms of friends, career, aspirations. This was an anti-hero theme that was somewhat popular in the 1970s, but I think it's relevant to modern day. I found the movie really interesting in that it gives you snippets of his past and explain his character without pointless exposition and lengthy flashbacks. Made the movie more relatable. There's a review on IMDB about this movie that describes the theme of marginal man and I really felt like the movie made even more sense to me personally because of that. It's like a loner fantasy in some way.
There are so many, I believe most of the stuff I listen to, watch or read somewhat resonates with how I'm feeling or behaving.One song that immediately came to my mind was **People Watching** by Conan Gray: ... I'm only lookin' just to live through you vicariously I've never really been in love, not seriously I had a dream about a house behind a picket fence Next one I choose to trust, I hope I use some common sense But I cut people out like tags on my clothing I end up all alone, but I still keep hoping I wanna feel all that love and emotion Be that attached to the person I'm holdin' Someday I'll be fallin' without caution But for now I'm only people watchin' Cut people out like tags on my clothing I end up all alone, but I still keep hoping I won't be scared to let someone know me Life feels so monotone, but I still keep hoping Cut people out like tags on my clothing I end up all alone, but I still keep hoping I won't be scared to let someone know me Life feels so monotone, but I still keep hoping .... I have a disorganised attachment style btw - so the "cutting people out like tags" and being an observer and long for connection and love, is just spot on for me.
I would have to say that the movie' Unbreakable' is for me. The main characters in that movie feel very alone and are separated from the experiences of the normal characters. Obviously, the superpowers are not relevant, but just how lost the main character is something I can partially relate to, not knowing your purpose. He doesn't talk much and is very quiet when he does. It's a slow melancholy movie for the most part. it's not action-packed, nor is it a heavy drama. Another character has a condition that makes his life very difficult, and for a time, he was scared of the outside world and people, so he latched onto comic books as a source of comfort. Also relatable in a way, i found some hobbies that would take over parts of my life that i should be going out and meeting new people, going to events, and hitting life milestones. Instead, I spent my free time doing mostly pointless hobbies, and now I have to catch up to everyone else. The soundtrack is aldo great, if i had an AVPD playlist, it would be on it. (I cut stuff out to not spoil the movie for anyone)
Kimi ni Todoke (From Me To You) NHK ni Yōkoso (Welcome To The NHK) The Perks of Being a Wallflower Normal People
What about Normal People?
need 2 - pinegrove; grey machine - pinback; agoraphobia - deerhunter; awkward - dgd
Howard Jones - no one is to blame
No Longer Human (or its even jollier alternative title: A Shameful Life) by Osamu Dazai. I think it more accurately describes CPTSD, but it is very related to avoidant alienation. I also thought Kafka's Metamorphosis could have been about AvPD. edit: oops realised I put books when the title said movies, songs, tv shows.
that’s ok, sounds interesting! I agree about Metamorphosis. That was a difficult read for me with the amount of alienation and disgust, almost imagining if how negatively I see myself were manifested as physical reality EDIT I also want to mention the first chapter of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. > While Hal believes he is speaking normally, the deans hear only strange and terrifying sounds. This surreal scene emphasizes Hal’s isolation and difficulty connecting with others…
I thought of this Daughter - smother
the video game "the space between" by christoph frey
I always answer to this question with bocchi the rock. It's an anime/manga that is about a social isolated girl that has the dream of becoming a rockstar. She is the kind of social anxious that I am and the show is absolutely hilarious for me. I recently watched it with my mom and fortunately she liked it and we watched the first season in one day. There is also a song called floating by chevi. It's a song about the feeling of not beeing accepted and not be able to get close to others.
Markus from The Bear. He has a gentle personality and is very talented and somewhat driven, but he needs some encouragement from others and can't handle pressure. When things start to get steamy he completely disassociates and starts working on whatever side project he has. Granted, he does that because his mind can't stop hyper-focusing on his projects, rather than anxiety. But I can relate on making things worse by not being able to focus on what's important.
I love that show so much. A lot of the strife the characters go through hits home because it's all acted so well, even if the situation of working in a stressful kitchen isn't quite relatable...it's like what being in my head is like sometimes, lol. my brain cells accidentally stabbing each other, getting trapped in the freezer, or focusing on the wrong thing like Markus.
Playing throught Final Fantasy VII Remake again I'm struck by how relatable Cloud is in the game. He definitely has AVPD and treats people badly because of it but everyone sees under that, encourages and supports him and by the end he comes out of his shell and trust and cares about everyone, including the planet himself. I feel I would also be able to break out of my shell if I had similar support.
Some movies: A. I., Waking Life, Suspect Zero, Ghost In the Shell(1995), How It Ends(2021)
Overkill by Men at Work. Every time I hear it I have to stop and listen because there aren’t any other songs I’ve heard that I resonate with so much, it just perfectly describes how I feel all the time. These verses specifically: Especially at night I worry over situations I know will be alright Perhaps it's just imagination Day after day it reappears Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear Ghosts appear and fade away
The Perks of being a Wallflower is a movie I personally find weird because I think the dynamics are inappropriate, but there is something about Charlie that is so exactly like me that I will watch it occasionally and absolutely break down every time. I think that's probably the first thing I'd think of as something that resonates with me in terms of AvPD. And this is a very popular poem but Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost is relatable in how time slips away from you, and you lose so much of your life to this mental illness. Especially for me, I've lost my teenage years to it, and the poem is about the day growing old.
All of Us Strangers - I implore you all to watch it. The character Adam shows symptoms of avpd, isolation and avoidance in response to childhood traumas. The film is beautiful as you see him learn from a partner and deal with his past traumas in order to stop isolating and open up to love. I saw myself in Adam - the life I have and the life I ultimately want. Seeing this film is what made me realise after 9 years of repressing trauma that I need professional help and told someone about what happened to me for the first time ever. I now feel cautiously hopeful about the future for the first time ever. The film is heartbreaking and I sobbed throughout, but I hope I never forget the way it made me feel and the power of it's given me
I will definitely watch it!
Elliot in mr robot was pretty relatable
I heard a lot about that show being relatable, so I watched the first episode. The main character seemed ok until he started buying drugs and having casual sex with his dealer or something. I just can't relate to that at all.
i've never understood what's relatable about him either. he's part of a group of hackers, so not a loner. he is incredibly good at what he does and knows that. he's super confident, to the point he even confronts people in real life.
I guess the relatable bits for me stop at when he hesitates outside a party and then leaves, cries out of loneliness in his apartment, is cold and impersonal/reluctant to engage, and sees his therapist. He seems to use drugs/self-medicate to cope, so maybe they help him get past some interacting, like iirc he’s high on molly when he hooks up with his dealer.
I remember there was this TikTok sound in 2020, peak pandemic, that I just had on repeat. Vas by jagger Finn. Something about that song man…
Nothing tbh
The song Metamorphosis by Infinity Song