Brie Larson as Joy “Ma” Newsome is brainwashed over time.
Jacob Tremblay as her son, Jack Newsome, was born in captivity.
ROOM
By Marlene Ardoin
The drama, Room, is loosely based on the kidnapping story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, which occurred on June 10, 1991 in South Lake Tahoe. Dugard was held captive for 18 years, gave birth to two daughters in captivity, and her step dad actually saw her being kidnapped as she was walking to the school bus, when she was eleven years old.
Room deals with female diversity. We see the female victim being pushed around by the victimizer. Brie Larson as Joy “Ma” Newsome is brainwashed over time. Her sense of survival knows that things will go better for her and her son, if she complies with her captor’s wishes.
The kidnapper sees himself as the center of the universe. His needs are more important than the rights of anyone else. Sean Bridgers plays Old Nick as a victim himself. We buy the idea that he is pathetic. He needs to do what he is doing. He tries to please his captives as much as he can, but is not stupid enough to give them their freedom. The real Jaycee Dugard was handcuffed, stripped naked and told that Doberman Pinschers were outside and trained to attack her if she tried to escape. She gave birth to her first daughter at age 13.
Held captive for seven years in an enclosed space, a woman (Larson) and her 5-year-old son (Tremblay) finally extract their freedom. When Joy is returned to her family, she finds that her mother has remarried.
Society not only judges the victimizer, but the victim as well. Society likes to think of themselves as better than the victim, as well as the victimizer. The young media interviewers were particularly insensitive and odious.
Jacob Tremblay as her son, Jack Newsome, was born in captivity. He holds the story together through his bond with his mother, Joy. He exhibits an emotional intelligence that apparently even trained media reporters were lacking.
One other major difference in the fictional story and the Dugard story, is that Dugard gave birth to two daughters while in captivity, and after captivity, she received a $20 million state settlement, while Arnold Schwarzenegger was in office. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Lee_Dugard
3/13/2016 # Room