Ben X Full Review

           Unexpected but disappointing. These two words describe my feelings after seeing the movie "Ben X" to the end. The movie was fascinating and kept me anticipating until the end, but maybe that anticipation and my hope for a ideal happy ending are what made the ending unsatisfying.

           I believe most of the 11b4 classmates had failed to predict what will happen after seeing the first half of the movie. Most of the predictions were that Ben will take revenge on the bullies or that he will suicide. Of course, Ben recorded a video of his suicide, but it was unexpected in the sense that the suicide was faked. It was a master plan devised by him and his family, along with Ben's imaginary being, Scarlite. The advent of Scarlite and her truth was a important factor that made predictions fall out of aim, making "Ben X" unique. After taking ecstasy, Ben starts seeing real-life Scarlite, who comforts him and props him up when he is feeling desperate. Scarlite is the symbol of Ben's mind defense mechanism. In order to keep Ben from psychologically breaking down, his mind created a fantasy of Scarlite, which will protect Ben from outward stimulus. Through Scarlite, Ben was able to stay rational. It might seem that Ben was weak in not being to do anything independently. However, considering that Scarlite was a product of Ben's self, we can know that Ben had an unexpectedly strong mind, resulting the ending to take a new branch.

           Although the ending was fresh and surprising, it was a dismay. At Ben's funeral, most of Ben's acquaintances attended and cried for the tragic death of Ben. Even Ben's classmates and the bullies showed remorse. There is a high chance that they are feeling guilty for the death itself and scared that their actions were revealed and that they might be get severely punished, rather than feeling contrite about the bulling. Maybe that is why even after the funeral Ben was not able to go back to the "ordinary" life at "ordinary" school. He ended up at being a ranch, talking to his hallucination, Scarlite. His parents, who had been with him for his whole life, now understand him, but there is no certainty that Ben will be able to live a happy life behind the scenes. What if Ben later realizes that there was no Scarlite after all or his parents died of age? The breakdown of his psychological defense and the deficiency of interpersonal relationships will not be able to save Ben when he is desperate. Maybe the ending is realistic in a sense that most autistic people become secluded gradually. I just ideally hoped that people would be truly contrite and thus Ben would be socially integrated again.

           Except for the resolution which was somewhat unsatisfactory, "Ben x" was an enjoyable movie. It had a surprising twist in the end, unique technique of combining cyber space and reality, along with the detailed description of Ben's inner mind. If the reality itself was more ideal, more satisfying movie would have been possible.