Last night I watched Frances, a biopic of the life of Frances Farmer. I feel a bit cheated because I found out after watching it that significant portions were made up. Most significantly, in my mind, was the lobotomy. There is apparently no record nor witnesses that Ms. Farmer was ever given a lobotomy, and yet, there it was on screen. This was a huge betrayal to me. For most of the film, I watched in appreciation, but without much emotion – she had a rough life, that sucks, blah blah blah – but when that ice pick was lifted to Jessica Lange’s eye . . .
I have told myself that my burst into tears, though derived from a fictional account, is justified. They may not have done it to Frances, but it is well documented by the hospital itself that transorbital lobotomies were performed on patients. So my horror is well-founded.
I am still left with the burning question – would Frances Farmer have been institutionalized had she been Francis Farmer instead?
I think so, but if she were Francis as opposed to Frances, then she’d be in the pen. She had a volitile personality, no doubt, and even though some of it was sensationalized, there was a basis in fact. I question the lobotomy as well since there is so much to support that it didn’t happen, and the purist side of me would have cringed at that being in the movie, but then again, it’s part of her “story” so there are some that would accept it readily without question.