What’s Eating Gilbert Grape-Becky - Character Review

‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?’ is a film directed by Lasse Hallstrцm .It is a film about a young man, Gilbert, who is weighed down with more burdens than anybody should have. He lives in a dull town called Endora where nothing ever happens. His sisters are always fighting, he is having a pointless affair with a bored housewife and he stocks shelves at a small grocery store that will eventually close down because of the new supermarket. He also has a mentally challenged brother, Arnie, who needs constant supervision. Though, Betty is not the main character, there would be no story without her. She is the catalyst and the one that opens Gilbert’s eyes to a world outside of Endora. Hallstrцm has developed her character not by showing us what she does and how she reacts to something.

In the scene after Gilbert watches Becky while she puts up her laundry, Becky points to a praying mantis. “Hey! Look! Come here. It’s a praying mantis. You know how they mate? The male sneaks up on the female... she’ll eat the rest of him” In this scene, the director has a mid shot of Becky and Gilbert quite close together and it’s an eye level angle. All through the scene, her costume was a purple patterned robe with a long sleeved shirt underneath which reveals that she doesn’t like showing much skin. Her costume is loose and sensible clothing as it doesn’t restrict her movements. Becky’s clothes are for comfort not fashion. We can see from Becky’s face while she talk about the praying mantis that she is quite fascinated about its mating technique. I like Becky in this scene because here we learn that she is interested in the world around her she is knowledgeable and sensible. These are admirable traits.

After her Grandmother comments on her beauty, Gilbert and Becky take a walk. During the walk, Becky says, “I’m not into that. The whole external beauty thing, you know…. It doesn’t last. You know, so what? It’s what you do that really matters.” During this scene, the director uses a two shot (long shot) as there is quite a lot of movement in this shot as they are walking and it gives them plenty of room. Becky leads the walk while Gilbert follows right behind her. With Becky leading Gilbert, it is as if she is the teacher showing him the way and he is the student. We see that Becky doesn’t have much eye contact with Gilbert as she talks about beauty, maybe because she is unsure if he would feel the same way. The director develops her as an opinionated person with some insecurities. I like Becky in this