Cinema Therapy — Charlyne Gelt, Ph.D.

Maudie (2017)
Maud Lewis - A Twisted Legacy

Directed by Aisling Walsh, with a script by Sherry White, “Maudie” is based — on and inspired — by the life of Maud Lewis (1903-1970).

Based on a true story, Maudie chronicles the unlikely romance between Maude Lewis, a Nova Scotian folk artist, and Everett Lewis, her roughhewn illiterate fish monger ... and curmudgeonly recluse, of a husband Maudie folk art both illustrate and leave a windowed legacy of her simple Nova Scotia country life. Folk art is defined as the traditional decorative or utilitarian art of the people that is an expression of community life; such is the life Maudie and Everett lived.

Overview

An amateur Canadian painter who's navigating severe arthritis and a challenging marriage who becomes a beloved folk artist. Unwanted and unloved by her family, Maudie’s brother and aunt force her out of her family home. She is desperate! She is also determined to prove she can live on her own. She gets a job as a live-in housekeeper to a street-smart fishmonger. Eventually, Maud falls in love with him and they marry.

Maudie, a self-taught artist, lived in extreme poverty much of her adult life. She struggled with what appears to have been juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, painting bold, colorful scenes of red trees and black cats with brushes tucked in a tiny, gnarled hand, yet she continues to defy her outer pain by expressing her optimistic inner world to the delight of others. Maudie speaks to the triumph of the human spirit and survival!

Psychological Implications

It is said that opposites attract. But what is the attraction that unites Maudie and Everett? Maudie, is able to read and write and prides herself with number. She is book-smart but crippled outside by arthritis and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Still, the bleakness of her impoverished environment does not deter her from painting the world as colorful, gay, happy, even optimistic. She establishes a warm and caring emotional environment in spite of being cast out into homelessness by a cruel brother who sells her home and her new-born child without her knowledge. She is homeless and crippled.

Everett, on the other hand, though mean and angry, is physically strong and capable and makes his way in the stark environment with a work ethic that matches his physical stamina. Having been abandoned and raised in an orphanage, he is crippled inside. What is their common wound? Maudie’s inner beauty and Evertt’s beastly outer facade share a common wound. Everett, angry and controlling, is hellbent on maintaining sovereignty over his simple 1-room abode and that means keeping Maudie in a submissive position catering to his “manly” needs. He fears losing the mean façade that protects his fragile inner self.

Each represent opposing aspects of deep childhood wounds while they discover they need the strength they see in each other to survive. In the end, each reveals a tender core of loving kindness. In fact, due to Maudie’s perspective of the world, expressed through her folk art, they both thrive. Maudie used her art to escape from a rough and tumble, uncaring world and leaves an inspiring legacy to the world. Unfortunately, upon Maudie’s death (1970), her collection of folk art did not get handed down to Everett. Greed and profit may have become the outcome of Maudie’s artistic legacy.

Charlyne Gelt, Ph.D. (PSY22909) is a clinical psychologist who practices in Encino. She leads Women's Empowerment Groups that help women learn the tools to move beyond self-destructive relationship patterns. She may be reached at 818.501.4123 or cgelt@earthlink.net. Her office address is 16055 Ventura Blvd. #1129 Encino, CA 91436.