Cathy Rigby On Eating Disorders; A Season In Hell

Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby McCoy, a former bulimic, narrates Cathy Rigby on Eating Disorders, an examination of the causes, effects, and pathways to recovery for sufferers of anorexia nervosa and bulimia, the two most common eating disorders. Interviewing health and psychological professionals, the program offers definitions of eating disorders; identifies cultural standards, family emotional history, and low self-esteem as the prime causes; and talks with several individuals who share their history and current efforts in their battles with eating disorders. While not really a "how-to" in the sense that viewers are given a step-by-step plan for combating eating disorders, the program does serve as a good introduction to the subject. A Season in Hell, on the other hand, is an often harrowing look at one family's struggle with anorexia and bulimia. Regina Hatfield, the daughter of a rural family living in Ashland, KY is the subject of the film, which chronicles approximately four years of her ongoing struggle through high school and college with anorexia and bulimia. A winner of several film festival awards, the program is an expertly paced narrative that delves into the complex family relationships of the Hatfield's: Bob, the father, a simple man with traditional values; Grace, the mother, supportive of the family yet bewildered (a diabetic, Grace went without medicine during one period so that she could buy food for Regina to eat and purge); Robin, Regina's sister, a somewhat overweight but well-adjusted woman with a strong personality; and, Regina, herself, the enigma. Twice hospitalized, Regina takes her show on the road, speaking to groups of high school students about her illness. Her speech begins with the assertion that she could have "won an Academy Award for lying." Regina continues to lie: to herself, her family and friends, to the camera. Towards the final third of the film when one realizes that the filming has been going on now for years, there appears the most disturbing scene (to me) in the film. Happy, engaged Regina sits on the porch with her fiancé, as he reads a poem she wrote for him. He cries. He tells the camera that Regina is much better now, and hasn't been binge eating or purging. Behind his shoulder, unseen by him, Regina rolls her eyes at the camera--saying, in effect, that she's been lying to her fiancé too. Suddenly, it is the camera and Regina who are in cahoots and the poor guy crying on the porch is the victim. On the one hand the camera is attempting to give us an honest portrait; on the other, we begin to seriously wonder about the relationship between Regina's continuing illness and the presence of the camera. I don't want to shortchange A Season in Hell: director Walter Brock has created a riveting sociological portrait of one family's hell. It is insightful, thought-provoking, and disturbing. As noted above, however, I think it's disturbing in a way that the filmmaker did not intend. Recommended. (Available from: New Day Films, 121 West 27th St., Suite 902, New York, NY 10001.)