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The Secret Garden

Name: The Secret Garden
Director: Alan Grint
Released: 1987
Duration: 100 min

Representation Score

3.1/10

Limited

1987

Director

Alan Grint

Runtime

100 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film closely follows 19th-century Western dramatic conventions, focusing on restoring a traditional English household. Although it includes a female lead and a character with physical differences, these elements operate within a conventional framework. The narrative structure emphasizes a transition from a colonial setting in India to an English-centric focus, which centers a Eurocentric worldview. The absence of diverse perspectives limits the film’s diversity profile.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Secret Garden have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any characters with LGBTQ+ identities or non-cisgender roles. The story revolves around traditional Victorian interpersonal relationships.

How does The Secret Garden portray gender?

Fair

Mary Lennox is a central female character who transforms from a spoiled girl into an active force for change. However, the plot stays within the bounds of conventional Victorian social norms.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Secret Garden?

Limited

The story shifts from colonial India to an English estate, focusing on a Eurocentric domestic environment. There is minimal representation of diverse casting or non-Western viewpoints.

How does The Secret Garden represent religion and culture?

Limited

The narrative follows a traditional Western storyline emphasizing the restoration of a family home and stability. It highlights the significance of the English estate and its heritage.

Does The Secret Garden include disability representation?

Fair

A male character is described as frail and deformed. This portrayal may use physical differences as a symbol of sorrow rather than giving the character independent ability to act.

Present on Screen

Features a female protagonist who evolves from a passive role to an active agent of change.
Introduces themes of disability through a character with physical differences.

Limited or Absent

The narrative heavily relies on traditional Victorian social structures and a Eurocentric domestic setting.
Disability is portrayed through the lens of melancholy and sorrow rather than independent ability to act.
The colonial setting in India primarily serves as a backdrop before shifting to an English-centric focus.

Official Synopsis

When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about.

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