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Changing Habits

Name: Changing Habits
Director: Lynn Roth
Released: 1997
Duration: 95 min

Representation Score

3.8/10

Limited

1997

Director

Lynn Roth

Runtime

95 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Changing Habits is a conventional character study centered on individual transformation and personal redemption. It prioritizes traditional romantic arcs and emotional growth over challenging social hierarchies or systemic critiques. The film emphasizes individualist recovery within a late-90s cinematic context, lacking the complexity needed to address broader sociopolitical structures.

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Category Breakdown

Does Changing Habits have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film follows traditional heterosexual relationships, focusing on the romance between the female protagonist and a male shop owner, with no indication of same-sex relationships.

How does Changing Habits portray gender?

Fair

The story centers around a woman's psychological journey and her role in driving the plot. However, it stays within traditional gendered emotional frameworks.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Changing Habits?

Limited

The film lacks a diverse cast, with a predominantly Anglo-Saxon setting typical of late-90s domestic dramas.

How does Changing Habits represent religion and culture?

Fair

The film examines relationships with religious institutions through a convent setting, focusing on personal redemption rather than a broader critique of Western institutions.

Does Changing Habits include disability representation?

Limited

Psychological issues are portrayed through artistic expression and catharsis. However, there is a risk of oversimplifying mental health struggles by relying on the 'struggling artist' cliché.

Present on Screen

The film centers on the female protagonist's ability to drive the story and her internal resilience.
It offers a platform to explore a woman's psychological journey through art.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks multi-layered complexity and diverse representation.
It relies on traditional heterosexual romantic structures.
Mental health is treated through clichés rather than nuanced representation.

Official Synopsis

An aspiring artist runs from men as a result of an early life problem that has left her relationship with her father strained. She decides to move into a convent where troubled women receive cheap lodging in exchange for work. She finds a dirty area in the basement where she paints a mural that deals with all of her psychological problems. While some find it gaudy, others such as the mother superior realizes its potential to save the convent which is to be closed. During all this the artist starts a relationship with a man who owns an art supply shop where she shop-lifts her supplies. Written by John Sacksteder

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