# The Makeover of Francis Farmer



## SilverMoon

*The Makeover of Frances Farmer*

Dazzling girl,
seam dressed in heaven
blondness, one, born 
with fortitude of an army.

Should have kept your looks 
behind the books
award winning papers 
bringing you to Moscow.
Communist, Collectivist, Socialist, Maoist!
let them call you names but, please, don’t. 
_Don’t!_

Left winger flys to Follywood.

Paramount, of that much importance.
you, spat on screen
like some kind of handy candy
till you rolled your eyes up to the top, then you...

Screaming at the screen, at a tinsel star,
broad wanting the bowels of Broadway.

No one hears a face.
you trumpet-talk at angry ears.

_Ennui, ennui_
A matter of time. Oh, tedium take this drink.
again and again.

Bite the breath test.
throw an ink well at the judge.
slap your mother in the face.

Mother Lazarus turns you in.
Asylum, befitting a fine little makeover. 

Five years of applications.

Room furnished with pads
apparel, white, with straps
tainted food
gnawed on by rats

Heartenervated

Lent out to soldiers.
orderlies, orderly, line up.
you had nobody, no body.

Experiments on
guinea pig by pigs.
pills long lost their appeal,
electric shock, no longer shocking.
Bored doctors knew the drill.

After the Lobotomy, 
after the crime which cries,
the makeover is complete.
head as empty as a living doll.

Mother applies your lipstick
and teaches you how to smile.


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## Foxryder

Hello Laurie,

As usual, you fascinate me with new things. You always have a big story behind your poem. Well, then this is what I understood from the poem. I may be wrong. lol


The narrator in the poem gave the account of a talented girl. Her gift attracted a large audience but she became foul-mouthed along the way. Something grave happened to her along the way (I'm not so sure)... like a crime or some sort of disqualification. 

Well, I've got to stop at this point and relish with joy the prospect of the right explanation.


'No one hears a (face)...' please, did you mean a 'phase' instead?

Overall, I'm so glad you have returned to your writing-ways, Silver moon.


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## Linton Robinson

Francis Farmer was a famous, very beautiful and intelligent actress.  She was committed to an asylum (Sedro Wooley, Washington, as I recall) where the orderlies allowed local men to rape her at night for money.  Her reports of this were, of course, discounted.  Curt Cobain was fascinated by her case.

As a NW journalist, I was familiar with Farmer a long time before Cobain rekindled interest in her heart-breaking story.  I was thinking about asking SilverMoon if her interest in Farmer came through the Cobain material or other source.

At this point, I'm asking her about your post and if she wonders whether or not reader familiarlity with the actress has a positive or negative effect on the impact of the poem.

This is a rather nice treatment of subject.  WAY better than Cobain's lyrics, for sure.     I though the last couplet was really masterful, one of those finales that manages to encapsulate, yet spin, the whole piece.


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## Foxryder

Thanks Lin for the explanation. I should have googled the name in title before asking but the subtlity took me in so quickly. It made me curious.


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## SilverMoon

Hi, Fox. Thank you, again, for enjoying my poems. You've got everything down, here. This poem is about Frances Farmer who was a famous Hollywood star. Yes. She was very strong and outspoken. Yes. She had some problems but none that deserved a criminal lobotomy! This happened many years back when doctors where able to get away with such crimes. This is a story which is very close to me and angers me so. So in a way, it was very cathardic for me to write. Laurie


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## vangoghsear

lin said:


> I though the last couplet was really masterful, one of those finales that manages to encapsulate, yet spin, the whole piece.


 I agree with Lin.  Very nicely done and this last couplet is really good.  You've said a lot in those last couple of lines.

The anger you feel at this comes through, but does not destroy the piece or make it overbearing.  Nicely done.


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## SilverMoon

lin, very pleased that you dropped in on the subject. Cobain's song does not do her or the subject matter justice. So, my influence did not come from his material. It was rummored that Francis had Bi-Polar Disorder and I think that Cobain's diagnosis of the same "might" have been part of what drove him to write his lyrics. But here is where I stop about Cobain.

The source which drove me: Yes. I've always been fascinated with the case and viscerally attached to it. Why? My mother, a brilliant woman who was a Radcliffe graduate, was subjected to numerous shock treatments in her life. This was during the 50's when I was five. Too many times witnessing my mother coming home as a zombie. A colorful woman, shut down. But this was their "answer" back then. If "Mother's Little Helpers" didn't do the trick, "shock em". 



> wonders whether or not reader familiarlity with the actress has a positive or negative effect on the impact of the poem.


 
Very good question. I am pleased to say that Fox, here, was able to get the story without knowing the history. So, I feel I did my job here. 

I do believe familiarity with the history has a positive impact on the poem in that people familiar with the story would be able to "fill" in between the lines, hence, they becoming more of a "participant." 

Not knowing the Francis Farmer story? I do feel the poem can hold it's own. But then I will have to really wait and see how other readers "feel" about the poem without knowledge of the intricate details of her background.

Thank you so much, lin, for your kudos! Has made my day.


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## SilverMoon

> The anger you feel at this comes through, but does not destroy the piece or make it overbearing.


I'm very glad to hear this, van. I say that good writing stems from "The marriage between the intellect and the emotions". I did have to stand back on several occasions. I've leared through writing classes that you should never demonize your demons. I did attempt to distract attention away from their horns through play on words such as: 


> Bored doctors knew the drill


 
How I struggled with the last two lines. I like my endings to wrap up with power. Real problem with what tense I was going to use. Almost settled with:


> Mother applies her lipstick
> and teaches her how to smile


Thinking it would keep her small, but that's already been established. So glad, I kept up with the present tense.

Thank you so much for appreciating this piece. Coming from you this means allot! Laurie


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## Chesters Daughter

Left you limp with good reason, love. I'd love to gush, but then I resort to rambling. What was done to Frances Farmer was deplorable and the mere mention of her name results in injustice gnawing at what's left of my insides. That subhuman woman isn't entitled to be called Mother. Nasty backstabbing bitch. Frances did not walk the beaten path, so they fried a brilliant mind, again I say, deplorable. I won't even attempt to address the rapes, I'll rant for sure. This is a brilliantly written, extremely evocative piece, I would have been enraged even if I wasn't aware of her story. The wordplay is delectable, and since I'm starting to gush, I'll leave it at you've outdone yourself, Laurie, you were drained with good reason. Now go replenish yourself so we can bleed you again.


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## SilverMoon

Yes, Lisa. I was quite drained attempting to create a piece which was comprehensible, despit my FURY with her mother, doctors and rapists. To be born from such a mother! Most likey jealous of her beauty, intellegence and fame. Now before "I" go on a rant, I leave this as a simple thank you for your appreciation. Laurie


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## un named

wow. your an amazing writer. I had to read it twice to understand it completly but, it was really deep and haunting, and it was just wow. keep writing. you have amazing talent


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## SilverMoon

Thanks, un named. I do tend to haunt in my work. Laurie


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## Nellie

Laurie,

Very well written work of art. Makes one furious that a so-called dr. can perform such deplorable acts of "surgery" on another human being! Just so she will be "normal". Back then, the famous Kennedy's daughter also had a lobotomy because she was "mentally challenged".  The youngest patient was a 4 year old because of behavioural  problems.  Dr. Walter Friedman performed "the transorbital lobotomy by thrusting an ice pick up between the eyeball and eyelid then through the roof of the orbit, and making the lateral cut by swinging the thing from side to side". They used lobotomies for what is now known as ADHD,ADD, bi-polar.  Even depressed homemakers had it done back then. Sad! 

May Frances rest in peace.


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## SilverMoon

Thank you, Cindy, for your kind remark. Wasn't aware of these atrocities all in the name of acting normal. Ironically, today it's "popular" to have Bi-Polar Disorder. People will brag about it. It was rummored that Francis did have Bi-Polar Disorder....and, yes, may Francis rest in peace.


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## Baron

The lobotomy is a myth.  There is no evidence that a lobotomy was ever performed on Frances Farmer.  Francis is the male spelling, the correct spelling is as I've just done it.  

I think the idea here is great but I also think it could use a serious trim.  Too much is a list of facts rather than a poetic expression.  I honestly think you could do much more with this.  It's also suffering from very bad punctuation, in particular all those lower case letters following the full stops.

This is a very promising piece of work but I don't thin it comes close to what it could be if you tidy it up and show me more of the person rather than expecting me to know her through the events.


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## Linton Robinson

I would say "myth" is putting it too strongly.   There have been official denials, but there were a LOT of denials and unavailable records regarding some of the worse psychiatric atocities such as insulin shock therapy and routine lobotomies once opinion turned against them.

This was defintiely true at Sedro Wooley and Fr. Steilacoom.   You'd have a hard time finding anybody who would admit to doing pre-frontals there, even though they were training centers in the procedures.   Denials by docs claimed to have done it are meaningless, as far as I'm concerned.  And testimonies of nurses worse than useless.  This is not an operating theater procedure, part of the appeal was that it could be done sitting in a chair in an office.

This is an internet mention, no more valid than any other mention--or less valid  


> Dr. Walter Freeman, America’s “foremost psychosurgeon” who developed the transorbital lobotomy (a treatment which only required the lifting of the eye lid and the insertion of an ice pick to tear into the brain). On his second visit, Freeman treated Farmer alone in an isolated room and although the exact details are not known, the majority opinion among the hospital workers at the time was that he had given her a lobotomy. Farmer would never be the same again.


I don't recall Freeman ever issued a denial, as did Jones at Sedro Wooley.

So, hard to say, but not necessarily a myth.   Not that myths aren't a big part of images like Farmer.  Try to separate out the myth from reality on Marilyn Monroe, for instance.


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## Baron

For the poem, it's questionable how much the myth or the truth matter.  It's a poem, not a history.  I only raised the fact that the reality is questionable because people have been debating the horror of the treatment.  This from Wiki:



> Lobotomy claims
> In 1978, Seattle film reviewer William Arnold published Shadowland, which for the first time alleged that Farmer had been the subject of a transorbital lobotomy. Scenes of Farmer being subjected to this lobotomy procedure were part of the 1982 film Frances, which had initially been planned as an adaptation of Shadowland, though its producers ultimately reneged on their agreement with Arnold.[2] During a court case against Brooksfilm (the film's producers), Arnold revealed that the lobotomy episode and much of his biography about Farmer was "fictionalized".[2] Years later, on a DVD commentary track of the film Frances, director Graeme Clifford stated, "We didn't want to nickel and dime people to death with facts."[6]
> Farmer's sister, Edith, denied that the procedure was done. She said the hospital asked her parents' permission to perform the lobotomy, but her father was “horrified” by the notion and threatened legal action "if they tried any of their guinea pig operations on her."[7] Western State Hospital recorded all the lobotomies performed during Farmer's period there. Since lobotomies were considered ground-breaking medical procedure, the hospital did not attempt to conceal its work. Although nearly 300 patients received the procedure, no evidence supports a claim that Farmer was among them.[2] In 1983 Seattle newspapers interviewed former hospital staff members, including all the lobotomy ward nurses who were on duty during Farmer's years at Western State, and they all stated Farmer was never a patient on that ward. Dr. Walter Freeman's private patient records contained no references to Farmer. Dr. Charles Jones, psychiatric resident at Western State during Farmer's stays, also stated that Farmer was never given a lobotomy.[8]


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## Linton Robinson

> "We didn't want to nickel and dime people to death with facts."



Now there's a nominee for studio motto.

Agreed.  This was bruited about quite a bit in the Seattle press when the movie came out (and I reviewed films for the Everett Herald, the daily newspaper of the area that contained both hospitals) and I wouldn't say there was ever a clear-cut "truth" established.

Except the horror of Farmer's treatment.   Which was, of course, the same as the treatment of all the other non-famous, non-beautiful "patients" in the snake pits.


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## Nellie

Baron





> For the poem, it's questionable how much the myth or the truth matter.* It's a poem, not a history*. I only raised the fact that the reality is questionable because people have been debating the horror of the treatment.



Since it's just a poem, why the debate? Aren't we all entitled to our own interpretation and opinions?

lin


> Except the horror of Farmer's treatment. Which was, of course, the same as the treatment of all the other non-famous, non-beautiful "patients" in the snake pits.



Really? Ever heard of Rosemary Kennedy? (Mentally challenged) Rose Williams, the older sister of Tennessee Williams? Alys Robi- a french Canadian singer? Sigrid Hjerten- a Swedish modernist painter? (mental problems) Josef Hassid -Polish violinist prodigy, schizophrenic? They all had lobotomies for various reasons and were famous or from famous families.
 Warner Baxter-American actor, won an Academy Award for his role of the Cisco Kid in "Old Arizona". He had a nervous breakdown, but had a lobotomy in hope to relieve intractable arthritis pain.

Do you know the reality about any brain disorders? 

Believe me, brain surgeries are alive today!!


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## Linton Robinson

Yes, really.  She got the same treatment as the other patients in the hospital.  They don't get songs and movies about their plight.

Today?????

Well,  I think you're talking about a couple of decades back with those people.  It's not tossed around as panacea these days like it was in the fifties. 

And yes, as a matter of fact, having worked as a psychodiagnostician in a large general hospital, often called in to attempt to differentiate organic from functional or involutional disorders, including administering the most stringent test for such differential diagnoses--the Reitan Halstead--I have a bit of familiarity with such matters.


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## Nellie

lin said:


> Well,  I think you're talking about a couple of decades back with those people.  It's not tossed around as panacea these days like it was in the fifties.
> 
> And yes, as a matter of fact, having worked as a psychodiagnostician in a large general hospital, often called in to attempt to differentiate organic from functional or involutional disorders, including administering the most stringent test for such differential diagnoses--the Reitan Halstead--I have a bit of familiarity with such matters.



No, it isn't tossed around as a panacea today like was back in the 50's nor should it be. 
I, too, have a bit of familiarity with neuro-diagnosticians.


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## Ilasir Maroa

Historical facts aside, the last two lines were brilliant, but there was some material earlier on that could have been reworded or trimmed.  Revised or not, though, I really liked this.


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## SilverMoon

Thank you, Ilasir. Yes. I was fond of the last two lines. I was having an inner battle about what tense to use but I glad I stuck with the present tense. I will be going over it but no mind, for some reason I enjoy editing. It's like sculpting for me. Your kind words are greatly appreciated.
Laurie


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## Ilasir Maroa

A good closing is the most important part of a poem.  (Not that the opening and development aren't important as well.)


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## Baron

Discussing the subject matter is valid. Making personal attacks on others who have commented is not.  Please keep this thread on topic.


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## HaroHalola

Laurie - TY for the read; seems you've _created_ a hot topic, thematically, poetically, & not without controversy.  Though I am somewhat personally-removed-familiar with the procedure & Its effects, & the Jessica Lange portrayal (& I might interject another "source" germane to our purpose, here, the disturbing, darkly-comedic film "A Fine Madness," Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward, _et al_ about Poetry/Poets/psychiatry & Its attendant tendrils), I am inclined to reference my comments in support of Baron in his assessment of the text (much has been "historically" referenced, this is a Writer's forum); the piece seems to stem from overt emotion (rightly or wrongly-so based upon your personal revelations); however, I feel the balance of power here resides with this emotion, opposing the greater impact the piece would import if you "refine & tighten" the text - stanza breaks, syntax - to accompany the fine imagery & ideas, which would develop more potently throughout.  This is not to say there are not "fine madnesses" in the Work - sonics-as-assonance/dissonance, alliteration, wordplay - the penultimate & the "couplet" especially powerful (yes, in the _presented_ tense!).  However as importantly, a re-configuration as mentioned to enhance continuity,_ i.e., flow_, essential to all Poetry, but especially in a piece which by definition, is "narrative."  I will happily read again, & attempt to further comment - & TY for the "shout-outs" for me -   _H'H._


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## SilverMoon

Thank you, Haro, for your comments. The piece, however, does not stem from overt emotions. 


> the piece seems to stem from overt emotion (rightly or wrongly-so based upon your personal revelations)


Regardless of personal experiences (which I've privately shared with you), I've found that I'm capable of stepping back in attempt to "Turn Tragedy into Art." I also say that "Writing is the Marriage between the Intellect and Emotion". There must be balance. I will gladly keep your other comments in mind as one should always want to improve on their craft. And I want thank you for obliging me, asking you for your opinion on my piece as I always enjoy sharing my thoughts pertaining to your work. Laurie


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## Lady S

Editors don't really edit, they choose what's publishable and what isn't.  You should take the punctuation advice seriously because it comes across as just lazy writing in what could be a great poem.  You start out okay and then lose it about half way through.  If you'd only follow the periods with capital letters then it would make such an improvement.

I agree with what others have said about those last two lines.  They really wind this poem up well.   This is worth laying aside for a while and then coming back and looking at it with fresh eyes to make it the really great poem that it's meant to be.

I really hope this is helpful.

Vicki


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## SilverMoon

Vicki, your point about punctuation is a valid one. I thank you for your advice. Laurie


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## HaroHalola

Laurie - Perhaps you have misconstrued my reference to "overt emotions", my intent was to draw a supposition based on your sharing re: your mother's plight, in that you were emotionally affected, & this was a poetry avenue you chose to visit based on this resonance between "Frances" & your personal experience.  I believe based on the text, perhaps the impact of this caused the "incongruity" I have spoken to; others here seem to be in accord with the potential power of this piece, suggestions made to rectification.  This is neither black nor white, but a mediadistant arena for writer's to separate (to which you have admittedly applied) "intellect from emotion."  What I am saying is this piece reads as an imbalance of the latter over the former.  When I first began writing seriously, serious Poetry, the Work stemmed from a relationship & the expression therein; for my part as I revisited these volumes of Work over the subsequent years, for re-reading/editing/submission for Publication, I realized I had been writing (mostly) what I term "writing from below the waist," an _entendre_ which is suffice.  I had to learn to _marry_ heart with head/_emotion with intellect_ in a homogeneous manner.  I hope this sheds light on the intent of my comments.  Of course, I've nothing but attempts at positive observation & critique for your Work -   _H'H. _


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## SvirVolgate

The end of this reminds me of Shutter Island. 

I love your pun! "Bored doctors knew the drill."


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## SilverMoon

Glad you enjoyed the pun, Svir!


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