Figment

Dear Peter,

You were right, Uncle Bobby doesn’t exist. Matt and Katherine agree: psychological coping projection.

Imported comments:

damn! that’s been one of me and my sisters’ favorite movies for-ev-er, and i never put that twist on it. i always wondered something like that without putting words to it, so reading your post was like bam!. thanks dave. although i prefer to keep thinking that he’s real and super cool. andru

After a little bit of reading, I also found the theory that The King killed Bobby on the wishing spot, or that social services simply took him away, but I still think that him being a figment is the best fit. Katherine (with her fancy WM psych. degree) says that cases of people projecting abuse onto things like imaginary friends is well documented.

Also, Roger Ebert hated the film (http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1992/02/742193.html) for a lot of reasons I love it. Of course it’s a sad story of child abuse. But it also captures the spirit of being a kid and shows how kids can cope in amazing ways with terrible things. Matt Thomas pointed out while we were watching it how great the dialogue is. The children speak their internal monologues and sound just like real kids, not smart kids making speeches.