In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for You Hurt My Feelings, we delve into the significance of the film’s title.
Cast
- Beth – Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Don – Tobias Menzies
- Elliot – Owen Teague
- Sarah – Michaela Watkins
- Mark – Arian Moayed
- Georgia – Jeannie Berlin
- Written by – Nicole Holocener
- Directed by – Nicole Holocener
Why is the movie called You Hurt My Feelings?
At the core of You Hurt My Feelings is the conflict between Beth and Don. Beth overhears Don telling Mark about her book, and how much he dislikes it and how impossible it is to tell her because she’s so sensitive to criticism and so he has to keep reading it and pretending to like it. Beth is understandably devastated by this. This is something she’s worked on for two years and the entire time Don has been nothing but supportive. To hear that he actually hates it? It’s brutal. She’s so upset that she almost throws up.
So a large part of the story revolves around Beth’s reaction to Don’s true feelings, Don’s reaction to finding out how much he’s hurt Beth, and them working through it.
But the title extends beyond this main conflict to most of the characters in the film. Elliot is upset that he always feels like the third wheel to his parents and that Beth is too supportive to the point it’s given him unrealistic expectations for himself. Don has his clients saying mean things to him. Don’s clients feel hurt by his lack of effort. Sarah is frustrated with her clients. Mark is hurt by the world of acting. Everyone has some kind of negative emotion they’re working through.
The ubiquity of hurt feelings makes You Hurt My Feelings less about a couple dealing with emotional betrayal and more about the human condition and recognizing the fact that most of us are living with some kind of hurt feelings and how do we address those feelings and make changes in our life in order to get some closure and catharsis in order to move forward.
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