Annie+Wilkes

﻿ Annie Wilkes (From the movie //Misery//, based on the novel by Stephen King) -Eli Brenna

Annie Wilkes is an ex-nurse with socio- and psychopathic tendencies. She was relieved of her nursing job after she was put under suspicion for causing the death of a number of infants in the hospital's infant ward (she was it's head nurse). She received the nickname "Dragon Lady," which is appropriate as at times she can be fiery and fearsome. She is also responsible for the deaths of her childhood neighbors, her own father, her roommate in college, and a number of others. When our protagonist, Paul Sheldon, a famous novelist, is in a nearly-fatal car crash in the snowy mountains near her home, she finds him in the wreckage (as she is a bit of a stalker), takes him home to her house, and does her best to nurse him back to health. Paul is bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound for a large part of the film. Despite calling herself his "number one fan," she does not alert anyone else of his survival and presence in her home, as she wants him all for herself. When she reads the ending to his newest book in the "Misery" series, about a woman named Misery, and finds out that the character is killed off, she goes berserk, yelling at Paul and demanding that he "murdered [her] Misery!" Also, when she reads the only copy of Paul's newly-written book and dislikes it because there's too much profanity for her taste, she burns it, despite Paul's desperate attempts to convince her not to and his personal belief that it is the best book he's ever written. He is tired of writing the highly romantic and fictionalized "Misery" series, and killed her off for his own good. Annie, though, demands that he write a new novel "just for [her]." These events make her out to be an extreme narcissist; she only cares about her own wants and opinions, and would keep Paul up in her house without proper medical treatment for an undefined period of time while he writes a book to satisfy her psychotic "needs."

In one scene, Annie Wilkes reveals to an already wary Paul Sheldon that she never let anyone know that she had him in her house: "And don't even think about anybody coming for you. Not the doctors, not your agent, not your family. 'Cause I never called them. Nobody knows you're here. And you better hope nothing happens to me. Because if I die... you die." She is obviously a psychopath, as she has already shown suicidal tendencies and is now presenting Paul with the disturbing idea that if she is gone, he'll die alone.

PHYSICAL QUALITIES: 1. Annie's calm, contemplating gaze is tough to look at for an extended period of time without feeling chills. Her understated facial expressions are a weak cover up for the evil within. Just don't get her angry. 2. Usually fairly well kept, in the picture with the caption "Depressed Annie," the frayed hair and rings under her eyes give the impression that she is extremely depressed and fundamentally unhappy. And when she's unhappy, her suicidal and violent tendencies are more severe. 3. She wears clothing that looks somewhat silly, like farmhand mixed with little girl mixed with very elderly lady. It suggests that, while she herself is older, she has the mental bearings of a simple child, as do her phrases ("cockadoodie brat" and "dirty birdy" to name a few). 4. She becomes visibly happy at the thought of committing a murder-suicide with Paul Sheldon, suggesting a sadomasochistic mindset. She wants to get dressed up, have a special dinner, and then commit this act in celebration of his finishing the new "Misery" novel. 5. When extremely angry, Annie's face gets twisted into an expression of rage uncommon among most people. She then acts out, hitting Paul with her hands or hammers or throwing his meal across the room. After seeing his discomfort, fear, and pain, though, she calms down immediately and acts apologetic and as close to normal as she ever gets.

media type="youtube" key="i5OlolbLXvw?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="left" In this video, Annie has discovered that Paul has attempted to escape and left his room. She is not at all pleased with this development, and decided she needs to both teach him a lesson and make sure he can't escape again. As the video shows, she is quite cavalier when it comes to "hobbling" and damaging him. Her evil nature comes out through her sometimes straight-faced, reasonably-voiced insane ravings, and even after inflicting almost as much damage on him as the car crash did, she can come out with a passionate and (disturbingly) laughingly ironic "I love you." It appears she subscribes to the notion of "tough love."

This is possibly the film's most iconic scene.

@https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OlolbLXvw

FUN FACTS! This role got Kathy Bates an Oscar for Best Actress. Annie Wilkes is also ranked at #17 on the American Film Institute's list of best movie villains. This is one of a few roles Kathy Bates takes on as a character in a Stephen King adaptation, along with the title character in "Dolores Claiborne" and a character in a miniseries version of "The Stand."