The Basket Case Transformation – Justified

25 years plus and fans and non-fans alike are still bemoaning Allison’s final act metamorphosis from disheveled recluse to buddying pretty princes. “False!” they cry; an arc in character that completely undermines her alleged winning individualism. For someone who dresses and behaves on her own Gothy, ransacked terms to be all the sudden subjected to Claire’s Barbie make-over has been taken to heart as the highest insult to all who idolize unconformity. This point of contention is understandable, but not accurate. I think it’s time to set the record straight. When we first meet her, Allison is not some free spirited bohemian. Allison is not anything. She’s a void, a black hole. And like all black holes she sucks in everything – the klepto (a hallway combo lock, Brian’s wallet) with a bag full of trinkets.
 
“Okay, fine…but I didn’t dump my purse out on the couch and invite people into my problems, did I?!”


Andrew makes a further valid point: when not hiding, Allison is an attention whore. Every external aspect of her character is a grab, a means to entice the gossipy side of others with her appearance, random outbursts ( “Ha!!” ) and lurid comments about her sexuality. She lies. She is a lie. Conformity lacks integrity only when one’s principles are sacrificed for social acceptance. But Allison doesn’t sacrifice any principles; she merely supplants a hindering identity crisis with a single honest attempt to be identified for the first time in her young adult life. “They ignore me,” she says regarding her parents. And everything she does–or doesn’t do–from beginning to end is an attempt to compensate. The only difference here, with her blossoming make-over, is that she’s now expressing herself with a positive intent instead of a negative one. She’s connecting instead of repelling.

Best and most underrated line in the movie


Allison: "Have you ever done it?"
Claire:... ! ..."I don't even have a psychiartrist."