Reign Over Me: Trauma, Grief, and Psychological Recovery

Charlie Fineman's Trauma and Withdrawal

Charlie Fineman, played by actor Adam Sandler in the 2007 film Reign Over Me, is a man who, following the September 11 attacks, has lost his wife and daughters. Unable to confront his trauma consciously, he develops unusual behavior, choosing to cut himself off from the life he knew before the tragic events. He becomes withdrawn and non-communicative, his behavior reflecting a near-vegetative state. He feels unable to let go of the past and develops an obsessive, non-dangerous attachment that drives him to remodel his kitchen repeatedly. Because of the last words he had said to his wife, remodeling the kitchen became Fineman's response to the guilt he was carrying. He thus developed survivor's guilt, to which compulsive behavior became his primary response. He also cannot engage positively in social interactions because he has convinced himself that people would only remind him of his loss and suffering, which is why he refuses to let anyone into his life and is deeply reluctant to engage in conversation.

Perceptions of Abnormal Behavior

In the film, Alan — Charlie's old friend and college roommate — considers Charlie's behavior abnormal because Charlie refuses to acknowledge him and chooses to deny that his family ever existed. From a societal perspective, this is regarded as an altered state of mind associated with abnormal behavior and a maladaptive ability to cope. While most people would choose to confide in friends and family, Charlie's unwillingness to do so also leads his parents-in-law, Jonathan and Ginger, to believe that he is mentally disturbed. They feel that a normal response to grief would involve Charlie remaining close to them and reminiscing over the happy moments they shared before the tragedy. However, Charlie is unwilling to dwell on memories of his wife and daughters with other people, which is why he avoids them entirely.

Jonathan and Ginger consider this abnormal — not simply because Charlie refuses to look through family albums with them, but because of how he chooses to manage the grieving process overall: through isolation, denial, and a suicide attempt. Although their reaction toward Charlie may carry a subjective basis, their position is understandable insofar as they have witnessed his transformation firsthand. When Charlie is arrested and brought to court after pointing a gun at a police officer, he is assessed by a group of mental health professionals appointed by the court. They also conclude that Charlie's grieving process is abnormal and recommend his hospitalization in a psychiatric clinic. This conclusion, too, could be interpreted as shaped by subjective professional experience — one that may lead clinicians to rush toward a diagnosis and a recommended treatment. Charlie's inability to begin the healing process is gradually revealed as a consequence of his deep mistrust. Once he is able to confide in Alan and speak openly about his family, his attitude begins to shift and he gradually starts reconstructing a normal life.

Defense Mechanisms in Charlie and Alan

While Reign Over Me presents Charlie as exhibiting some of the most recognizable defense mechanisms the human psyche employs to ignore or alleviate pain, it is also Alan Johnson who offers a compelling psychological parallel. Alan is a successful dentist with a beautiful wife and healthy children, yet he cannot help but feel that he has lost control of his life, which has become a routine cycle. When he first encounters Charlie, Alan is looking for nothing more than an escape from his home environment. In this sense, Charlie himself becomes Alan's defense mechanism — someone Alan hopes will bring new experiences and a sense of adventure.

Alan sees his old roommate as an anchor that will change something about his life. While the film focuses primarily on Charlie's trauma and psychological recovery, Alan is equally subject to an insightful psychological reading. Considering that a defense mechanism concerns the attitudes and actions that drive behavior, it is fair to suggest that Alan — feeling somewhat alienated within his marriage — saw in Charlie everything he could no longer relate to: spontaneity, freedom from accountability, the ability to take up any activity without explanation. Even Alan's involvement in Charlie's recovery can be understood as a strategy through which he sustains his own small escapes. As for Charlie, his defense mechanisms range from listening to music to shut out the outside world to more deeply psychoanalytic strategies. He suppresses family memories and elects to live in denial.