Sharing the Secret
Encyclopedia
Sharing the Secret is a 2000 television drama film about a teenage girl's struggle with bulimia
and its effect on her parents and friends. Originally airing on CBS
television networks in the United States, the film has also aired on cable television's Lifetime Network. In 2001, the film received a Peabody Award
for "an impressive, moving, and candid portrait of a teenager in crisis."
Beth Moss (Alison Lohman
) has a good life. She is attractive, popular, and excels academically and at ballet
. However, she feels that she is not living up to expectations. Adjusting to her parents' divorce
and trying to live up to their opposing compliments, Beth is afraid to grow up and at the same time struggles to fit in with her maturing friends. She turns to binging and purging
as a means to gain control over at least one aspect of her life.
The first sign of any problem comes with a dizzy misstep during a ballet class. Beth begs her instructor (Arina Gasanova) not to tell her mother (Mare Winningham
). In a later scene, Beth first hides a severe symptom (bleeding gums) from her friends, but then teaches one friend (Kady Cole) how to purge by inducing vomiting.
When playing a game with another friend, Sophia (Brighton Hertford), Beth cites her mother's complaints about the patients she sees in her child psychology practice as the cause of her greatest fear, which is to "not fit in ... in some way." She tells her friend that she does not want to be "like those people."
All through the film, Beth is shown hiding her symptoms. After she passes out in her school hallway, she calls her step-mother (Mary Crosby
) to pick her up from school to avoid telling her mother. At her father's (Tim Matheson
) insistence, she sees a physician who diagnoses her as anemic
. When the doctor asks if she has been eating, she says that she hasn't recently but only because she was sick. She then hides her scarred knuckles. When Beth's mother notices these Russell's signs
later, Beth passes them off as old cat-scratches.
Finally upon her return to school, Beth's school counselor
(Khadijah Karriem) confronts the girl with the observation that she may be bulimic. Beth is forced to tell her mother, but insists that she no longer has a problem. This sets off a major conflict between the mother and daughter, and Dr. Moss decides Beth must enter counseling. This conflict is paralleled in the film as Beth's grandmother (Diane Ladd
) tries to console her daughter without really understanding her situation.
Another parallel is seen in one of Dr. Moss's patients, a little girl named Rachel (Camryn Grimes
) who, like Beth, is feeling squeezed out by her father (Lawrence Monoson
) and stepfamily. Beth hints at her resentment towards her stepmother, referring to her as a trophy wife
. Beth begins counseling and is, at first, defiant, but begins to open up when her therapist (Roxana Brusso) explains her own history with anorexia
.
Later, Beth is seen coming to terms with her disorder. A friend tries to cheer her up by telling her she is "skinny enough." Beth snaps at the girl saying she doesn't throw up to lose weight. She says, "I do it because I'm screwed up."
The conflict between Beth and her mother peaks when Beth comes home to find her mother in her bathroom, cleaning out her medicine cabinet in an effort to remove anything potentially useful to induce vomiting. Beth orders her mother out of the bathroom.
When her mother refuses, Beth proceeds to vomit into the toilet in plain view of her mother. Beth breaks down in tears, telling her mother that her hair is falling out and that her heart is beating rapidly. She asks to be checked in to an inpatient facility
. The film ends with Beth still in the hospital but telling her mother of signs of improvement such as after-meal supervision time being "down to two hours."
in United Kingdom
and Europe
, distributed by Odyssey Video in 2003 and by Infinity Media from 2006 to present The film has not been released on DVD in the US.
lists an audience ranking of 54 percent and the eating-disorder blog
Disordered Times ranked the movie at five out of five, calling it "one of the best-made films on eating disorders ever," and saying that it "does not exaggerate for 'shock value,' nor does it portray eating disorders in a glamorous light..." Personal reviews on sites such as Internet Movie Database
and Amazon UK
have also praised the film for its realistic and accurate portrayal of a very serious eating disorder
Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging or consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time, followed by an attempt to rid oneself of the food consumed, usually by purging and/or by laxative, diuretics or excessive exercise. Bulimia nervosa is...
and its effect on her parents and friends. Originally airing on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television networks in the United States, the film has also aired on cable television's Lifetime Network. In 2001, the film received a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for "an impressive, moving, and candid portrait of a teenager in crisis."
Plot
By all outward appearances, teenagerAdolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
Beth Moss (Alison Lohman
Alison Lohman
Alison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
) has a good life. She is attractive, popular, and excels academically and at ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. However, she feels that she is not living up to expectations. Adjusting to her parents' divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
and trying to live up to their opposing compliments, Beth is afraid to grow up and at the same time struggles to fit in with her maturing friends. She turns to binging and purging
Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging or consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time, followed by an attempt to rid oneself of the food consumed, usually by purging and/or by laxative, diuretics or excessive exercise. Bulimia nervosa is...
as a means to gain control over at least one aspect of her life.
The first sign of any problem comes with a dizzy misstep during a ballet class. Beth begs her instructor (Arina Gasanova) not to tell her mother (Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
). In a later scene, Beth first hides a severe symptom (bleeding gums) from her friends, but then teaches one friend (Kady Cole) how to purge by inducing vomiting.
When playing a game with another friend, Sophia (Brighton Hertford), Beth cites her mother's complaints about the patients she sees in her child psychology practice as the cause of her greatest fear, which is to "not fit in ... in some way." She tells her friend that she does not want to be "like those people."
All through the film, Beth is shown hiding her symptoms. After she passes out in her school hallway, she calls her step-mother (Mary Crosby
Mary Crosby
Mary Frances Crosby is an American actress. She is most often credited as simply Mary Crosby for her performances.-Early life:...
) to pick her up from school to avoid telling her mother. At her father's (Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
) insistence, she sees a physician who diagnoses her as anemic
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
. When the doctor asks if she has been eating, she says that she hasn't recently but only because she was sick. She then hides her scarred knuckles. When Beth's mother notices these Russell's signs
Russell's sign
Russell's sign named after British psychiatrist Gerald Russell is a sign defined as calluses on the knuckles or back of the hand due to repeated self-induced vomiting over long periods of time...
later, Beth passes them off as old cat-scratches.
Finally upon her return to school, Beth's school counselor
School counselor
A school counselor is a counselor and an educator who works in elementary, middle, and high schools to provide academic, career, college access, and personal/social competencies to K-12 students...
(Khadijah Karriem) confronts the girl with the observation that she may be bulimic. Beth is forced to tell her mother, but insists that she no longer has a problem. This sets off a major conflict between the mother and daughter, and Dr. Moss decides Beth must enter counseling. This conflict is paralleled in the film as Beth's grandmother (Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
) tries to console her daughter without really understanding her situation.
Another parallel is seen in one of Dr. Moss's patients, a little girl named Rachel (Camryn Grimes
Camryn Grimes
Camryn Elizabeth Grimes is an American actress.-Life and career:Camryn is the daughter of Preston Lee and Heather Grimes. Camryn has six siblings, four sisters and two brothers...
) who, like Beth, is feeling squeezed out by her father (Lawrence Monoson
Lawrence Monoson
Lawrence Monoson is an American film and television actor.His first film was the 1982 comedy The Last American Virgin, in which he starred as Gary. His other well known film roles are in the 1984 horror movie Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter as Ted, and the 1985 hit drama movie Mask as Ben...
) and stepfamily. Beth hints at her resentment towards her stepmother, referring to her as a trophy wife
Trophy wife
Trophy wife is an expression used to describe a wife, usually young and attractive, who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband, who is often older and affluent.-History:The term's etymological origins are disputed...
. Beth begins counseling and is, at first, defiant, but begins to open up when her therapist (Roxana Brusso) explains her own history with anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
.
Later, Beth is seen coming to terms with her disorder. A friend tries to cheer her up by telling her she is "skinny enough." Beth snaps at the girl saying she doesn't throw up to lose weight. She says, "I do it because I'm screwed up."
The conflict between Beth and her mother peaks when Beth comes home to find her mother in her bathroom, cleaning out her medicine cabinet in an effort to remove anything potentially useful to induce vomiting. Beth orders her mother out of the bathroom.
When her mother refuses, Beth proceeds to vomit into the toilet in plain view of her mother. Beth breaks down in tears, telling her mother that her hair is falling out and that her heart is beating rapidly. She asks to be checked in to an inpatient facility
Inpatient care
Inpatient care is the care of patients whose condition requires admission to a hospital. Progress in modern medicine and the advent of comprehensive out-patient clinics ensure that patients are only admitted to a hospital when they are extremely ill or are have severe physical...
. The film ends with Beth still in the hospital but telling her mother of signs of improvement such as after-meal supervision time being "down to two hours."
Release
Sharing the Secret first aired on American CBS networks on May 10, 2000, and was released on Region 2 DVDDVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
in United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, distributed by Odyssey Video in 2003 and by Infinity Media from 2006 to present The film has not been released on DVD in the US.
Reception
While major critical reviews are not available for this made-for-television film, it was generally well-received by audiences. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
lists an audience ranking of 54 percent and the eating-disorder blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
Disordered Times ranked the movie at five out of five, calling it "one of the best-made films on eating disorders ever," and saying that it "does not exaggerate for 'shock value,' nor does it portray eating disorders in a glamorous light..." Personal reviews on sites such as Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
and Amazon UK
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
have also praised the film for its realistic and accurate portrayal of a very serious eating disorder
Eating disorder
Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
Cast
- Alison LohmanAlison LohmanAlison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...
: Beth Moss - Mare WinninghamMare WinninghamMare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
: Dr. Nina Moss - Lawrence MonosonLawrence MonosonLawrence Monoson is an American film and television actor.His first film was the 1982 comedy The Last American Virgin, in which he starred as Gary. His other well known film roles are in the 1984 horror movie Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter as Ted, and the 1985 hit drama movie Mask as Ben...
: Phil Paige - Mary CrosbyMary CrosbyMary Frances Crosby is an American actress. She is most often credited as simply Mary Crosby for her performances.-Early life:...
: Irene - Diane LaddDiane LaddDiane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
: Nina's Mother - Tim MathesonTim MathesonTim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
: John Moss - Camryn GrimesCamryn GrimesCamryn Elizabeth Grimes is an American actress.-Life and career:Camryn is the daughter of Preston Lee and Heather Grimes. Camryn has six siblings, four sisters and two brothers...
: Rachel - Brighton Hertford: Sophia
- Kady Cole: Melanie
- Julius Ritter: Edward
- Irina Gasanova: Ballet Teacher
- Roxana Brusso: Keri Gold
- Khadijah Karriem: School Counselor