At the Beginning of “Veronika Decides to Die,” Why Does Veronika Have an Aversion to her Parents?
During her suicide attempt at the beginning of Veronika Decides to Die (2009), Veronika (Sarah Michelle Gellar) starts composing a note directed at her parents. It starts typically enough with a stereotypical line about her death not being their fault, but she deletes it and instead opts to direct the suicide note at The Village Voice. After Veronika’s suicide attempt fails and she wakes up at the mental hospital, Dr. Blake (David Thewlis) informs her she’s caused an aneurysm in her heart and will soon be dead. Veronika’s parents show up and she reluctantly meets with them, acting cold and distant, and doesn’t inform them about her apparent heart condition.
While it’s not unreasonable for someone who just failed suicide to act distant in front of their parents, there’s a subtext to their conversation that implies Veronika has been unhappy with them for a while. They did, after all, discourage her from pursuing a rewarding, cultural career as a Juilliard-trained pianist, instead encouraging her to go to a regular school so she “would never have trouble finding a good-paying job.” This is obviously not the lifestyle Veronika wanted for herself, but the one her parents wanted for her.
The mundane corporate consumer lifestyle is what jaded Veronika against society and relationships, and as evidenced by the opening monologue and the text of her suicide note, drove her to suicide. She likely harbors remorse for her parents for forcing her to become a part of that environment. They aren’t the sole reason she becomes so depressed, but they did guide her towards that depression.