Elements of Pathos in Mary and Max

In the animated film Mary and Max, we are introduced to two characters that live normal lives on separate sides of the world and soon become friends through a random address drawing from an American phone book that Mary does who lives in Australia. Mary believes that it would be fun to have a pen pal on the other side of the world who could tell her how things are in America compared to Australia. Although the plot line itself seems simple, director Adam Elliot created a film that explores the elements of pathos in order to make us feel emotions such as anger, sadness, humor, or sympathy for the onscreen characters. 

 

            We meet Mary, an 8 year-old girl from Mount Waverly, Australia and Max who is a 44 year-old man from New York, America and as we learn more about the two, we gain compassionate, understanding feelings toward them. Mary does not have the best home life, her family is poor, and her mother is an alcoholic and a kleptomaniac who takes Mary along with her on her adventures to stores where she steals from. Mary’s father rarely spends any time with her and seems distant, and Mary is constantly fighting off bullies and mean words about the birthmark on her head. When we see inside all of the complex problems that are going on inside this young girl’s life, we begin to feel pathos and sympathetic pity towards her.

 

            Max on the other hand turns out to be an obese man who attends Overeaters anonymous meetings and occasionally suffers from anxiety attacks. Later on in the film when Max is diagnosed by doctors with asperger syndrome as well as depression, we can’t help but feel bad for him and wish that there was something we could do to help him.

 

            Mary and Max may have their problems that we learn about that cause us to sympathize with them, but so do other characters. Mary’s neighbor Len Histop is a World War II veteran who has lost his legs and has agoraphobia and is too afraid to come out of his house. We learn how hard it is for him, and when he finally does come out we are proud of him and happy for him. Max’s neighbor Ivy is blind, but that doesn’t stop her from living her life to the fullest she can. Damien Popodopoulos who later becomes Mary’s husband may seem perfect almost like a Barbie doll or the perfect human being, but he has a stuttering problem that affects the way he speaks. As we see from looking at the lives of multiple characters in Mary and Max, each character has their flaws on the inside and each one learns how to cope with them, which can be one of the hardest parts. But Elliot does an amazing job at not only showing pathos in this film and tapping into the viewers emotions, but also balancing it with tidbits of humor we see throughout the movie such as the love interests that Max has at overeaters anonymous and the suggestions about chocolate in heaven that Max has for Mary in order to deal with her bullies that are what make it such a great film with a balance of pathos and humor.