The Secret Garden and Mrs. Medlock

I think I may have found the master copy of the deputised covid tyrant archetype

Although there may be older examples of munchausen by proxy in movies and written literature, very rarely is it combined with mask mandates, obscure medical treatments and the ritualistic othering of those who threaten the illusion. The film, The Secret Garden (1994), provides one of the most incredible viewer experiences you are likely to see and perhaps will never see again. The story is centred around a series of tragedies that befall a misfortunate but extremely wealthy family resulting in a little girl being sent home from her Indian colonial mansion to Britain to stay with her Uncle. Upon arrival home she is met by the head housekeeper Mrs. Medlock who is a complete sociopathic control freak. Medlock sees herself as nobility despite her occupation and has a potent classist attitude towards the little girl who is actually from Noble stock. The clear jealousy and disdain here is the first hint at things to come.

As the story progresses, the little girl Mary is confined to her room or sent out into the garden in a very demeaning manner by Mrs Medlock. In the vast gardens of the Manor, she finds a secret garden with its door hidden behind a layer of vines and leaves. A stable boy working on the grounds befriends her and she learns that her mothers twin sister, her pregnant aunt that owned the house, died after falling off the swing in the garden and going into labour early. Curious about the knowledge of this cousin she was not told about, she searches the large house and finds him. Colin turns out to be a bedridden “cripple” who Medlock has kept locked away, starved of sunlight and exercise. Medlock has convinced Colin, and his father, that an open window could lead to certain death and that only the servants should be allowed into see Colin as they know the correct routine involving mask wearing and electric shock treatment to preserve Colin’s leg muscles from atrophying. Even the small but astute mind of Mary could see through the lies. Colin was convinced from an early age that he was dying yet Mary thought otherwise, devising a plan to remove the wooden boards from his windows and to get him out of bed. Seeing this threat to her very lucrative delusion, Medlock takes action and once again separates the children by locking them away. The three kids hatch a plan to sneak out at night and go to the secret garden. This is where the film very clearly inserts a sophisticated nod to the old religion. There, in the garden at night the kids conduct a pagan fire ritual to summon their Uncle home from afar to see that Colin is not only out of bed, but he is now walking on his own two feet. The ritual works, with his father hearing their voices and returning home to question the integrity of Medlock’s web of lies. There he reunites with his son and his niece, snapping out of the spell that Medlock had cast over him. Horrified at the fact that Medlock locked away his niece he demands to see her and his son. Neither of them are in their rooms. He rushes out to the gardens and locates them in his deceased wife’s secret garden. There the three lovingly embrace, free from the tyranny of Medlock’s lockdowns, quarantines and forced separation.

Those who lived through the covid lockdowns will be horrified watching this film now that we have witnessed our friends, family and neighbours become Medlock. The gimmick of self importance that breeds in the mind of the nobility of this period drama is identical to the narcissistic personality disorder that we witnessed our government induce in the population in 2019. I imagine that those that viewed this film back in the day thought that Medlock would never manifest into their reality. Instead, her mannerisms in a post covid context became that of every closeted sociopath that took it upon themselves to marshal their fellow citizens. These Medlock’s literally forced thousands of Irish people into dependency so that they could avail of this newfound authority. Perfectly healthy old people were locked away in isolation and preyed upon by by their offspring who saw their chance to be rid of them or placed under their compliment. Recovering drug addicts were denied access to treatment if they refused the jab. Childrens medical procedures were withheld unless they and their parents were vaccinated. No mask? No access to food or clothing. Worst of all, you were locked away like little Mary if you chose to assert the truth of the world. Colin would not die if he went out in the garden with his friends.

When comparing Medlock to the Branch Covidian Cult, the best scene in the film is when the children help Colin realise his full power as master of the house in his fathers absence. Colin musters up the courage to tell Medlock to shut her mouth and keep her distance as the other kids bring him out in his wheelchair. Infuriated that her intricate mechanism of control had been shattered, Medlock abandons her lie on the spot, proclaiming “Just take these stupid things off! What good are they now?”.

I can’t recommend watching this film enough. As a stand alone film this is a great watch but allowing yourself to see the madness of the covid era summed up into one character in Medlock is a great way to heal the trauma of covid. If there was ever any doubt who the lunatics were this film will set you right. There are also some taboo depictions of slavery, colonialism and classism which would never make it into a modern movie. It is a far more real movie than we see today with all the woke exaggerated happiness and pathological identitarianism. The severe lack of autism in this film is worth it alone but the real value comes at the very end when Medlock is seen to be remorseful and even happy for Colin and his family as she stares out the window in tears. A rare moment of reevaluation that all of the spastics in this country could do with having.