Christina
Ricci’s presence in any film will be remembered, no matter how good
or bad the movie. In a contest of memorable roles, it's hard to choose
between Wednesday Addams (Addams Family), Jane Hood (The
Ice Storm) and Dedee Truitt (The Opposite of Sex),
to name a few.
Much of
her appeal seems to involve the impression she gives of earnest detachment.
It is as if her natural position in life is at a hundred and eighty
degrees to everyone else. She almost exclusively portrays outcasts and
oddballs in movies.
The
Opposite of Ordinary
In
Ricci’s natal astrology chart, the planet Uranus is in a
square aspect (active, tense connection) to her Aquarius Sun. As an agent of astrological
character, Uranus emphasizes originality and polarized extremes. It
expresses contrariness and unpredictability.
In aspect
to the Sun, the astrological “self,” Uranus is associated with unconventional
personality, behavior or interests. It describes an impulse toward individualization
and breaking new ground. In her case, it is aimed at a Sun sign that
is already concerned with the idea of being unique or special in some
way.
Should
We Be Surprised When She Surprises Us?
Sun-Uranus
(or “Uranian”) types, like Ricci, are on a perpetual quest for self-definition.
The coming year carries her through all kinds of daring new acting territory.
Her first love scene (with Johnny
Depp, in their third movie together) in The Man Who
Cried, her first nude scene in Prozac Nation,
her first role as a comic book action hero in Adrenaline
and more strikingly, her first role as a producer on the latter two
films.
Even outside
astrology, the age of twenty-one is recognized as a marker of maturity,
when one “fully becomes” oneself. Now reaching this age, Ricci will
receive the cyclical transit of Uranus square to her natal Uranus. This
means the planet has traveled a quarter of the way through the
zodiac since her birth, ninety degrees from its natal position.
In the
simplest terms, it is part of a larger planetary cycle and refers to
the particular “becoming” for anyone that age. It is personalized for
her since the planet’s transit will also conjunct her Sun. Activating
her natal Sun-Uranus square aspect, this transit will trigger an unleashing
of surprises in her life, though we may only bear witness to it through
her work.
Little
Red Riding Hood Indeed
In 1997,
transiting Jupiter joined Uranus in the sky in what we call a conjunction.
This rare occurrence (every fourteen years) forms an astrological planetary
combination that implies risky behavior on the part of “Uranian” individuals.
It coincided with a crucial turning point in Ricci’s career as she weathered
a child star’s requisite awkward on-screen transformation. She stood
at the brink of reinvention, on the pivot between cute and clever sideshow
(Mermaids, Casper the Friendly Ghost, That
Darn Cat), and cult film favorite (Buffalo ’66,
Pecker, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).
Ricci presented
a jarring juxtaposition to audiences. She portrayed the seductively
precocious Jane Hood (who wore a red hood) in The Ice Storm
the same year she starred in Little Red Riding Hood. Though
apparently a simple accident of timing and coincidence, the startling
(and characteristically “Uranian”) contrast made a profound statement
on her behalf. She wasn’t just leaving behind the lightweight parts
of her early career, she was burning the bridge. Astrologically, Uranus
is involved in events that seem like accidents, but carry deeper consequences
beneath the surface.
The
Year of Ricci
In 1998,
she was everywhere, appearing in four high-profile movies and on numerous
magazine covers. Her round, buxom looks provided a strong aesthetic
counterpoint to the familiar face of “starvation chic” exhibited by
many actresses and models. She extended her physical example to young
women by discussing the importance of having a healthy body image in
interviews and becoming a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood.
Known for
being a blunt and outspoken anti-star, her candor occasionally rebounded
unfavorably. Her casual mention in an interview of having a bi-coastal
therapy arrangement fed a hungry wave of speculation on her mental health.
In familiar, detached, Aquarian fashion she responded, “I just occasionally
need someone to talk to who has a perspective on my life, but doesn’t
have an emotional attachment to me.”
Young
and Depressed in America
One of
Ricci’s more interesting upcoming roles will be her starring turn in
the film adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel’s autobiographical book Prozac
Nation: Young and Depressed in America. The book describes Wurtzel’s
life-long struggle with atypical depression and her experience with
the two-sided consequences of prescription anti-depressants. Wurtzel
was one of the first people to be prescribed Prozac after its approval
by the FDA in 1987.
In a sense,
Ricci has followed on the heels of Mermaids co-star Winona
Ryder. Ryder produced and starred in another film adaptation of a best-selling
autobiographical book about clinical depression, last year’s Girl
Interrupted. However, Ricci clearly had a personal motivation
at stake for taking this role. During her childhood, her father was
a primal scream therapist. She could hear his patients scream through
the air vents of his home office. Foreshadowing her career, she would
then imitate them for her mother.
The story
in Prozac Nation relates itself to a larger phenomenon:
a whole generation of disenfranchised children who grew up in divorced
families through the 1970s and 80s. As a figurehead for disenchanted
youth and survivor of divorced parents, Ricci’s casting as Wurtzel fits
like a glove.
Truth
at All Cost
Aquarians
are said to be committed to truth at all cost, as demonstrated by Ricci’s
straight-forwardness. For a film of this nature, the challenge is to
depict depression honestly, without appealing to the misleading romantic
mystique surrounding mental illness. To quote Wurtzel from her book,
“Madness is too glamorous a term to convey what happens to most people
who are losing their minds. That word is too exciting, too literary,
too interesting in its connotations, to convey the boredom, the slowness,
the dreariness, the dampness of depression.”
Ricci shed
her trademark voluptuousness for the role, and agreed to the nude scene.
She purposefully crossed cosmetic boundaries she set publicly just two
years ago. However, her Aquarian social concern and the pioneering spirit
of Uranus have allowed her to grow within the boundaries of her principles.
As the water bearer symbol of Aquarius suggests, she holds wisdom in
her grasp.