Where this was said
OCD, Childhood Fears, and the Mind-Reading Monster
At 8:53 · chapter starts 8:38
The conversation goes deep and surprisingly funny as Dax and Geena compare notes on their childhood OCD-adjacent behaviors. Dax's rituals involved toilet paper, hallway walls, and the desperate need to do everything twice. Geena's were more imaginative: the monster under the bed could read minds, so she had to fill her own mind with decoy locations ('Here I am in the kitchen, having crackers') to send it elsewhere. There was also a colossus giant just below the horizon that would take one step toward her when she misbehaved. Dax's explanation for his rituals is clear — a violent, addicted stepfather made home feel unsafe, so controlling small things was a coping mechanism. Geena's explanation is murkier but converges on the pressure of having to be perfect in a household run by a church deacon with extremely high moral standards.
Growing up in Wareham, Massachusetts, Geena Davis was taught that the perfect way to be was to have absolutely no needs while giving everything to others. She would turn down food at friends' houses because accepting would be an imposition. Her dad refused to let her go to a party at 9 p.m. — she was never invited again.
