Elizabeth "Lizzie" Wurtzel is a teenager accepted into Harvard with a scholarship in journalism. She has been raised by her divorced mother Mrs. Wurtzel since she was two years old, but she misses her father and feels needy and depressive. When she joins the university, she lives with a roommate Ruby and has her sexual initiation with Noah. Her article for the local column in Crimson newspaper is awarded by Rolling Stone magazine. Lizzie becomes abusive in sex and drugs, and her existential crisis and depression increases and she hurts her friends and her mother that love her, while dating Rafe. Mrs. Wurtzel sends her to an expensive psychiatric treatment with Dr. Sterling, in spite of having difficulties paying for her medical bills and therapy sessions. After a long period of treatment under medication, and suicide attempt, Lizzie stabilizes and adjusts to the real world.

When Elizabeth Wurtzel is writing the piece on Bruce Springsteen, a pack of Morleys, the fictional cigarette brand from the "The X Files" (1993) can be seen on her desk.

[opening narration]


Elizabeth:
Back, back, back. How fucking far back do you go? My mom and dad were divorced before I was two, and from that on my father was almost uninvolved in my life, and my mother much too involved. She wanted to make up for all her mistakes through me.

Anachronisms: Elizabeth has a Bruce Springsteen "Tunnel of Love" album poster hanging in her room in 1985. The album was not released until 1987.

Written and Performed by Lou Reed
Used by permission of Screen Gems - EMI Music Inc.