Diary of a Mad Housewife

Diary of a Mad Housewife is a 1970 American comedy-drama film about a frustrated wife portrayed by Carrie Snodgress. Snodgress was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won a Golden Globe award in the same category. The film was adapted by Eleanor Perry from the 1967 novel by Sue Kaufman and directed by Perry's then-husband Frank Perry. The film co-stars Richard Benjamin and Frank Langella. Plot Tina Balser, an educated, frustrated housewife and mother, is in a loveless marriage with Jonathan, an insufferable, controlling, emotionally abusive, social-climbing lawyer in New York City. He treats her like a servant, undermines her with insults, and belittles her appearance, abilities, and the raising of their two girls, who treat their mother with the same rudeness as their father. Searching for relief, she begins a sexually fulfilling affair with a cruel and coarse writer, George Prager, who treats her with similar brusqueness and contempt, which only drives her deeper into despair. At the climax of the film, Jonathan confesses to Tina that his ambitious plans have collapsed. A French vineyard he had invested in is wiped out, and he is now in debt. Because he has been focusing on non-job issues, his work at his law firm has suffered. He also confesses to having an affair. Tina tells Jonathan that she accepts what he's done and promises to support him, but does not tell him of her own affair with George. In the conclusion, Tina is shown telling this story in a group therapy session, thus opening the possibility that her presentation of these events has been slanted to make her look more put-upon and the men in her life more mean and foolish. However, the other participants of her therapy group criticize and belittle her, while complaining about their own lot in life and how her issues seem petty by comparison. The final shot is of Tina's steadfast face as angry voices from the group are heard from off-screen with the credits rolling at the sides.