QWhat, exactly, is a "Sucker Punch"?
AA sucker punch is an unexpected blow.
QWhat is the situation with Sweet Pea and Rocket?
AIn the brothel fantasy, it's explained that Rocket ran away from home because she disagreed with their parents. Sweet Pea (who is said never to have had problems with them) went with her, and they both ended up in the brothel, penniless and homeless. In the reality, their situation is pretty vague. There is a chance they're not even sisters at all. The general consensus seems to be that Rocket was genuinely mentally ill (to some extent anyway) and was committed to the asylum and Sweet Pea is sane but committed herself or is acting mentally ill in order to be with Rocket and look after her.
QIs the movie layered in a "Dream Within a Dream" sort of fashion?
AYes. This is a coping mechanism to deal with the pain from the Asylum, the sexual abuse and her killing of her sister aided by the nasty, strong drugs she would have been given. There is most definitely an inception-like, fantasy-within-a-fantasy element weaved into the film. Baby Doll appears to cope with her nightmarish situation first by imagining the asylum as a brothel (the man in charge of the asylum becomes the pimp of the brothel, Mrs Gorski's emotional support as theatrics, etc.), and her dancing (usually interpreted as either a coping mechanism for the sexual abuse by asylum staff OR the psychodrama therapy while the asylum staff ogle) as a gateway to being sent on extremely dangerous military missions which are in reality fantastic versions of tricking the loony-bin staff. Knowing which scene belongs to which fantasy is key to better understanding what is going on in this movie. Although chances are, the movie's intended to be widely interpreted.
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