Through the years, mentally ill individuals have often been portrayed in cinema in ways that are either reductionist or offensive. In some of the worst instances, the mentally ill are characterised as crazy, psychotic serial killers, strapped into straitjackets or hiding behind terrifying masks. Friday The 13th, Psycho, The Silence of The Lambs, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are just a few of the more prominent examples.And whilst these films can be entertaining, it’s important to remember the unintended impact that such representations can have on a film-going public over time. Representations of the mentally ill in cinema can either have a positive or negative impact on the public consciousness, depending on the nature of that representation.
Horror movies generally equate poor mental health with a psychologically challenged antagonist, bent on terrorizing the lives of the protagonist and those around him or her. It’s my observation that this kind of negative association contributes to a poor perception of those people who struggle with mental illness in the real world. We consider discussion of mental illness to be taboo, and worse, as a population we tend to avoid interacting with people we believe to have poor mental health. In reaction to this, people with mental health issues will often hide their condition and become fearful of judgement.
However, whilst Hollywood has historically cast mental health issues in a negative light, it is now beginning to help lift the stigma on this sensitive issue. Think Girl, Interrupted, A Beautiful Mind, Silver Linings Playbook, or perhaps even Inside Out. Hollywood has begun to realize how important it is to portray mental illness authentically, avoiding extreme associations with violent behaviour.
In many of the above-mentioned movies, the lead characters were portrayed as successful individuals who changed the lives of the people around them. Likewise, these characters were also shown to be “normal” human beings who eat, drink, sleep, cry, and love like average people. These characters have created public awareness about what mental illness looks like in real life.
Gone are the days in which mental health treatments are portrayed as a “living hell” – filled with syringe wielding nurses and putrid facilities. In real life, mental health treatments are more than just office visits and therapy sessions. In reality, there are many types of mental health facility such as dual diagnosis rehabs.
You can now choose from one-on-one or group sessions, as well as using psycho-education, meditation, yoga, and physical activities amongst other things. With that said, it has been an important move for Hollywood to portray mental illness as something to be understood rather than to be scared of. After all, people who suffer from such do not deserve to be judged and should be given a chance to change and recover for their betterment.
Mental Health in Real Life
The US Department of Health and Human Services report that around twenty percent of adults experience mental illness, while 1 in every 20 adults experience more serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and the like.
While the negative impact of film portrayals of mental illness will not quickly disappear, the reality is that those with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of mistreatment than the other way around.
Unfortunately, many who know or believe they suffer from a mental illness choose not to get treated because of the stigma associated. The positive depiction of mental illness and treatment in movies is one small thing that will help turn this around. Seeking treatment is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it’s one of the bravest things an individual can do, and can help them to lead a normal – even better – life.
Comments
8 responses to “Hollywood’s Role in Lifting the Stigma of Mental Illness”
I apologize! It is such a popular film that I wanted to just stay away from it, but I probably should of mentioned it in my piece!
No worries, Dale—you didn’t do anything wrong! I really appreciate your concern for those dealing with the challenges of mental health and calling attention to these conditions in your article with regard to depictions of such issues in movies. Thank you for writing it.
Hi Simon,
I meant it to be a reference to films that showed antiquated and horrific views of the treatment of mental illness. I certainly was not advocating the type of conditions shown in the film. I just thought that Dale might have been interested to see it.
I think you may have misconstrued my intentions with the comment.
Best wishes, Pete.
I haven’t misconstrued your comment, Pete. Part of the point of Dale’s article is that Hollywood is beginning to understand how to portray examples of how people deal with mental health issues in “real life”—rather than in the extreme case depicted in “The Snake Pit.” I think you missed the point of my response. The ongoing inner monologue of Olivia de Havilland’s character, her inability to care for herself or comprehend what was happening at times, and the setting of “The Snake Pit” all reflect a perspective of a type of mental illness that is not necessiarily the norm in “everyday” life. As such, “The Snake Pit” seems to me to be a strong example not only of how Tinseltown portrayed the treatments and institutions pertaining to mental illness as being horrific, but also of an example of how mental illness itself has been broadcasted—as something overwhelming, a kind of insanity that condemns the person suffering from such ailments to an institutionalized life or one that requires constant aid and precludes the ability to work, dine at restaurants, socialize “normally”’with people, etc. That the movie industry has started to reach out to audiences with pictures that show folks in “real life” dealing with challenging but “everyday” mental health issues—say, Jack Nicholson’s character in “As Good as It Gets” or Bradley Cooper’s character in “Silver Linings Playbook”—is a good thing, even though I don’t think the sector is near where it should be on this issue. But this is the argument I was making, which I believe supports Dale’s article and further reflects the fact that “The Snake Pit”’ is not a good example of what to see in relation to the author’s gist.
I look at the smooth perfect faces of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence and it’s very apparent that Hollywood is incapable of portraying “what mental illness looks like in real life”, that this is NOT portraying “mental illness authentically.
Yes, I take your point there are more positive and more nuanced portrayals emerging in mainstream American movies, and that this is a good thing in terms of public awareness.
But commercial entertainment really does not resemble reality.
No Mention of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?” There are some holes in your education!
It’s undeniable that mental illness has provided a constant source of material for film-makers, though modern efforts to redress that balance are laudable, if few and far between. I recall seeing a powerful film when I was quite young. It is fairly well-known for its depiction of treatment of the mentally ill, but if you have never seen it, you might be interested.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snake_Pit
Best wishes, Pete.
“The Snake Pit,” IMHO, is similar to the kinds of antiquated films that Dale in this article references as presenting horrific views of mental health issues—and “The Snake Pit” seems particularly ill-fitting in part owing to its extreme depiction of institutionalization, a depiction that I, as an individual with OCD and ADHD, find sensationalistic, exploitative and, disturbingly, voyeuristic … akin to the sights that appealed to insensitives of old who used to visit places such as Bedlam to observe those suffering from mental health issues for the purposes of “entertainment.” The psychobabble in “The Snake Pit” also seems grossly misinformed in this day and age, and although the film strives to achieve realism, I find it dated and condescending. I do think that Hollywood has a long way to go in its treatment of subjects relating to mental health, though to a certain extent, a slight improvement overall may be detected in mainstream cinema, and a more thorough understanding might be found in the independent film arena and cable TV (the Lena Dunham show “Girls” was especially important in this regard in its conveyance of Dunham’s own character, who deals with OCD … much as Dunham, I believe, does in real life). But the stigma linked to mental health issues still exists, and despite a smattering of pictures that convincingly highlights the reality of everyday people suffering from such afflictions, this is a long and winding road to a viable celluloid correction.
FYI: some interesting links here that show two different attitudes about mental illness from the stars of “Silver Linings Playbook”—one of which, I hope, has changed since the article appeared: https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/NAMI-News/2013/Bradley-Cooper-Speaks-Out-in-National-Dialogue-on and http://www.thereflector.ca/2013/03/08/jennifer-lawrence-isnt-wonder-woman/