Seven Pounds: Glamorizing PTSD And Suicide Through Cinematography

Tim Thomas portrays a character suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder throughout the Seven Pounds film. But what happens when someone with a real-life case of mental health issues watches this film? Does it accurately portray mental illness to the watcher? While the heart within this movie is correct place, the special effects in the movie might not portray what real PTSD is like. Tim Thomas carelessly sends a text message while driving, causing a multi-car accident. Six strangers and his fiancee Sarah were all killed in the crash, leaving Tim the only survivor. After two years, Tim searches for redemption, unable to live with what he had done.

After donating a lung lobe to his brother, he finds a way to redeem himself. Donations. He decides to donate his vital organs to six “good” people in need. To find his candidates, he steals his brother’s, IRS agent credentials and ID. Using his brother Ben’s privileges, he further researches and interviews each donation candidates. He then deems them, worthy or unworthy. The first candidate, a young boy, received Tim’s bone marrow after Tim undergoes the procedure with no anesthesia. For his second candidate, he donates part of his liver to a CPS worker. A kidney was given to a junior hockey coach as a third candidate, but yet he still does not feel the atonement that he searches for. He then gives his home to his fourth candidate, a woman, and her children, so that they can leave the abusive household they were in. He refuses to explain why he is doing what he is doing despite being asked many times. His wishes were for no one to know why, as it would bring up his memories of the accident.

Still drowning in guilt, he moves into a motel with his box jellyfish to continue his formulated plan and takes his pet box jellyfish with him. His sixth potential donation is a blind telemarketer, of which he is looking to donate his eyes to. To test the man, Tim calls to harass him, the blind man stays calm and teary-eyed, and Tim then decides that he is worthy of his eyes. His final and most important candidate, Emily Posa, a wedding card printer, has a congenital heart condition and a rare blood type that grants her only a few weeks left to live. He then becomes closer with her, spending time together often. He tries to fight his affection for her but eventually gives in. But despite that ray of genuine happiness, Tim’s brother then visits him to retrieve his credentials and ID badge and Ben tries to explain to Tim that he is a federal officer and that it is a felony for him to be doing what he is doing. Tim is more concerned about Emily at that point and runs to the hospital to find out if anything has changed with her chances to survive. When he hears that there her chances have gotten slimmer, he solidifies his fate and begins to enact his plan. He heads straight to the motel and calls the blind man to tell him that he is receiving a gift and that someone will be contacting him. He then calls 911 and confirms his address with the operator and tells them that he is the suicide victim. Tim fills the bathtub with ice and releases the box jellyfish into the bath water. He is slowly electrocuted to death.

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In the last few moments in the movie, Emily is given surgery for her new heart and Ben explains to her who Tim was. The ending of the movie is composed of the blind man and Emily meeting, and finding a sense of peace in the gifts that Tim had given them. A strangely happy ending after a gruesome suicide scene. Tim Thomas exhibited symptoms of PTSD throughout the movie, especially leading up to his death. Post-Traumatic Stress is a disorder common among those involved with a traumatic experience. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder often have four categories: behavioral, psychological, mood, and sleep (as shown in the graph below)(Amatruda). Hollywood can glamorize and exaggerate the symptoms listed above through cinematography. The creators of the film have the ability to change the colors, distort music and sounds, change time, and switch viewpoints. They can manipulate the perception of incidents and emotions through carefully written scripts and emphasize reactions. Subconsciously as humans, we conclude what is real and what is strictly Hollywood.

While we may consciously tell ourselves that what we watched isn’t life, we subconsciously create stereotypes and fake solutions to people and problems (Beachum). This makes perfect sense because when we see someone with dark clothes, messy hair, and a sad expression we assume they are depressed. Media, especially movies, create a vision of what mental illness looks like and tries to create clarity into the viewer’s hearts to portray illness. This can be where portrayal and perception can become dangerous. The creator never knows who will see it and if it will impact or offend them negatively. The heavy special effects on the dramatic scenes growing closer and closer to his suicide escalate the emotion in the ending. It begins to escalate with a flashback of his fiancee, Sarah. Tim is in the shower when an unwanted memory passes through his head of Sarah after the accident and seeing her lifeless body (1:19:24-1:20:21).

During this scene, there are multiple factors being manipulated. It is a dull filter and cast on the imaging, there is a crescendoing drumming sound, as well as an eerie feel with the quick transitions between the present and the memory. This is a reoccurring theme among many important emotional scenes in the film such as: When Tim runs to the hospital to find out if Emily’s chances had improved at all (1:41:06-1:43:12). During the running and visit to the hospital, not only are all of the previously mentioned effects occurring but they also made it rain during that particular part, foreshadowing and giving the viewer a feeling that something bad is about to happen. The most important and final example is throughout his suicide scene (1:45:24-1:49:54). The lighting is dim throughout the entire scene before, during, and after his death. Music gets louder as memories of the crash are shown. He looks more and more tired after every scene change. These seemingly minor alterations are what make the scenes inaccurate and dramatized. Showing thoughts, hyperventilation, silence, and/or sobs can help bring the human factor into it. Mental illness is not beautiful or planned like in this movie. It is messy.

After watching Seven Pounds, a viewer has to process everything that occurred and make sense of it. While some movies can accurately depict real-life symptoms and genuine drama, others can fail horribly. Seven Pounds is somewhere in between that spectrum of realistic and fake. The guilt that causes the symptoms that are shown are logical, but they are edited to exaggerate the emotions and reactions of a real disorder. Based on the viewer, their knowledge of the disorder, and the symptoms belong to can change the viewpoint on whether it was depicted well or poorly. The most important concept in this analysis is that movies and media are completely subjective. The stance taken on this subject is very dependent on the viewer’s experience, sensitivity, state of mind, and moral views. This can change completely among different audiences which can make mental illness in a film so controversial, especially when they add special effects that make it seem more glamorous than it truly is.