For years, films have been criticized on how they portray mental disorders in film. From ‘Psycho’ in 1960, which devised the persistent confusion on whether Norman Bates is schizophrenic or has dissociative identity disorder to ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ in 1975, that created the idea that psychiatric hospitals are prisons where there is no concern on a patient's rights; films struggle to escape the blame for the ongoing stigma relating to mental illnesses.
Throughout the years, films have been used as a form of escapism to experience Hollywood’s celluloid dream. From the plot line, to the characters, to the production, they are designed to create an alternate world that is reflected into the consciousness of the audience's expectations for around 2 hours. Nonetheless, the introduction of more serious themes, unfamiliar to many, generated many issues due to lack of perception and insensitivity included within the films; causing audiences to learn misinformed presentations concerning mental disorders. I personally acknowledge the successful attempt of portraying mental disorders within the film industry and commend their abilities to distinguish both hardships and happiness felt by those suffering, as well as those around them. Through witnessing films such as ‘Shutter Island’, ‘Joker’, ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’, ‘Split’ and ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’, they all have been very enjoyable and have presented several different mental disorders significantly well. Personally, even though I am not affected by a mental disorder, I still appreciate the amount of accuracy actors and actresses, as well as the directors, maintain within their work and believe they should not be chastised for the audience finding features to criticize, when in reality these features don’t have the purpose to offend.
In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock directed the film ‘Psycho’ which describes a man with the name of Norman Bates who committed several murders and displays various signs of dissociative identity disorder. The scene that presents this is when Norman Bates kills a woman named Marion in the shower because he became ‘Mother’. When he then regains consciousness from his detached state, he covers up the murder he believes to be his mother’s crime and claims that she is at fault for the attack. In this era, dissociative identity disorder was something that was never spoken about in the media and therefore those who watched it connected his character to Schizophrenia, generalizing unrelated mental illnesses to be categorized together. In addition to this, the exaggerated portrayal of Norman Bates’ disorder impacted the audience as he was seen to be violent and unpredictable, causing viewers to assume that this was the case for all people affected and in turn present false information which took part in forming the stereotype that those with a mental disorder should be viewed as dangerous in society. Although ‘Psycho’ played a part in the formation of a dangerous stigma surrounding this disorder, I believe that the film itself should not be scrutinized for the audience’s mistake in understanding the difference in Schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder as this was not at the fault of the film but more for the lack of knowledge in that era towards mental disorders.
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Similarly, Milos Forman’s 1975 film adaptation of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ sparked controversy as it damaged the perception of psychiatric hospitals, comparing them with prisons in which they used therapy such as electroconvulsive therapy as an abusive form of authority. During the 1950’s, electroconvulsive therapy was a method that diminished symptoms of some mental health problems however in the film it was used as a punishment for Randle McMurphy, because he got into a fight with a chief and refused to admit he was to blame for the incident. This caused an uproar of negative opinions as people didn’t agree with what was being portrayed throughout the film and stated that. “It is widely acknowledged within psychiatry that Cuckoo’s Nest led to inappropriate levels of suspicion and misinformation regarding electro-convulsive therapy, and may have meant many people did not receive treatment that is proved and effective” (Annabel Driscoll and Mina Husain). ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ is now one of America’s most challenged and banned novels for its immensely perceived glorification of criminal activity and disputed views on how to treat those with a mental disorder. However, I don’t agree with the idea that this film should be seen as an initiator for negativity surrounding treatment for those with a mental disorder as it is a fictional presentation of events that took place in the era and therefore it won’t be completely accurate as it is used as a means to present the story that was written.
Furthermore, the 2004 film ‘Aviator’, describing Howard Hughes’ battles in facing obsessive compulsive disorder, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, presents the ongoing fixation with being compelled to do certain things, a numerous amount of times. The film describes an adaptation of a man named Howard Hughes who designed various different planes and directed many movies, dating back to the 1930s. Within the film, we see his growing desire for authority in every situation; however, as it progresses you can see the deterioration of this control over his obsessions. This leads to him feeling the urge to repeat his sentences several times and causes him to wash his hands as a result of feeling uncomfortable in crowded scenarios. ‘Aviator’ was highly praised for the level of accuracy in the portrayal of this mental disorder, as Leonardo DiCaprio used traits of the impulses he is affected by within his life to explicitly depict what those with this mental disorder go through, and therefore was viewed as a significant film in changing the way films were perceived when highlighting these types of disorders. The media is widely expected to use mental disorders in a detrimental way for those affected as throughout a few films they use incorrect terminology and overutilize disrespectful words that are offensive to those with a mental disorder, teaching the audience inappropriate terms and creating an image that all people living with a certain disorder act the same way. However, ‘Aviator’ broke this stereotype and presented an accurate representation of living with OCD, showing that films aren’t the ruling instigator of stigma related to mental illness since not all films are criticized for their portrayal of mental disorders.
Therefore, the controversial nature concerning the portrayal of mental disorders within film is emphasized through the glamorization of the lived experience and the inaccuracy of the actions used to portray the specific disorder; whilst the intention to express the emotional distress felt by those living or experiencing mental illnesses aspires to destigmatize; the film industries’ failed attempt of inducing impressionable audiences to normalize this perceived behavior, ultimately aggravates the concerning situation of individuals adopting labels that don’t necessarily reflect those psychological issues. More specifically, with the presentation of Patrick Bateman in ‘American Psycho’, Bateman’s lavish lifestyle and charming abilities blur the line between the authenticity of his mental disorder (dissociative and antisocial personality disorder) and his performance of a calculated killer; through the dangerous nature of these portrayals, it inevitably encourages mistaken self-diagnosis and inadvertently dismisses mental disorders highlighting the unintentional damaging effects of films.
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