Behind the Screen: The Stigma of Mental Illness in Film
As the television and film industry has expanded greatly over the past century. This expansion also relates to the increase of mental illness portrayed in American films. Major films that tackle mental illness include Girl, Interrupted (1999) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). Mental illnesses are often used in ways that emphasize or exaggerate the development of characters causing a harmful misinterpretation and stigmatized perception of mental illnesses.
Much of the public has limited accurate knowledge about mental disorders. Over the years, there have been attempts to improve mental literacy (understanding) worldwide which include the efforts to increase the accuracy of mental illness representations in traditional media such as movies, tv-shows, etc. Nevertheless, traditional media has had a history of inaccurately portraying mental illness dating back to the 20s. In Nunnally’s (1957) previous study, a content analysis was performed to compare the opinions about mental health between experts and of the general public. He found that “the causes, symptoms, methods of treatment, prognosis, and social effects portrayed by the media are far removed from what the experts advocate” (Nunnally 1957).
Film has the ability to shape how we see the world meaning that false ideas may be accepted as truths. However, film could just as easily correct misinterpretations by providing accurate depictions of mental illness to help to destigmatize them. Filmmakers may go to extreme lengths to bring in money at the box office resulting in emphasized aspects of the mentally ill which create false impressions and an association of the mentally ill with less desirable characteristics.
Significance
Sensationalizing mental illness can be extremely harmful, especially for young audiences. As media is a primary source of information about mental illness, the exaggerated depictions continue the stigma towards disorders that are already misunderstood. In fact, exposure to negative portrayals of mental illness is associated with stereotypical and stigmatizing views of mental illness and less friendly attitudes towards people with mental illness.
Numerous studies have highlighted the prevalence of inaccurate representations of mental health in traditional media with some examples being how news stories in various countries link mental illness to violence, attributing gun violence to “dangerous people.” A study by Quientero Johnson & Riles (2018) found that 72% of mentally ill television characters hurt or killed other characters and were ten times more likely to commit violent crime than other characters.
Apart from stigmatization, some mental illnesses are often trivialized which result in the dismissal of symptoms of a mental illness and minimizing the experiences of those affected by those conditions. Some audience members have voiced their concerns about the portrayal of mental health in movies, one even saying, “We need to stop romanticizing mental illnesses. OCD is NOT cute, it’s a real thing.”
Literature to Film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an Academy Award winning film released in 1975. It’s based on the fictional novel by Ken Kesey published in 1962. The film follows Randle Patrick “Mack” McMurphy’s stay at a mental institution after being transferred from a prison farm, faking a mental illness, to avoid more labor. He quickly bonds with the other patients and becomes a “leader” to them. Initially thinking that Mack could be released after his prison sentence ends, he eventually finds out that he may be contained in the institution for long-term. After this, we follow Mack’s journey of attempted escapes and a lobotomy that ultimately ends his life.
Violence and danger in the mentally ill is a prevalent theme in this movie. At the start of the movie, Mack is introduced in shackles as he is being transported from prison. He’s a convicted criminal who has been arrested five times for assault. Later in the film, after being denied to watch the World Series on the hospital television, Mack is asked by his doctor how the incident made him feel to which he replies, “Makes you wana kill,” and laughs uncontrollably. He also attempts to choke a nurse for provoking another patient cruelly. The doctors opted to keep him in the mental facility, commentating, “He’s not crazy. He’s dangerous.” Though a difference was made between being mentally ill and being dangerous, there’s a connection drawn between violence and illness. Though in the novel Mack is officially diagnosed as a psychopath, the official diagnosis was not in the film, forcing the audience to decide whether or not they think Mack is mentally ill.
Girl, Interrupted is a film released in 1999. The film is based on the memoir of Susanna Kaysen, released in 1993. The film adaption chronicles Susanna’s time spent at a women’s psychiatric unit in the late ‘60s following a suicide attempt. In the film, Susanna is first seen in an ambulance, being rushed to the hospital after an assumed suicide attempt. When she arrives at the hospital, her diagnostic paperwork describes her as “depressed” and that she had “attempted suicide.” However, in therapy with her doctor, Susanna persistently denies her assumed suicide attempt. After voluntarily admitting herself into a mental institution, she describes her interactions with the other women in her unit.
In a later scene where another patient, Lisa, breaks into a doctor’s office, Susanna’s file is revealed with her symptoms listed as “psychoneurotic depressive reaction” and her “Established Diagnosis” as “Borderline Personality Disorder.” After Susanna reads the symptoms of Borderline Personality disorder, she agrees that the symptoms describe her but they are not exclusive to those with the diagnosed disorder. Even though Susanna’s symptoms could not have possibly indicated that she officially had Borderline Personality Disorder, she is still representative of the illness to the audience. Interestingly, Susanna is the only character in the film that is released from the mental institution, appearing more mentally stable and independent than the other featured patients.
Analysis of Both Films
The different time periods in which these two films were released shows an interesting evolution of portrayal over time. Each movie provides a different representation of a mental hospital and mentally ill patients in the ‘60s. In the progression of both films, the protagonists change from undiagnosed to diagnosed. Mack has a more negative portrayal than Susanna, having a history of crime and violence which depicts him more threatening. Though Susanna is diagnosed with an easily stigmatized mental disorder, she’s also seen to be the most stable and relatable patient in her film. The presentation of the protagonist became more positive and less stereotypical over the time between these two films.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, healthcare is stigmatized through how the nurses and doctors at the mental institution are antagonized and the other mental patients are seen to be violent and unrelatable. In Girl, Interrupted, the protagonist is much more normalized and there are less portrayed symptoms exhibited in the minor characters than those in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Conclusion
The positive progression in the representation of mental illnesses between these movies parallel to the increasing acceptance of mental disorders today. To combat the stigma surrounding mental illness, a genuine effort should be made to reduce negative representations with the intent of influencing public opinion toward a more empathetic and accurate view of the mentally ill. Clearing up misconceptions worsened by traditional media and increasing awareness about inaccurate characterizations of mental disorders are both necessary steps to achieve a completely accurate, non-stigmatizing, and positive view on mental illness on screens.
Citations
Nunnally, Jum. “The Communicaiton of Mental Health Information: A Comparison of the Opinions of Experts and the Public with Mass Media Presentations.” Behavioral Science 2, no. 3 (1957): 222–30.
Quintero Johnson, J.M. and Riles, J. (2018) “He Acted Like a Crazy Person”: Exploring the Influence of College Students’ Recall of Stereotypic Media Representations of Mental Illness. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 7, 146-163.
“[Solved] Choose the correct meaning of the given idiom. A cuck.” Testbook, 13 Sept. 2023, testbook.com/question-answer/choose-the-correct-meaning-of-the-given-idiom-nbs--606f3a75313a52ef1ecec762#:~:text=The%20idiom%20'a%20cuckoo%20in,nest%20of%20another%20smaller%20bird.
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