Movies: Stereotypes Defined

» scooby97 - Portrayals of Disorders

What appears to be newsworthy are the exciting parts of disorders: the Mike Tyson biting ears, the Mary Jane LeTorneau bedding down with barely more than a tot, Sally Field portraying a manic depressive in ER and holed up in an Arizona motel huddled as far away from her bottle of Depakote as she could get!

If it's bizarre behavior, it makes front-page news; it's been that way forever and probably will be forever, too.

However, movies that portray a touching emotional connection as a healing factor (I felt overwhelmed when I saw how Ron Howard portrayed the love in A Beautiful Mind) are great for people dealing with thought disorders. It seems to me those with a connection at the heart level seem to do so much better than those without. David and Lisa was another story about two lost souls in a hospital setting that found each other.
We need more...

They're good for what ails all of us :o)

Scooby

-- posted by scooby97

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» tkimball - Re: Portrayals of Disorders

In response to message posted by scooby97:

Scooby,

Good point! Everyone tunes in for the bizarre in life. Who doesn't enjoy seeing that we ourselves are normal... LOL... sometimes I wonder that about myself. However, in the past and sometimes now... we see mental illness portrayed in a terrible light... making individuals that have a mental illness seem dangerous or completely unstable. More and more we are seeing more productive movies coming out... I haven't seen A Beautiful Mind yet and I really want to. The whole point is to educate society in that movies don't always portray reality and that stereotypes can run rampant. My next article will be on how movies can be looked at as learning tools and therapy avenues... something that many individuals can't see happening.

Thank you for your note!!

-- posted by tkimball

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