Densing, Jessica T.

BSN 3 - Leininger

A BEAUTIFUL MIND: A REFLECTION

"A Beautiful Mind" tells the story of the talented mathematician, John Forbes Nash Jr.,
who has conquered schizophrenia in his inner conflict and won the renowned Nobel Prize. It
is an extremely tragic and confusing film, watching Nash get to grips with his psychiatric
disease.

In the late 1940s, the plot starts at the renowned Princeton University reception for
newcomers. John Nash came in a friendship with Princeton, mostly for his classmates'
entertainment. He tries to socialize here nervously, but quickly discovers he's different. He's
more distant and shy than the others and prefers skipping class to follow hisone unique idea.
That one, unique idea happens to be his theory of "Non-cooperative Games." And it is this
theory that helps him achieve a Sloan sabbatical, work at the Institute for Advanced Study at
Princeton, a teaching position at MIT, and eventually, the Nobel Prize in mathematics. He is
uncomfortable in dealing with people. Asked by his roommate Charles why he doesn't have
any friends, Nash responds: "I don't much like people and they don't much like me." Although
seemingly comfortable with his shyness, it is this quality that makes him both a mysterious
and interesting character.

The character by Parcher's name is equally enigmatic. Parcher is a covert agency that
enters and exits John's life with knowledge of a nuclear weapon illegally hidden on American
soil by Russians. John has to break a series of codes in order to thwart the plot and detail the
actual status of Russian spies. Nash finds true love while employed as an MIT tutor and
working hiddenly for the state. A talented young graduate student falls in love with him,
intrigued and unrelenting by his forwardness. Alicia Larde does not know of John's private
life. They marry and Alicia gets pregnant after a brief courtship. This is where the fear of
John starts to relax. While pregnant, Alicia discovers the truth behind John's work. She meets
Dr. Rosen, a psychiatrist who oversees John's treatment consisting of shots of insulin and
shock therapy. However, it is not until later in the film that John actually begins to understand
his illness. In perhaps one of the most compelling scenes, Dr. Rosen tells John that he cannot
reason his problem away because the problem is where his reason comes from. And if not
properly treated, it will get worse. Alicia must then choose to have him committed and lose
him forever or stay by his side.

Very rarely will a film allow us to observe mental illness from the inside. And "A
Beautiful Mind" accomplishes this very well. Throughout the first half of the film, we are
introduced to characters and situations that seem real, yet we learn later as Nash learns
himself that they are creations of his imagination. This dramatic twist in the film changes our
perception of everything we've seen and challenges us to translate between what is real and
what is artificial.

On the brink of insanity, it is realistically hard to imagine anyone staying with John for
any period of time. Although not a complete vegetable, John struggles to cope with his new-
found reality and is determined to put his past to rest. And this is certainly a testament to
Alicia's commitment and love for John.

"A Beautiful Mind" is easy to watch. However, it is more difficult to fully understand
afterwards what you have just seen. The film is about a psychotically ill mathematician and
the difficult life he led up until the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize. It is also about how
love can conquer delusions; about how genius and schizophrenia can both exist in the same
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Densing, Jessica T. BSN 3 - Leininger

person. A true story gives special emotional power to a film as it is not just another fictional
story. The team behind "A Beautiful Mind" also had a mission: to show schizophrenia in a
different light; where it is linked to success, performance and recognition; with a person
displaying normal human emotions in the midst of a psychotic existence. They wanted to
portray a schizophrenic as more than just the sum of his symptoms. This is, of course,
admirable.

Comorbidity, exclusion, worsening health and mortality; this is what life is really like
for many people who suffer from schizophrenia. For a film to engage a viewer, it must have a
main character that the viewer can identify with. The Nobel Prize is at completely the other
end of the spectrum for people with schizophrenia, but it is more acceptable than misery to the
viewing public. "A Beautiful Mind" is a biopic, a portrayal of schizophrenia, and a
Hollywood drama with a message, all at the same time. However, having all these elements
together creates problems. The film is so full of good will that it is bursting at the seams. The
devices used to create dramatic excitement negatively affect the credibility of how
schizophrenia is portrayed.

The dramaturgy is classic and predictable, using a strong opening, the presentation, a
turning point and a climax – but real life is not like this. Love conquers all – maybe in films,
yes. But was his real life like this? Does it say anything about schizophrenia? Incredible
intellectual achievement despite almost inhuman obstacles – the Hollywood version has
characteristic traits that we are all familiar with, but often it does not mirror reality.

Suffering from schizophrenia at a young age can be traumatic, full of crises and
extremely difficult to accept. Life itself – a young budding adult life that is only just blooming
– is often surrounded by many disappointments and tumultuous situations: the strait-jacket of
happiness itself; shattered dreams, disrupted studies, broken hearts and often painful
psychotic symptoms that are ever present. A balancing act between a true existence in the
present and the stray flights from delusions inflicted by the mind and thoughts filled with
paranoid tormentors. The fight to be in charge of their own feelings, opinions and intellect,
soiled with periods when they wander into a psychotic imaginary world – at times charmingly
comfortable while at other times suffocating in their frightening powerlessness. Living for
many years like John Nash in the film "A Beautiful Mind" with undiagnosed schizophrenia
and gradually becoming paralysed by the whims of their delusions.

Dealing with schizophrenia, its changing symptoms and its accompanying effects, is a burden
of unimaginable weight for those afflicted with it and the people around them. Watching
someone you know gradually breaking down, both cognitively and in their personal care and
personality is like an unhappy story that has an uncertain end. Life has to be restarted using
the replay button. You have to lift your head high in the backwater of a thousand shattered
dreams.