Arevik Poghosyan

Lit Review

Research Methods

November 22, 2021

Films are one of the most influential media that not only reflect cultural beliefs but also

affect them. Depiction of mental illnesses in films is problematic for filmmakers due to the

invisibility and complexity of the disorders. Certain responsibility comes with writing and

directing movies involving characters dealing with mental issues, as the unhealthy

representations generate myths about mental illnesses as well as create stereotypes and lead to

stigmatization. (Livingston, 2004) No matter that, in the last decade there has been a shift

towards more positive and realistic representations, that gradually can bring favourable changes.

When we notice a person's health condition, we often feel empathy and compassion for

them. For example, we help the girl who has a broken leg by opening doors, or reach for the

package on the top shelf for the man in the wheelchair. This is not the case, however, for

illnesses or other disorders that are misunderstood or undetectable to the naked eye. Personal-

choice illnesses are frequently met with significantly less compassion and enthusiasm to help.

People with illnesses that are infrequently discussed or seen in person are gazed at and/or

questioned, if not avoided entirely for fear of "getting" something. Nonetheless, each of these

health issues may frequently be treated, explained, and accepted by the general public. However,

for persons with mental, emotional, or developmental problems, therapy, explanation, or

acceptance is significantly less common. The complicated and sometimes unseen nature of these
disorders contributes to the dread, stigma, and dehumanization surrounding mental health. There

are several reasons and potential causes for mental diseases or developmental disabilities, such as

physiological imbalances, trauma, or hereditary and environmental factors. Despite this range of

thought, there is little variation in depictions and conversations of mental health and sickness.

(Johnson & Olson, 2021)

Evidence suggests that media portrayals of mental illness and mental health practitioners,

particularly in films, have a major impact on public opinions. What is it about film that gives it

such power? How do films leave such enduring imprints on audiences that defy alteration or

correction? (Beachum, 2010) Beachum explains that the film audience can identify with

characters because they can empathize with the character’s experiences, and some seek the

movie-going experience just for the emotional reaction that movies can elicit in us. Once the film

begins, the filmmakers employ tactics that replicate or cater to the powers of the mind. Suturing

is a method that involves establishing seamless transitions between scenes such that the spectator

accepts the discontinuities. One of the techniques which filmmakers use called suturing relies on

the audience suspending their disbelief, even their knowledge of reality, in order to display jump-

cuts or breaks in time and space in an unobtrusive manner. (Beachum, 2010)

It is crucial to understand what contributes to the desire to visualize mental illness. As we

already mentioned, films play a huge role in reinforcing and spreading a certain agenda. In the

western world there is a history of visualization of mental illnesses as “a desire to control mental

illness and protect the boundaries of a presumed normality” (Eisenhauer, 2008, p. 14)

Historically, control and confinement was exercised because of society's fear of the Other, as

well as to protect the interests of the “normal.” This leads to a different perception on how to

look at madness making it “no longer a monster inside oneselt, but an animal with strange
mechanisms, a bestiality from which man had long since been suppressed." (Foucalt, 1988, as

cited in Eisenhauer, 2008) Such understanding creates a cultural rationale which proposes that if

the “madman” is a beast, it is acceptable to treat her/him as an animal. The larger cultural fear of

not being able to identify someone suffering from a mental illness fuels the desire to visualize

"madness." The visual identifications that are repeated lead to stigma -- a real and metaphorical

branding of the body for the purpose of dishonor and condemnation, and is about identifying the

"Other" and drawing lines between "us" and "them." (Eisenhauer, 2004)

The American Psychological Association (APA) undertook research in 1997 to analyze

public perceptions about mental health doctors, which generated numerous troubling results

(Farberman). During telephone polls and focus groups, the APA discovered that individuals were

generally uncomfortable talking about mental illness, and that many still referred to those with

mental illnesses as "mad people." (Faberman, as cited in Beachum, 2010) This study suggests

that people are reluctant to seek help due to stigma. There is a gap between people's opinions

toward mental disease and how they perceive and respond to mental illness when it becomes

more visible. What individuals say and do about mental health are often different, which

contributes to the stigma's persistence and, maybe, permits it to become stronger. (Beachum,

2010) The stigma associated with mental illness limits many people's ability to form

relationships, sustain themselves, or contribute to their communities, and makes them less likely

to cooperate with treatment. When researchers asked participants if they would be willing to

interact with someone who had a mental illness, nearly 70% said they would not allow that

person to marry into their families, nearly 60% said they would not want that person in their

workplace, and more than half would refuse to interact with such a person at all. (Martin,

Pescosolido, & Tuch, 2000, as cited in Beachum, 2010) If similar figures were applied to people
with physical disabilities, there would almost certainly be a public outcry and a need for change.

The stigmatization of mental health conditions allows and promotes discriminatory attitudes

toward those who would benefit the most from public support.Stereotypes of people suffering

from mental illnesses as dangerous and stupid reduce these people to the most extreme,

caricatured representations of their diagnoses. These caricatures are the result of how mental

illness is portrayed by perhaps our culture's most powerful institution: the media. Cinema as a

big influential part of the visual media contributes to this process. (Beachum, 2010)

Films tend to distort reality, and dramatize some elements in order to sell the idea and

attract viewers, and this makes it hard to separate facts from fiction. Most often, especially young

screeners “get” only what the film director wants them to see, which gives power to

individualistic rather than sociological explanations of behavior. For many individuals film is the

main source of information about certain groups of people, who are invisible to the public. The

distortion generally proceeds even further in films dealing with disabilities, the psychiatric

category being the most prominent in illustration. Because many mental health illnesses are

generally invisible, media images are frequently exaggerated; film representations help people

visualize an experience that is not necessarily visual. (Johnson & Olson, 2021) Nonetheless,

prejudices and misinformation have long been used in film depictions of mental health issues.

The inaccurate and negative appeal of mental illnesses in films with toxic patterns that were

historically repeated unquestionably are quite ubiquitous; be it the frequent horror movie myths

that link homicidal behavior with mental illness, or certain stereotypes suggesting that people

with mental illnesses are dangerous, unstable, unpredictable, incompetent and irresponsible.

Additionally, obscure or weird appearances such as messy hair and clothes, can not be regarded

seriously. (Livingston, 2004) Hyler (2008) outlined the five most common character-types of
people with mental illnesses in his exhaustive review of stereotypes of people with mental

disorders in film: "the homicidal maniac," "narcissistic parasite," "female patient as seductress,"

"rebellious free spirit," and "specially gifted." The stereotype of the "homicidal maniac" dates

back to early one-reel films and is one of the longest-running caricatures of persons with mental

problems. Mental disorders and those who suffer from them are frequently associated with

violence and insanity; yet, the percentage of those suffering from mental problems who are also

violent is fairly low. (Hyler, 2008, as cited in Hanley, 2015)

With such advancement the prevalence and impact of negative depictions of PWMI in

popular media have been thoroughly established. These unfavorable and erroneous depictions of

mental disease have an impact on the public's perceptions of mental illness. Wahl et al.

investigated depictions of mental illness in G- and PG-rated films produced between 2000 and

2001. They discovered that about one in every four of the films featured characters with

psychiatric illnesses, and that roughly two-thirds of the films made some mention of mental

disease. In line with adult film study, the big portion of the characters demonstrated violent and

dangerous behavior. Even when characters were depicted in a favourable light, they were

nonetheless referred to with “derogatory words" on multiple occasions. The depictions of mental

illness revealed in this study substantially supported the notion that identifying a character with

mental illness "diminishes their trustworthiness and significance. (Wahl, 2003 as cited in

Eisenhauer, 2008) The role of language in popular media and public discourse is also an issue

that runs parallel to the representation of mental illness. The derogatory terms, misuse of

psychiatric terminology, problematic types of naming, that are habitualized into everyday

language, that also are frequently used in films, as a consequence of that. However, it is not only

calling oneself or others "nuts," "crazy," and so on that is problematic, but also the misuse of
legitimate psychiatric terms. In popular media, for example, the terms psychotic and psychopath

are frequently used interchangeably. Similarly, people suffering from mental diseases are labeled

as "being" their illness: For example, referring to someone suffering from schizophrenia as a

"schizophrenic." (Eisenhauer, 2004)

Representation and realistic depictions of any health topic are essential for overcoming

the stigma that frequently surrounds mental health, but they also assist persons living with the

diseases to see people who think and act like them. Identifying with a character not only makes

an audience member feel less alone and provides a sense of belonging, but it may also provide

the first opportunity to understand that others are going through the same things. Of course, this

is dependent on media producers offering careful framing and scripting of such characters.

(Johnson & Olson, 2021) There are limited materials available for filmmakers on 'how' to portray

mental illness authentically in the dramatic structure of narrative cinema, and there is still a

further need for research. (Middleton, 2013) Fortunately, over the last decade, various movies,

and television series have included characters who provide new and more honest perspectives on

mental health lifestyles. These characters frequently speak freely about their struggles with

depression, panic attacks, and even autism. Each of these people and narratives allows viewers to

see and hear what it's like to live with a mind that operates differently. While entertainment

media still has a long way to go in terms of portrayal, as the chapters in this book indicate, major

steps are being made to provide viewers with a far more realistic and less dramatic view of

mental health. (Johnson & Olson, 2021) Research of the film tactics employed in the

representation of mental illness will make a significant contribution to the anti-stigma discourse.

Encouraging media critics to have a better knowledge of how filmic elements such as

appearance, music and sound effects, lighting, language, shot selection and editing, horror tropes,
and intertextuality are employed in the depiction of madness. This increased understanding will

help critics identify and battle repeating images that stigmatize mental illness. It will also

improve the ability to investigate depictions of mental illness in their institutional and cultural-

historical contexts. (Camp, as cited in Middleton, 2013)

 References

Livingston, K. (2004). Viewing popular films about mental illness through a sociological lens.
Quinnipiac University. Teaching Sociology, Vol. 32 (January: 119-128)

Eisenhauer, J. (2008). A Visual Culture of Stigma: Critically Examining Representations of

Mental Illness. Art education.

Beachum, L. "The Psychopathology of Cinema: How Mental Illness and Psychotherapy are
Portrayed in Film" (2010). Honors Projects. 56.
http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects/56

Johnson, M., & Olson, C.J. (Eds.). (2021). Normalizing Mental Illness and Neurodiversity in
Entertainment Media: Quieting the Madness (1st ed.). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003011668

Middleton, Craig. (2013). The Use of Cinematic Devices to Portray Mental Illness. etropic:
electronic journal of studies in the tropics. 12. 180-190.

Hanley, Erika, "Perception of Mental Illness Based Upon its Portrayal in Film" (2015). HIM
1990-2015. 609.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/609