Cardiff University regularly holds sciScreen events which screen a film then features presentations and a discussion on the issues raised. For more information on events at Cardiff University click here.
Yesterday I went to see Silver Linings Playbook, an event for Mental Health Awareness Week 2015. This blog post will summarise some key points on the film, and also what the guest speakers had to say.
Firstly, to outline the film. The protagonist is Pat (Bradley Cooper), who has bipolar disorder and begins the film in a mental institution because he violently attacked the man her wife was having an affair with. He is released to the safety of his parents, on the condition that he continue psychotherapy and take his medication; several arguments occur throughout the film because Pat does not want to do either. Pat delusionally thinks that his wife Nikki (Brea Bee) will take him back, and she is his sole motivation. He starts helping Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) with a dance competition because she promises to help him get back in contact with Nikki. Tiffany has an unspecified mental illness, but we are made aware that she took her husband’s death badly and became very sexually promiscuous. In the end Pat realises it was Tiffany he wanted all along – happy ending.
The first speaker was Professor Nick Craddock, a psychiatrist and leader of the world’s largest bipolar study. He began by saying that bipolar is different in every person, so no on screen depiction would ever show everything. However he did describe the representation in Silver Linings Playbook as “reasonable”. Craddock went on to emphasise the importance of filmic depictions of mental illness to spread awareness and foster discussion. Key areas in the film that Craddock highlighted as being true to life were the familial struggles Pat’s mental illness brought with it, the arguments about treatment, and also the delayed diagnosis, since that is typical of real life. Furthermore, he brought attention to Pat’s father’s (Robert De Niro) own mentally ill characteristics, such as OCD and having superstitions of “delusional intensity”. Lastly he said he enjoyed the representation of a psychiatrist having a life outside of their work, and being humanised through small things like swearing.
Next was Mark Smith, a mental health campaigner with a lived experience of bipolar disorder. Smith drew attention to the press surrounding the film whereby the characters suffering with mental illnesses were patronisingly labelled “kooky” and as an “oddball”. Furthermore he questioned the polished representation of mental illness with a happy ending and attractive A-list cast. Smith specifically said there was not enough of the “dark” and “depressive” side of bipolar. He did congratulate the way the characters wear their mental illnesses on their sleeves and openly talk about it in public, such as about their medications at a dinner party. This, he said, further encourages people in the real world to not be ashamed of their illnesses and to openly talk about them. Mark Smith concluded by saying that research into mental illness is still seriously lacking and that events such as this are crucial in raising awareness and gaining donations. Mark Smith runs Making Minds, an art group for people with mental illness.
Lastly was Dr. Susan Bisson, a film and media expert with an interest in mental health themes. Her research is into how people with psychosis perceive representations of psychosis. Bisson stated that things such as the filmmaker, budget, time period and location the film was made influence this. But she firmly stated that there is no pattern of Hollywood = bad representation/ independent film = good representation. Next she went on to look at how Silver Linings Playbook conformed to and departed from the norms in terms of filmic portrayals of mental illness. The happy ending, popular theme of love conquers all, and common but unrepresentative stereotypes of violent men and hyper sexual women, show ways the film conforms to these norms. But the absence of creative genius and more uncommon presence of self-management are departures from the conventions. And finally she talked about how pleasure is limited for the audience, for example that awkward lift at the end of the dance. But there are still pleasures, such as them getting the 5 they needed, or the aesthetic pleasures of the stars and cinematography.
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