How the Portrayal of Mental Health in Film Has Changed

The portrayal of mental health in film has been drastically changed over the years.

It used to be that a person on screen with a mental health disorder would be portrayed as someone we should fear, someone who doesn’t belong in a civilised society. Now, people are becoming increasingly accepting of people with mental health issues, and see them to be just as “normal” as anybody else.

I believe that film has had a big part to play in this societal change of perception. Instead of people with a disorder being depicted as a murderer (The Silence of the Lambs, Demme, 1991), or as the butt of the joke (Me Myself & Irene, Farrelly, 2000), they are being portrayed as people who are perhaps, misunderstood. In Lars and the Real Girl, the community get behind Lars and accept him for who is, they don’t fear him or cast him aside, into an institution to rot, as you might see in films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman, 1975)

This change in attitude, escaping the negative stereotypes that surround mentalhealth, will result in people feeling less isolated. I myself suffer from depression and anxiety, as do many people I know. I believe that an increasing number of people will reach out for help if they see that others won’t view them negatively because of their illness.

In my film, Mark (central character) feels alone, he keeps his problems to himself, fearing that he will not be accepted, especially by his family. This ends in tragedy, however, I believe that if he had felt able to speak out, there would have been a contrasting outcome. He is more of a risk to himself than anyone else, which is made evident by the films climax.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/23/unsane-a-history-of-mental-illness-in-film