Film Characters that Portray Accurate Mental Illness

Cinema has a history of portraying mental health in a less sensitive or authentic manner. The stereotypical “madness” is the perfect fuel to create a plot of the horror movies fed by misconceptions of aggressive nature. However, Hollywood and the actors of the industry are willing to explore the characters through their performance that reflects the increase in awareness regarding mental health. Lately, but thankfully the stigma around the topic is lifting. There is more transparency in media and movies around the topic of mental illness. Genuine depictions of mental illness force the audience to confront the uncomfortable truths and neutralize the myths and stereotypes around it. This article tried to make a list of movie characters that sensitively and accurately portrayed mental illness. Lisa (Girl, Interrupted) The character of Winona Ryder is the protagonist of Girl, Interrupted. And Lisa Rowe is one of the enigmatic patients she encounters. Girl, Interrupted is a psychological drama directed by James Mangold. It stars Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Winona Ryder, Angela Bettis, Brittany Murphy, and Whoopi Goldberg. The 1999 film was based on the memoir of the same name written by Susanna Kaysen. The story follows a young woman who attempts suicide and spends 18 months at a psychiatric hospital. Girl, Interrupted got mixed reviews from critics. The film got a 54% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 114 reviews. However, the performance of Angelina Jolie has been widely praised for her role as Lisa. The actress won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Lisa was a sociopath by manipulative, rebellious, abusive, and charismatic nature. She has been in the institution for nine years and has tried to escape several times since then. Lisa forms a close bond with Susanna Kaysen (Ryder). When she did not get things in her way, her seductive personality turned incredibly abusive. John Forbes Nash Jr. (A Beautiful Mind) Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind is a biographical drama based on the life of the famous mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. The movie is based on Sylvia Nasar’s novel of the same name. It stars Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Adam Goldberg, Ed Harris, Judd Hirsch, Adam Goldberg, and Christopher Plummer. The plot of the story begins with the graduation year of Nash at Princeton University. In the early of the film, Nash’s character starts to endure delusional episodes and develops paranoid schizophrenia. At the same time, his mental state is burdening the life of his wife and friends. The film did an amazing performance at the box office. It collected a gross of $313 million against a budget of $58 million. A Beautiful Mind received a positive response from critics. The whole film revolves around the mathematicians’ years of professional genius, his mental spiral, and eventual recovery in a beautiful way without romanticizing it. The Nobel Prize winner suddenly realized that most of the events, people, and locations that he has characterized, never really existed. A Beautiful Mind received eight Academy Awards nominations and won four, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Supporting Actress. However, filmmakers stated that the film is not a literal representation of the great mathematician’s life, and they have taken a few cinematic liberties. Charlie Kelmeckis (Perks of Being a Wallflower) Different from other teenage movies where teenagers are into bursting songs and drug addiction, Perks of Being a Wallflower focuses on a boy named Charlie Kelmeckis. Kelmeckis is trying to deal with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by a stressful or terrifying event, leading to nightmares, severe anxiety, and flashbacks. Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age drama movie directed by Stephen Chbosky, based on his novel of the same name. It stars Logan Lerman in Charlie’s role alongside Emma Watson, Mae Whitman, Ezra Miller, Nina Dobrev, and Johnny Simmons. The movie received appreciation for its direction, performance, execution, emotional weight, and soundtrack. It collected a gross of $33.4 million against a budget of $13 million. The film’s plot explores teenage life, first love, partying, and big exams but through the point of view of a boy dealing with mental illness. His constant sadness threatens him to crash all social victory. Perks of Being a Wallflower received two Critics’ Choice Movie Awards nominations, the 2013 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. The above are a few characters who portray a more subtle, relatable, and non-stereotypical mental illness. Source-Film Characters that Portray Accurate Mental Illness