People Like Ourselves

Jacqueline Noll Zimmerman

doi:10.5771/9781417503353

Summary

The stigmatization of mental illness in film has been well documented in literature. Little has been written, however, about the ability of movies to portray mental illness sympathetically and accurately. People Like Ourselves: Portrayals of Mental Illness in the Movies fills that void with a close look at mental illness in more than seventy American movies, beginning with classics such as The Snake Pit and Now, Voyager and including such contemporary successes as A Beautiful Mind and As Good as It Gets. Films by legendary directors Billy Wilder, William Wyler, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and John Cassavetes are included. Through the examination of universal themes relating to one's self and society, the denial of reality, the role of women, creativity, war, and violence, Zimmerman argues that these ground-breaking films defy stereotypes, presenting sympathetic portraits of people who are mentally ill, and advance the movie-going public's understanding of mental illness, while providing insight into its causes, diagnosis, and treatment. More importantly, they portray mentally ill people as ordinary people with conflicts and desires common to everyone. Like the motion pictures it revisits, this fascinating book offers insight, entertainment, and a sense of understanding.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2003
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8108-4876-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4175-0335-3
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 165
Product type: Book Titles

1. Table of Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
3. Introduction No access
1. The Madness of King George No access
2. Now, Voyager No access
3. Fear Strikes Out No access
4. To Kill a Mockingbird No access
5. Dead Poets Society No access
6. A Woman under the Influence No access
7. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest No access
8. Nuts No access
9. Frances No access
10. An Angel at my Table No access
1. The Snake Pit No access
2. The Three Faces of Eve No access
3. Raintree County No access
4. Suddenly, Last Summer No access
5. The Caretakers No access
6. Splendor in the Grass No access
7. David and Lisa No access
8. Ordinary People No access
9. As Good as it Gets No access
1. Rebecca No access
2. Spellbound No access
3. Marnie No access
4. Vertigo No access
5. Shadow of a Doubt No access
6. The Man who knew too much No access
7. The Wrong Man No access
8. Psycho No access
9. The Birds No access
1. Sunset Boulevard No access
2. A Streetcar Named Desire No access
3. Don't Bother to Knock No access
4. The Rain People No access
5. Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams No access
6. Plenty No access
7. Losing Chase No access
8. Possessed No access
9. Play Misty for me No access
10. Fatal Attraction No access
11. Sophie's Choice No access
12. Beloved No access
1. A Beautiful Mind No access
2. A Fine Madness No access
3. Finding Forrester No access
4. Benny & Joon No access
5. Shine No access
6. Agnes of God No access
7. Equus No access
8. The Fisher King No access
9. Lilith No access
10. Sophie's Choice No access
11. Cross Creek No access
1. The Best Years of Our Lives No access
2. The Caine Mutiny No access
3. Captain Newman, M.D. No access
4. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit No access
5. Coming Home No access
6. Born on the Fourth of July No access
7. Chattahoochee No access
8. Saving Private Ryan No access
9. Platoon No access
10. The Thin Red Line No access
11. The Deer Hunter No access
12. Full Metal Jacket No access
13. Apocalypse Now No access
14. King of Hearts No access
1. Shock Corridor No access
2. Psycho No access
3. The Shining No access
4. The Silence of the Lambs No access
5. Plenty No access
6. Nuts No access
7. Repulsion No access
8. Girl, Interrupted No access
9. Taxi Driver No access
10. Raging Bull No access
11. Affliction No access
Notes No access Pages 145 - 146
Sources Cited No access Pages 147 - 150
Films Discussed and/or Cited No access Pages 151 - 156
Index No access Pages 157 - 165