Schizophrenia In Contemporary Films Summary

On the topic of how the entertainment media uses schizophrenia and other mental illnesses in films, Patricia R. Owen, Ph. D., focuses on how depictions of schizophrenia, in movies, are based off of stereotypes and cause viewers to believe in misinterpretations, which causes discrimination towards those with mental illness. Her article “Portrayals of Schizophrenia by Entertainment Media: A Content Analysis of Contemporary Movies,” goes in depth by revolving around how entertainment films affects worldly views and the different researches done to prove this. While reading this article, the readers can find themselves becoming involved in the discussion when the author begins discussing how the observed movies focused more on stereotypes and how schizophrenics in movies are shown

“One of the more prevalent stereotypes found in movies is the depiction of a character with a serious mental illness as dangerous and violent” (Owen, p.1). In reality, the entertainment media does affect the way we see people with mental illness. This article challenged me to rethink my views on this topic. It weakened the view of schizophrenia that I already had, which involved seeing schizophrenics as insane and violent. It changed how I viewed them and I learned how harmless those with schizophrenia can be; compared to those in movies, and the kind of discrimination they face because of false portrayals and misinterpretations.

It was very intriguing how much this article stressed the issue of discrimination towards people with schizophrenia. There are already plenty of things to discriminate against in the world, even without the entertainment media helping out with this. Also, as a Christian, part of the faith is being able to with stand from judging because it is not our place to do so. Ultimately, discrimination would be frowned upon in my family because of our