Clean Shaven Psychology

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Psychological Review of the Movie “Clean, Shaven” (1993). Introduction Clean, Shaven, directed by Lodge Kerrigan and released in 1993, is a psychological thriller that offers a chilling insight into the sufferings of an individual with schizophrenia through the point of view of it’s protagonist, Peter Winter. Through the movie, we accompany Peter, as he looks for his estranged daughter whilst battling with hallucinations and paranoia, who we later discover has recently been released from a psychiatric institution. His journey is fraught with confusion, disconnection from reality, and intense paranoia, reflecting his deteriorating mental state. Psychological Themes The central psychological theme of the movie is schizophrenia, which is a severe …show more content…

He succumbed to paranoia, and auditory hallucinations and delusions. He believes that he is being watched and controlled and that the psychiatric facility has implanted transmitters and chips into him. The viewers are immersed into Peter’s distorted sense of reality and we see that these delusions manifest as violent outbursts and self-harm that he indulges in due to the belief that devices are embedded in his …show more content…

We see that Peter is referred to as ‘the scariest man’ or like a ‘weirdo’ in the movie, which correlates to how people with disorders, and schizophrenia more specifically, are often marginalised and seen as someone who should be feared or avoided. Additionally, Peter’s inability to access adequate psychiatric care, along with his lack of a support system, reflects systemic failures in mental health services, which can lead to the worsening of symptoms and a greater risk of self-harm or harm to others. The depiction of Peter’s symptoms provides an insight into the emotional toll that individuals with the disorder go through, and helps us in a way break the barrier and empathise with them rather than alienating

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