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

as either extremely violent or suicidal. I’ve always found human behavior interesting to observe, so this article fell into this category very well. In the future, I plan on becoming a psychiatrist, so this especially interested me by showing me how characters with mental illness and real people with disorders compare and contrast from each other through statistics from the observations taken and how this can be a leading cause of discrimination in these specific cases.
“Movies, in particular, have been faulted for misrepresenting mental illness and perpetuating stereotypes” (Owen, p.1). In agreement with the text, it makes sense to how people conclude their view of people with mental illness off of characters they examine in videos. The world is full of people believing what they see, which is why there is a lot of monkey-see-monkey-do. In society, it is unjust and unfair to those who actually suffer from mental illnesses because they have no control over what the entertainment media puts out for the public to view, over their situation. For me, I am constantly discriminated against for my height, being drastically shorter than everyone else, and it certainly gets under my skin. I cannot imagine having a movie over exaggerate my situation, that I cannot control, and adding to fire.
Most people with mental illnesses are often avoided because they are believed to be violent or uncontrollable.

“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

faith.
The author did plenty to ensure that the readers would be able to understand how the entertainment media effects the way people view those with mental illness and how it ties in with stereotyping. The majority of the article is from the side where they are defending those with mental illness who are falsely portrayed. Not much of the article speaks about what was going through the director’s mind as they were making the film. The reader can feel a negative vibe from the author as they come across the statistics and numbers that show the numerous times the entertainment media failed to correctly portray a scenario with mental illness involved. Besides this factor, the article overall was very informative and enlightening.
Owen’s journal article and research was very catching with the information that was given. The reader may find themselves reading the statistics and trying to piece together the message the author was trying to get across. I personally would not classify this as an article of entertainment or a piece of art, but it could certainly be used for informational purposes and be labeled as “important.” The main goal of this article analyzed different movies and how they may have used stereotypes within them. At the end of the research, the author concluded that “... there is a need to provide accurate information about mental illness to counter the negative messages found in mass media” (Owen, p.5). Behind the main argument and development that Owen put into this journal article, the author’s goal for raising awareness to the importance of giving a correct portrayal of schizophrenia was very successful.
This particular article would mainly be meant for those who are interested in how the entertainment media affects it has on viewers. This piece was very informational, not to mention eye opening on stereotyping. Part of the thing that was enjoyable was the fact of how detailed and elaborate the writing was. The numbers and statistics were phenomenal and certainly back up the Owen’s position on how movies affect worldly views of people with mental illness I would recommend this article to those at the age 15 or older who already have already developed a generally wide ranged vocabulary, since those of a younger age may not be able to understand some of the points the author is trying to get across.