Silver Linings Playbook Character Analysis

Analysis on Silver Linings Playbook

The movie selected portrays a good sense of mental behaviors from multiple characters in the movie. The movie follows the main character named Pat. He just finished his time in a mental hospital due to an incident he had with his wife. One day coming home early from work, he hears loud music playing by Stevie Wonder “My Cherie Amour”. As he walks upstairs, he starts to see his wife’s clothes scattered on the floor and sees her in the shower. He thinks she is waiting for him, but he finds out she is cheating on him with a history teacher who works at the school where they work. Pat snapped and beat up history teacher pretty badly. Pat shares in the movie that he been hiding an illness his who life but didn’t know exactly what it was. He had a second incident with his wife because he claimed she and the history teacher was plotting against him and embezzling money from the school which was an illusion caused by mood swings and stress. After all that, he went to the hospital and diagnosed him of being bipolar.

Pat is obsessed of trying to rekindle his marriage, but he can’t come to the realization that Nikki has left him and sold the house. Even though everybody around him claims that they will not get back together, he

remains positive to have a shot at a silver lining. To show Nikki that he has improved as a human being, his therapist recommends to befriend Tiffany. Tiffany is also going through issues herself after the death of her husband. She relies on sex to cope with the loss. Pat agrees to enter a dance contest with Tiffany, but only if she agrees to send Nikki a note written by Pat. Nikki filled a restraining order on him because of his past. Towards the ending, Pat and Tiffany end up falling for each other due the struggles of their past and trying to overcome them every day.
Tiffany is a character is who looking for love anywhere she can find it. She blames herself for the death of her husband because she felt that she did not have enough sex with him. On the night her husband died, there was a package of lingerie from Victoria Secret for her. She got fired for having sex with all her coworkers and causing a disturbance. Tiffany talks sex openly with Pat. Pat is uncomfortable with the situation because he was never open with his wife making him feel like a pervert. It made it seem that his wife would consider his thoughts as being deviant.
There are many signs of distress in the movie, but the main one is clear. It is the wedding song of Nikki and Pat. For example, When Pat is talking to the secretary at the therapist office, the therapist plays the song “My Cherie Amour”. The song is a trigger and causes great distress. He trashes the office and causes a commotion in the waiting room. It causes great distress for him because it is the same song he found his wife cheating on him. The therapist did an experiment and it was clear the Pat still has fear over that song.
Dysfunction is the word when it comes to this family. It is not only on Pat, but others as well. The main person trying to keep this family together is Pats mother Dolores. She has to keep everything under control with Pat and also the husband who has gambling problem and also who lost his job. A great example of dysfunction, is when Pat gets in an argument with his father and accidentally elbows his mother. All the neighbors know how dysfunctional pat can get and that’s why they are always calling the cops.
According to the DSM V, Pat shows bipolar disorder.

There are different examples that correlate to the diagnosis. Almost every day Pat goes out for a long run because he wants to show Nikki that he lost weight and looks fit for her. He also loses sleep by being fixated on a character named character Hemmingway in a book. He losses interests in everything else, but trying to get Nikki back. He gets into a fight at a football game when you can see him talking to himself trying not to intervene. You can also say Tiffany has borderline personality for these reasons. She is reluctant to spend time with her sister at dinner time. When things are not going her way she seem to feel self-guilt and starts drinking

heavy.
In the movie, they do show symptoms of different mental illness. They show how they can have an impact on a family everyday lives. One in particular is Pat’s father. He has severe OCD issues while watching the eagle’s game every Sunday. One particular scene Pat asked him why all three remotes had turned a certain way and why he was always holding a handkerchief. It is also accurate due the fact that Pat does not like taking his medication and you can see him spiting the pills out as if he taken them.
Now, it is Hollywood. So, some of it can be portrayed by being flawed. In real life, I don’t think anybody would think it would’ve been a good idea to send Pat to the football game just because the father needed his good luck to win the game. Knowing he can easily snap with all the negative energy around him. Also, you wouldn’t want to see your own therapist getting into a brawl at the game. It also suggest that participating in a dance completion, Pat somehow is healed from many symptoms from his disorder. In reality, having such a disorder could entail long term dedication to therapy and treatment. One more thing to add. It showed a lot of Pat being angry. I don’t think it would be the same way for woman.
In the media, the worst stereotypes come out in such depictions about the mentally ill such as: incompetent, dangerous, and undeserving. Inaccurate pictures of bipolar disorders in media can have a huge impact on the public. Almost all media tends to portray people with mental illness as violent. It is suggested that mentally ill people are more likely to be victims of violence, rather than perpetrators. People must come to realize that other variables play a role with aggression and that it does not necessarily define who the person is. When it comes to the public, most believe that people with bipolar disorder are unpredictable and pose risks on society. People must come to realize that although bipolar disorder is very real, it is also completely manageable and can be treated.