Mental Health in Films

As our film opening has the central theme of mental heath, I wanted to do some research on this topic specifically in films.
Through the years the portrayal of Mental Health within films has tended to stay biased and conform to the stereotypes, the majority of the time.

False representations in the media feed off of prejudice and fear, which encourage damaging stereotypes. It’s estimated, that a quarter of the UK’s population is experiencing mental illness, yet it still remains a taboo subject.

Common attitudes to those experiencing mental health issues are:

• Dangerous and Unpredictable 
• Incompetent
• Crazy 
• Self-inflicted 
• Aloof
• Little hope for recovery
• "Need to get over it"
• "It'll pass"
• A joke

Whenever men are asked to share their opinions about the stigma attached to mental illness. With answers like ‘we’re men, we’re supposed to be tough’, it’s clear that the discrimination towards men and mental health must change. The 90s, an era of male-gone-mad characters, saw box office successes like ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Fight Club’ and ‘American Beauty’, which dealt with social anxiety, insomnia and depression.

Psycho killers, unhinged stalkers and crazy patients are Hollywood’s definition of the mentally ill –  but, it only invites cinemagoers to assume they should be feared.