brokenrecord (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brokenrecord) wrote2008-02-27 01:30 pm
brokenrecord) wrote2008-02-27 01:30 pm
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I watched As Good As It Gets last night for my abnormal psych group, and after watching this and A Beautiful Mind last week, I have an issue with the way movies seem to portray love as a cure for psychological disorders. It's not as explicitly stated in A Beautiful Mind, granted, but I still think it's implicit in his speech when he receives the Nobel Prize and the speech is entirely about Alicia and how she helped him through everything and he wouldn't know where he'd be without her, and all. They do mention medication, and he still has his symptoms, but it seems like the movie is still stating that their love for each other is what really helped him.
Which ok, not totally a terrible message, and I think it'd be ok if it was just that one movie. But then we watch As Good As It Gets, and it's VERY explicitly stated that his love for Carol is what helps him. And at the end, he's able to step on the cracks and not care because he's so in love with her, and they're happy, and I don't claim to be an expert on OCD, but... that just bothered me. Because OCD is really a terribly distressing illness, which is often made light of, and I can't imagine that the resolution of this movie helped people's perceptions of it at all. And what does that say to the people who are with someone who has OCD, and their symptoms aren't cured by being with their partner?
I don't know. I probably shouldn't be taking this that seriously, but it really just bothered me. I think that love and friendships can definitely help people with disorders, but I dislike they way it's portrayed as being a cure-all, and especially in As Good As It Gets, it seems to take the disorder too lightly. Plus, I hate the way that they don't make a differentiation between his personality and his behaviors that are due to his disorder. Because if you go into it knowing nothing about OCD, you might attribute his sexism, racism, and homophobia to his OCD, when in reality, those aspects of his personality are totally separate from his illness.
I did actually really enjoy this movie (both movies, in fact), but I just hate how the disorder is portrayed.
Anyways, I finally got Paintshop Pro! And, of course, I have no time to use it. bah. I told myself today that I'm going to start being productive because my parents aren't paying $30,000 every year so I can watch movies and make icons. I need to stop bitching so much about the workload and the stress and just get things done. I wouldn't be half as stressed out about everything if I just did it rather than agonizing over everything for days and weeks. So, I'm going to do my homework for tomorrow, work on my English paper, go to Wind Ensemble, and if I finish everything, I can play with PSP or watch Company or watch a movie or just do nothing at all, but not until I do everything else. I really need to be thinking about school more positively than I have been.
Which ok, not totally a terrible message, and I think it'd be ok if it was just that one movie. But then we watch As Good As It Gets, and it's VERY explicitly stated that his love for Carol is what helps him. And at the end, he's able to step on the cracks and not care because he's so in love with her, and they're happy, and I don't claim to be an expert on OCD, but... that just bothered me. Because OCD is really a terribly distressing illness, which is often made light of, and I can't imagine that the resolution of this movie helped people's perceptions of it at all. And what does that say to the people who are with someone who has OCD, and their symptoms aren't cured by being with their partner?
I don't know. I probably shouldn't be taking this that seriously, but it really just bothered me. I think that love and friendships can definitely help people with disorders, but I dislike they way it's portrayed as being a cure-all, and especially in As Good As It Gets, it seems to take the disorder too lightly. Plus, I hate the way that they don't make a differentiation between his personality and his behaviors that are due to his disorder. Because if you go into it knowing nothing about OCD, you might attribute his sexism, racism, and homophobia to his OCD, when in reality, those aspects of his personality are totally separate from his illness.
I did actually really enjoy this movie (both movies, in fact), but I just hate how the disorder is portrayed.
Anyways, I finally got Paintshop Pro! And, of course, I have no time to use it. bah. I told myself today that I'm going to start being productive because my parents aren't paying $30,000 every year so I can watch movies and make icons. I need to stop bitching so much about the workload and the stress and just get things done. I wouldn't be half as stressed out about everything if I just did it rather than agonizing over everything for days and weeks. So, I'm going to do my homework for tomorrow, work on my English paper, go to Wind Ensemble, and if I finish everything, I can play with PSP or watch Company or watch a movie or just do nothing at all, but not until I do everything else. I really need to be thinking about school more positively than I have been.
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