Films Illustrating Psychopathology Danny Wedding Mary Ann Boyd ...

238 Movies and Mental Illness
“huffing,” autoerotic asphyxiation, isolation from
her family, and prostitution.
My Flesh and Blood (2004) Documentary ΨΨΨ
Moving story of Susan Tom, who adopted 11 special
needs children and raised them on her own.
One has cystic fibrosis and severe anger and
oppositional behaviors directed at most people
around him.
Nell (1994) Drama ΨΨΨ
Jodi Foster plays a feral child raised in isolation in
the North Carolina woods. She is terrified of the
doctor who discovers her and eventually learns her
own odd language. The doctor consults an expert
on child psychology. Interesting examination of
Rousseau’s concept of the “natural savage.”
Noi the Albino (2003) Drama ΨΨΨ
A film about a troubled but gifted teen who struggles
with conduct problems in Iceland. The movie
provides a realistic evaluation of a gifted adolescent
who is out of place in both school and life.
Pelle the Conqueror (1986) Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
Moving film about lust, passion, dreams, aging,
hope, pragmatic romance, and, most of all, the love
between a father and his son. The film won the
Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and an
Academy Award as Best Foreign Film.
Pieces of April (2003) Comedy ΨΨΨ
Previously troubled adolescent estranged from
her family tries to create a pleasant, memorable
experience for her dysfunctional family’s
Thanksgiving dinner. Well-acted by Katie Holmes
and Patricia Clarkson.
Pixote (1981) Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
A powerful film about the squalid, depressing lives
of street children in Sao Paulo. In the film, the
child, Pixote, commits his first murder at the age of
10. Ironically, the child star actually was shot and
killed by the police five years after the film was
released.
Ratcatcher, The (1999) Drama ΨΨΨ
Young adolescent living in Glasgow has to cope
with trash-covered streets, lice, and dead rats. He
acts out as he tries to cope with poverty.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Drama ΨΨΨ
Dated but still interesting examination of teenage
alienation, violence, and family pathology. James
Dean is the rebellious protagonist. All three stars
(Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo) met violent
deaths (a car wreck, a drowning, and a murder).
“Boy, if, if I had one day when I
didn’t have to be all confused,
and didn’t have to feel that I was
ashamed of everything”
James Dean
in Rebel Without a Cause
Salaam Bombay! (1988) Drama ΨΨΨ
Remarkable story about the way indigent children
manage to survive to adulthood on the mean streets
of Bombay.
Cole Sear: “We were supposed to
draw a picture, anything we
wanted. I drew a man who got
hurt in the neck by another man
with a screwdriver.”
Malcolm Crowe: “You saw that on
TV, Cole?”
Cole Sear: “Everyone got upset.
They had a meeting. Mom started
crying. I don’t draw like that any
more.”
Malcolm Crowe: “How do you
draw now?”
Cole Sear: “Draw... people
smiling, dogs running, rainbows.
They don’t have meetings about
rainbows.”
A child figures out how to game
the system in The Sixth Sense
Sixth Sense, The (1999) Drama ΨΨΨ
Bruce Willis plays a Philadelphia child psychologist
treating a child who sees himself surrounded
by dead people. If this child were seen at
a clinic, he would probably be diagnosed with
childhood schizophrenia. The film has a surprise
ending and offers some insight into a troubled
marriage, but it offers little to help us understand
child psychopathology.
From: Wedding, D., Boyd, M.A., & Niemiec, R.M. Movies and Mental Illness: Using Films to Understand Psychopathology
© 2005 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers (www.hogrefe.com)