"Silver Linings Playbook": a dissent

Inspired by Chris Matthews' ecstatic recommendation and the NY Times' fawning review of "Silver Linings Playbook" as a film that "does almost everything right," I was surprised upon seeing it yesterday that it does almost everything shockingly wrong.

Don't mistake, the acting is fine, indeed at times it is downright awesome, especially that delivered by Bradley Cooper in the starring role of a mentally troubled--severely troubled--young man who desperately wants his old life back, which is to say, principally, his wife. As a courtesy to those who haven't seen the movie but plan to, I'll say nothing more about the eventful plot, other than to note that the words "horribly contrived" might leap at you in the theatre's dark.

And that's what first had me anticipating "The End" with intensifying anxiety. Afterward, though, what struck me with far more intensity is that the primal scream of "Silver Linings Playbook" is that finding true love can help to cure mental illness. And that is where the film in fact goes shockingly wrong; the brain scramblings of the main character are a physical ailment, biochemical in nature, and all the spiritually invigorating new loves possible in this world would never in reality help him.   

To suggest otherwise is, I think, a disservice to the loving families and closest friends of the mentally physically diseased, to all of whom this film says, in essence: Love can conquer all, so just hang in there--and maybe try a bit harder.

That may be an artistically pleasing way to treat the issue of mental illness, but it will unfairly leave some feeling inadequate in the way they've treated it.

Comments

[Beulahmo]

Wow. Thanks for sharing that. I was considering seeing the movie, but I'm reconsidering because it might just piss me off.

I've dealt with mental illness in myself, family members, and important relationships all my life. There's never been any shortage of love, and abundant, sometimes miraculous love *has* often helped everyone involved to cope. Though I've been grateful for such powerful love, I've been painfully aware that it doesn't fix the illness or the damage caused by it.

[Laguna Bob]

I enjoyed it, but confess I don't have great expectations for "Hollywood" films when it comes to portraying mental illness accurately. It is definitely overrated in comparison to Beasts of the Southern Wild, which probably has no chance for Oscar, and my favorite American film, The Master, didn't even make the finals, even though the three starring actors did.

One thing about mental illness: in spite of the psychiatric profession's and pharmaceutical industry's belief in a physical basis for all mental disorders, there is disturbing evidence that a lot of their formulations sometimes do more harm than good. See Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic for more, or Marcia Angell's review of this and several other books in the NYRB from two issues in June 2011.

FInally, my sister committed suicide unexpectedly after many years of taking powerful anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety and other medications intended to treat her illness "physically". There had been no prior attempts, though it was clear that the drugs had powerful, often negative, affects on her.

[Jason]

Contrived, yes. But so what? So was MacBeth.

To me the message was not that love will somehow cure or conquer mental illness; it's that mental illness does not preclude love. Nowhere did the film suggest that they had been magically healed by the end.

Also, mental illness is complex. Speaking from very personal experience, sometimes it is physical, requiring medication. In many cases, though, mental illness can be overcome without meds; i.e., it is all in your head. I tried a half-dozen meds, and they all made things worse for me. It wasn't until I came to understand and accept myself more, changed my thought patterns, and most of all, changed my life circumstances, that I was finally able to not be so depressed and anxious.

Anyway, Silver Linings Playbook: great acting, snappy dialogue, very contrived plot. Lots of fun.

[Robert Lipscomb]

Jason is on point.

My problem with most discussions and treatments of depressiond its cousin alcoholism is the use of the terms, "depression is" and "alcoholism is", rather than "Depresssions are" and alcoholisms are".

There are many different types of causes and environments creating even more types of manifestations. This is why I have a problem with AA's "one size fits all" approach to alcoholism.

Without having seen the movie, I still share PM's general concern about quick fixes fpr any personality disorders - however mild.

[David Carpenter]

I'm a fairly minor bipolar. I'm on a simple prescription that does fog me down enough to function nearly completely normally. My brain tries to run at 300%, but it calms me down to a functional level.

I felt the movie did a terrific job of demonstrating what I call 'overload'. That's when everything into environment completely overwhelms me...just too much input.

I did feel the end of the movie kind of betrayed some of the fairly accurate portrayals early on. It DID show the two main characters essentially 'cured' by finding true love. That cut the reality out completely. I've found true love in a wife and daughter...and I still take my lithium to keep my brain in control.

I didn't hate the movie. In fact, I felt the first seven eights did an admirable job of showing various mental illnesses and how people survive with them. I just felt the last five minutes betrayed the test of the film.