On psychiatry in cinema

Hannibal Lecter, Malcolm Crowe, and Arthur Fleck are three cinematic characters that relentlessly pull the viewer in for different but powerful reasons. A common thread between these characters is their explicit connection to psychiatric illness or its treatment. The author explains how these charac...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dennis Curry
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: McGill University 2020-08-01
Series:McGill Journal of Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://mjm.mcgill.ca/article/view/301
Description
Summary:Hannibal Lecter, Malcolm Crowe, and Arthur Fleck are three cinematic characters that relentlessly pull the viewer in for different but powerful reasons. A common thread between these characters is their explicit connection to psychiatric illness or its treatment. The author explains how these characters obtain the attention of the audience through the lens of mental illness and how the viewer’s reservoir for compassion stands to deepen during this process. The author concludes with a social commentary on Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019) and the controversy surrounding its depiction of mental illness on the silver screen.
ISSN:1715-8125