Introduction
Introduction | Movies | BooksSocial science demonstrates that mass communication media increasingly influence the general opinion and attitude. These sciences also focus increasingly on the cultural impact of media in advanced industrialized societies.
Nowadays, in the internet age, audiovisual transmissions -radio, movies, television- as well as the technological innovations, bring pictures and sound to the most remote areas of the planet. As a result, those media now are dominant in originating and spreading intellectual and social concepts around the globe.
On the other hand, the impact of the more 'classical' media should not be underestimated. Never in the history of the world have more books been sold, and there is an increasing cross-fertilization between the 'new' and 'classical' media, which is stimulating both. The movie 'A beautiful Mind' is based on a book, which would never have sold so well, without the attention created by the movie.
Psychosis for the General Public in movies and books
There is no doubt that the way patients and their physicians are represented in movies and books has an immediate impact on the way the general public views those people and the disorders they experience.
The WHO currently estimates that over 350 million people worldwide need some type of assistance because of a mental health disorder. Negative representation of mental health problems by the media can therefore distort the way the general public perceives those problems, create prejudices and can reinforce traditionally negative views.
This has been the case in most cultures, which have through history generally associated 'madness' with crime and danger. Of course, the association between mental disease and 'negative behaviour' is made in different ways. Sometimes reference is made to the 'neurosis' of the New York metropolis in a comedy. This is not the same as speaking about a serious schizophrenic relapse of a chronic patient after long years in a hospital. The movie industry essentially creates personalities that can attract the interest of the general public. It is therefore no coincidence that the 'mad criminal' and the 'murderous psychopath' stereotypes are the most frequently seen on the screen.
This focus, however, is not set by the movies alone. When looking into the world of literature, many of the characters have a somewhat peculiar mind, and are often suffering some mental disease.
