The Babadook and Mental Health One might argue that the scariest horror films are those films which horrors portray a sense that something of that nature might actually happen in the real world. The beauty of horror films is that anything could theoretically be possible, like Freddy Krueger sticking his tongue through Nancy’s phone as he says, “I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy” or a horde of zombies stampeding through the cities of the United States wiping out humanity in its path. If one thinks about it long enough, anything we can perceive could happen. However, there is a line between the pure science fiction and those horror films which attempt to tackle a more realistic, social, cultural, psychological, or political problem in society. …show more content…
The Babadook is no monster or demon, but rather is a representation of Amelia’s mental illness, in this case depression due to the loss of her husband. Horror films often use monsters to portray the things in the real world that we are afraid of. Or in the words of Robin Wood, what society has a whole oppresses or represses. Mental illness throughout history has constantly been repressed by society, prompting individuals to hide or try to fight it without actually coming to an understanding of their condition. Although the Babadook is drastically different in its style and delivery from the 1970’s horror films that Wood wrote her piece, “The American Nightmare” about, the Babadook perpetuates the points made by Wood. The Babadook plays into Wood’s analysis of “otherness” or that which society cannot recognize or accept, but rather deal with it in one of two ways: either by rejecting it and if possible annihilating it, or by rendering it safe and assimilating it”(Wood, The American Nightmare, pg 27). Throughout the majority of the film, Amelia attempts to take the first road, by denying her problem, projecting it onto Sam, and then by attempting to annihilate it by killing Sam. However, the Babadook will not be so easily dealt with. The Babadook actually tells Amelia, “the more you deny me, the stronger I’ll get”. Much like mental illness, if it is left untreated or denied, the person’s …show more content…
The major reason for the Babadook’s appearance in the film is the death of Amelia’s husband on the day of Sam’s birth, which has haunted her since the day it happened. Had the antagonist of the film been a male, it is likely that the character’s mental illness would be portrayed much differently, and the viewer would identify with the victims rather than with the antagonist. Even today, it is likely that a man with mental illness in a horror film would be portrayed as a violent killer. Although not necessarily considered a horror film, American Psycho provides an example in its main character, Patrick Bateman. Patrick Bateman portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2000 film, could be diagnosed with any number of mental illnesses, like antisocial personality disorder or borderline personality disorder. Of course, throughout the film, Bateman is a violent serial killer who derives pleasure from his kills. More often than not, women in modern horror cannot be like Patrick Bateman, but rather they are the victims or in the case of the Babadook, a grieving mother who cannot control her emotions. In the case of Patrick Bateman, we identify with his innocent victims. As both the victim and the antagonist, the viewer identifies with Amelia for most of the film, After, the viewer is again able to identify with Amelia as the “final girl” as she becomes a “badass” and is
In the film, American Psycho, Patrick Bateman was a wealthy investment banker who also happened to be a serial killer. He was highly intelligent and was charming which attracted many of the women who came his way. Unlike most people in the world, he lived in constant pain. He was rarely happy with himself, and also hated everyone around him. He felt that he needed to inflict his pain on others in violent ways. He always had something disgusting to say such as, “I like to dissect girls; I am utterly insane.” It is outside of the norm to speak in this way, therefore he would be considered deviant. He displayed feelings of distress as he became frustrated very easily with himself and others. Everything
These have been adapted from the early twentieth century, and have developed a whole series of genre conventions into a familiar variety of scary settings, iconography, and stereotyped characterisation. Audiences have a clear understanding of this, and they use it to their advantage. They can keep putting the audience through the jolts that horror conventions continue to give. An effective way of keeping the horror fresh would be to break the cycle, by breaking certain conventions. The isolated setting in the two films is a key device used to establish a threatening atmosphere.
Psychopathy; the trait that truly distinguishes humans from ¨machines¨, emotionful to emotionless. Within the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, one may logically assume that the protagonist, Patrick Bateman is indeed implied to be a psycho as the title suggests. However upon further analyzation, Bateman is revealed to be an unreliable narrator, he does not captivate the reader with all of his emotions verbally, for they are revealed through his actions. Bateman certainly does murder people, however, clinically murder doesn´t rule somebody to be a psychopath. Bateman feels no visible remorse for the victims he kills, because Bateman lives in an artificial hyperbole of a yuppie world where no love is shown, all relationships superficial.
The protagonist in the motion picture Good Will Hunting is called Will, and he is described to be a high intellect person but with recluse tendencies whereby he has kept to himself mostly having only a few friends near him. The young adult is employed as a janitor in the university where can work out a difficult question presented to the students by the professor. The problem appears to be quite difficult for the students, but he does not struggle. The teacher takes an interest in the young man and stands for him in court and takes responsible for him. He takes him to therapy to treat his psychological disorder which becomes apparent with the actions and words that he utters in the film. Will is tough in the therapy sessions until he later
The film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a psychological thriller that was created in 1960. The main theme of this film revolves around psychological illnesses. The film focuses on the main character, Norman Bates, and his psychological problems which include a split personality, voyeurism, sadism, guilt and self-punishment, and anal fixation. Throughout the movie you can see Bates exhibit these traits at different points; however, some traits are not as clearly evident as others. This film takes an in-depth look at how someone who possesses a mental illness might behave or think.
Just as a mirror reflects one’s face, the horror genre is a physical representation of how fear is portrayed to discuss the social anxieties of one’s time period. Representations of fear have continued to vary in accordance to reflect a particular time period’s social anxieties. Robin Wood, in the essay American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film, articulates how the ‘true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilisation represses or oppresses.’ He contended that the way in which any given horror narrative determines this conflict, uncovers its ideological orientation, and further, that most of these compositions will be conservative; stifling desires inside of the self and disavowing it by projecting
Horror movies are one of the most fascinating genres of film that exists. They are unrealistic but at the same time, they are also realistic. This realism that they contain is what draws people’s interest towards them because viewers are able to associate aspects of their own lives with the film. Every horror movie, no matter how farfetched the theme or plot may be, contains an element that people can relate to. This element may not be observable to a conscious mind, but to an unconscious mind, it brings back memories of something that has been repressed earlier in our lives (Wood, 197). This recollection of suppressed memories is how horror films create a sense of fear and it is literally what Robin Wood means when he talks about “the return
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
Samuel is not only an example of the classic distraught child characteristic of a troubled family, but also is a reflection of Amelia’s true desire. Samuel acts as the traditional dominant male figure in the relationship, because there is no dominant figure to take control. Samuel is constantly seeking attention which represents the archaic idea that woman needs to abide to the needs of a man. Amelia is frightened by these constraints as they begin to control her life. Samuel’s destructive behavior makes it increasingly difficult for Amelia to have a normal life. Instead she sacrifices everything to take care of Samuel, even going as far as to alienating herself from family and friends. When Samuel is kicked out of school for almost injuring another child, “A dart could have ended up in the eye of a child, or worse … Samuel will be separated from other children,” Amelia begins to alienate herself from others (Babadook). These chains that bind Amelia to the social norms of motherhood makes Amelia feel as if she has no control of her life. Samuel destructive behavior can be linked to Amelia as if he is a negative image of herself that she wants to control, but cannot, which is further exemplified by Samuel’s mannerisms. As the movie progresses, Amelia and Samuel’s roles become reversed as Amelia is able to defeat the Babadook and regain control of her life, while Samuel reverts to the ideal
12. Tudor, Andrew. Monsters and Mad Scientists. A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. 1989. Oxford: Blackwell, 1991, 114.
Fifty years ago, a person breaking the law would either be called crazy or a criminal. Today, the mental health community has much more specific diagnoses. However, the explanation of certain behaviors may be difficult because there is much overlap among mental conditions. In Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is apparently simply a psychopath. However, Bateman can be diagnosed with other mental illnesses such as Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder. In both the book and film adaptation, Bateman’s actions can be understood more accurately when analyzed in light of modern psychology.
When Ronson wraps up his work in The Psychopath Test, a novel, he creates a theme of paranoia as he ventured into an industry of madness. He establishes his work’s meaning that any individual may appear normal, abnormal, or be a psychopath within. In other words, his theme follows the idea that life can be full of deceiving people. In order to convey his theme, he used four significant characters. They include himself as the narrator, David Shayler with Rachel North, and Robert Hare. These characters not only emphasize Ronson’s theme, but also help establish the purpose of his theme, which is to showcase that madness can be anywhere.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a well-known book about an eccentric candy maker living in his own mystical world that has been made into two popular movies. Wonka is a character that is two things at once; unflappable and socially anxious, overly friendly but also untrustworthy and isolated, altruistic and sadistic, hopeful and cynical, grandiose and fragile (Pincus, 2006). While Willy Wonka may be a fictional character, he does display the very real disorder Schizotypal Personality Disorder or SPD. Schizotypal Personality Disorder is a personality disorder that affects approximately 3.9% of the American population and is similar to Schizophrenia but without delusions or hallucinations (Pulay et al., 2009). While little is known about the causes of Schizotypal Personality Disorder, it is becoming a significant personality disorder that warrants an understanding of what is currently known about the disorder and treatments available to individuals living with SPD.
Would you rather be horrified beyond repair or thrilled to the point of no return? In horror, the main purpose is to invoke fear and dread into the audience in the most unrealistic way. Horror movies involve supernatural entities such as ghosts, vampires, teleportation, and being completely immortal. As thriller films are grounded in realism and involve more suspense, mystery, and a sense of panic. Though both genres will frighten the audience, it will happen in two different ways. Whether the horror thrills or the thriller horrifies, a scare is always incorporated.
No joke. Some might disagree because of all the blood and gore, the mentally beating up or anything gross. Some characteristics are; blood and gore, gross scenes, death, some sex scenes, a lot more death, a twist usually at the end, foreshadowing to who or what the killer is, mentally and physically torturing, and violence. See? Horror movies don’t sound so bad, right? Honestly, there are so many types of horror movies out there some on netflix are considered thrillers but I think not. All horror movies have this awful suspense that makes you want to vomit because the suspense is real and scary. A couple of scary movies that recently came out are, “The Conjuring 2 and Don’t Breathe,” some movies can be realistic as in based on true events. Some people might consider Jaws to be a horror movies because of all the blood and people have fears of sharks. Horror movies have something about them that make a person want to watch more and dig deeper to find the ultimate horror movies. Like the ones with based on true events but have a lot of blood and gore to them. Makes people wonder if it actually did happen that way and if there was that amount of blood and gore. Horror movies and romance movies are on a totally different universe that should never come