Silver Linings Playbook

The Portrayal of People with Disabilities as Trapped
The idea that people with disabilities are trapped is portrayed across all four of my texts. The word ‘disability’ is defined as: “a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.” These limitations can be so bad that the sufferer feels trapped by them; it is as though they are in the worst form of prison. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, A Beautiful Mind, The Theory of Everything, and Silver Linings Playbook all show the limitations that are enforced upon people by their disabilities and how they are imprisoned by them. These films assist us in understanding what it is like to live with these restrictions.
Much of the population regard physical and

Pat Solatano was in love with his ex-wife, albeit insanely so and he used this love as a reason to try to change how he was. He lost an immense amount of weight and he was trying to regain control of his mind. Pat was quite a large man before he was sent to the psychiatric hospital, but was very fit when he was released from the metal institution after eight months which is quite an achievement. He did this because it was one of the things that had driven his ex-wife to have an affair with one of her co-workers, whom Pat beat to within an inch of his life. The purpose of everything Pat was doing was so that he could be with his ex-wife, Nikki, who had received a restraining order against Pat. Tiffany, the main female character, convinced Pat to enter a dance competition with her if she gave Nikki the letter he had written. Pat was obsessed with Nikki and would do anything to get her back, so he agreed to enter the dance competition with Tiffany. Although they were not very good at dancing they entered the competition and scored five points out of ten, which is what they were aiming for as a minimum. Pat was an inexperienced dancer and had to do a lot of work to learn the dance. He was able to learn the dance because he needed to do it so that his letter would be given to Nikki. This allowed him to persevere so ferociously that he was able to rid himself of his obsession with Nikki and realised that

Society portrays them as such and it causes all people to think so. The films that I have studied have all posed a question of opposition to this view. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, A Beautiful Mind, The Theory of Everything, and Silver Linings Playbook all portray the main character, who is affected by his disability, in a good way. Not as helpless fools who don’t know how to tie their shoes, but as mentally sharp people who are able to master their mind and use it to their advantage to help ease the struggle which they face on a regular basis. If the society in which we live stopped portraying disabled people as trapped but instead portrayed them how they want to be portrayed, i.e. limited, normal or whatever else they choose, they would then be able to live their lives more normally and able-bodied people would not think to avoid them as much or tell them that they are brave and an inspiration, but all they are doing is living a life the same as everybody else. Not all people want to be congratulated for accomplishing a task which can be achieved by a ten year old, i.e. doing the shopping. The directors of these films, Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and The Butterfly), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), James Marsh (The Theory of Everything), and David O. Russel (Silver Linings Playbook) made them in a way that positioned the audience to appropriately question their behaviours to and views of