psychology
Whenever I watch a Nicholas Cage movie I feel myself expecting to see a certain eccentricity in his performance. His over the top outbursts or erratic body movements distance away from more serious tones and instead cross over into that of slapstick comedy. Cage’s acting has always entertained me, yet my ironic enjoyment often makes it hard to take his characters seriously.
In this part of Positive Psychology & Film, Laurie Agard interprets Life Is Beautiful, the inspiring and gut-wrenching Italian war film.
The subject of mental illness and disorders are interesting, educational, and sometimes sensitive topics in film. From watching movies like Girl, Interrupted, The Road Within and The Machinist, audiences learn a great deal about very real and problematic issues surrounding sufferers, however, can it be said that these representations are portrayed correctly? The film industry is guilty of depicting disorders such as hysteria as an illness that only women suffer from, and autism is far too often painted as a superpower, not to mention the unclear representation of schizophrenia, which causes audiences to confuse the illness with dissociative identity disorder.
A common stereotype in film is that women don’t work and have no career. What can we learn from the films in which women’s careers are at the forefront?
“Human beings are starved for love.” – Erich Fromm This article is part of a series. Find the first part here.
Whether we like it or not, technology is becoming a larger part of our everyday lives, from the cell phones we carry to the laptops we work on. However, this trend has been ever-present in film, as long as science fiction has been on screen. Technological advances generally start as a method to improve human life but as soon as we design technology with a consciousness, that is when all hell breaks loose.
Filmgoers have always been captivated with man’s primal nature. From the silver screen adaptations of The Wolf Man to the mysterious Creature from the Black Lagoon, the primitive side of these movie monsters has contributed to horror genre’s A-team roster. Upon viewing their animalistic nature, our minds are suddenly given a glimpse into the missing link between man and beast.
You can improve your life by paying attention to how films use characters and themes to explore human values, virtues, and character strengths.