Mental Illness In Robert Redford's Ordinary People

Improved Essays
In 1980, Robert Redford released his dramatic coming of age film that was nominated for 6 Academy Awards won four, including best picture and best director. Ordinary People is about a family dealing with the death of their son/brother. The film offers many perspectives on metal illnesses and how people deal with them and at the same time explores how our culture views mental illness. The film revolves around Conrad, who is the son of Beth and Calvin. Conrad’s brother died in a boating accident. Conrad, blaming himself, tries to commit suicide and is put in the hospital. Upon his release, his father encourages him to see a doctor and eventually Conrad is on the road to overcome him depression. At the same time, Beth and Calvin have to deal with the death of their first-born son and they both do it different ways. Calvin realizes he has a problem and takes care of it himself while …show more content…
During this time period, mental illness was still looked down upon. In 1970’s President Nixon impounded funds for the National Institute of Mental Health. The problem of mental illness was being brought to light as a result of the lack of services for mentally ill people. The lack of services made mental illness more noticeable and left many unstable people homeless, which got the attention of the media. Although media coverage was present, people weren’t concerned with mental illness and many families treated it as a private matter and didn’t share if they or a loved one were suffering. For example, when a drunken Calvin tells his neighbor that his son is seeing a psychiatrist. Although he tells her this, he only did so because he was drunk and tried to say that his son was completely fine, it was just a way to blow off steam. When Beth overhears Calvin telling the neighbor about Conrad, she pulls him away and gets very upset for sharing this “private matter” with

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Summary ‘Mama Might Be Better Off Dead’ book highlights the intrigues of Jackie Banks and her family in a bid to maintain good health. In this case, Banks’ granny’s leg is already amputated. The amputation was occasioned by diabetes. The family realizes that the granny’s situation could have been different had she been treated in advance. The problem is now exacerbated by the remaining led getting bad.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the film Ordinary People, there are three characters making up a very dysfunctional family. Conrad Jarrett, Beth Jarrett, and Calvin Jarrett all make up a family, that just recently went through a major loss of Beth and Calvin’s son and Conrad’s brother, Buck Jarrett. This film is all about how the Jarrett family is handling this death with themselves and each other. Through out this film all the family members are copping differently, whether it be through silence or violence, but they all seem to be having a problem managing their conflicts appropriately and safely. All three of the Jarrett’s seem to use silence a lot more often than violence but when they choose to use violence it’s short and sour.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    While today it is common knowledge that mental illness does not stem from mental instability or a lack of intelligence, in the nineteenth century, mental illnesses were seen as possessions or as afflictions of the weak minded or…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Premise Forrest Gump is a movie detailing the life of an Alabama born man with a low I.Q. In a very realistic fashion, the audience follows Forrest as he grows through his life. Although the movie is a simplistic picture of the life of a single man, it also somewhat satirically details many of the events the fictional character would have lived through and provides a life-like picture of many people with psychological disorders in the acquaintances Forrest makes through his adventures. One of these acquaintances is Jenny Curran, who became Gump’s friend on his first day of school.…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the examples of mental illness used in Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson was the case of Herbert Richardson. Herbert had a girlfriend; he tried to date and wanted to marry her someday. She resisted at first because he was suffering from the side effects of the Vietnam War. Herbert became overly obsessive over her in the relationship. She tried to break up with him.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    CHOOSE A FOCUS IN MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY THAT YOU FIND INTERESTING. The focus in medical sociology that I have found most interesting is that of mental illness. Mental illness is a subject that is still not fully understood and definitely not yet widely accepted by the public. Mental illness is one of the only non-preventable illnesses that carry such a negative stigma.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The secrecy surrounding mental illnesses not only in American history but in different parts of the world is depicted by the documentary Without Apology. This documentary manages to illustrate the sad truth of what life was like to have someone who suffered from a mental illness and how their families would place them in an institution. This film uncovers a taboo of history that had been buried for quite a while and states the medical theories that were used as a justification of the cognitive disability. For instance, this documentary focuses on the story of Alan, a boy who became a sudden secret when he was diagnosed with a severe stage of autism. As a young child, Alan had not done anything to indicate any kind of abnormality within himself, but then as time progressed, it became evident that things were amiss with Alan because he did things a little later than children normally would.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Discuss the ways in which Pete Earley utilizes logical, ethical, or emotional appeals in Crazy. Quote from the book to support your position. The bestselling book Crazy by Pete Earley showcases the mental health crisis in America. Earley discovered the crisis when his college-aged son, Mike, suffered a breakdown.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alienation due to Buck Alienation is the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity which one should be a part of. In Judith Guest’s Ordinary People, alienation plays a big role in each of the characters lives, mainly Conrad’s life. Conrad pushes himself away from everyone before his suicide attempt and after his return from the hospital. Conrad does this to everyone around him because of Buck’s death and not feeling accepted in society. His mother alienates him for the reason that he ruined her reputation and because she has always cared less about him.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout time mental illness has been looked upon in numerous ways from people. The time period in history can tell us a lot about the ways people were living and how they believed behavior affected certain mental illnesses. In my writing I will describe a man who is mentally ill during the early 1700’s. I will also describe an African American in a Georgia asylum and also a middle-class woman in a water treatment spa in upstate New York. I will detail what each of these individuals does on a daily basis such as their hygiene, what kind of clothing they wear and also how the person may interact with others.…

    • 1566 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the movie Ordinary People, Beth and Calvin Jarrett deal with the accidental death of their son Buck and the survival of their other son Conrad, who subsequently attempts to commit suicide because he blames himself for Buck’s death. Upon returning home from the psychiatric hospital where Conrad has spent the past four months, Conrad struggles to heal from these tragedies, but feels alienated and therefore seeks the help of a therapist. His mother is cold and seemingly unaffected, and his father is too busy placating his wife to be able to offer any consolation to his son. The family’s inability to effectively communicate only propagates their dysfunction. Beth, Calvin, and Conrad Jarrett engage in acts of “silence” and “violence” as a defense…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Not-So-Silver Lining The stigma of mental illness is as follows: crazy eyes, a lot of violence, mood swings every two seconds, and not a lot of friends and family to help. But, there are multiple factors and explanations for why a person is the way they are, and why they developed the mental illness that they did. Pat Solitano, a middle-aged white man with a lot of great qualities, was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He had a wife, a great job as a high school history teacher, and was living comfortably in the middle class.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the end, it is suggested that love is a realistic cure to heal mental illness. This challenges medical science where medication is the only effective treatment. However, this movie intelligently displays the intricacy of disorders and the effect traumatic events can have on people. The movies focus is the story line, leading to inaccuracies in the portrayal of mental disorders. However, it is by far the best representation of mental illness which is mostly displayed by media as gun toting, knife wielding serial…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Revolt By Going Insane? Can you imagine living in a society where coping with any mental illness is dealt by locking you inside a small room with nothing inside and nothing to do? Unfortunately, that was the case for most women in the 1800s. In the story “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator describes her experience with her mental illness and how she was forced inside a room that amplified her hysteria. Her story became a great novel that acknowledge women’s oppression in society and a piece of art that help engage the conversation for women empowerment.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The movie Girl, Interrupted is about a young woman, Susanna Kaysen who is admitted to a mental hospital following a suicide attempt. While inside, she goes on a journey of self-discovery, acceptance and gains an understanding of what it truly means to be “crazy”. Ultimately she is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and after an eighteen month stay and deemed “healthy” she is released. Susanna also forms close relationships with the other patients but the film primary focus is on her friendship with fellow patient, Lisa Rowe. Through her friendship with Lisa, Susanna is able to accept and realize she has the means and is capable of making herself better.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays