Examples Of Psychology In The Silver Lining Playbook

Superior Essays
Jenna Yun
Mr. Leckey
AP Psychology Period 6
10/30/15
AP Psychology Extra Credit Movie Quarter 1

Overall, my thoughts on the film, The Silver Linings Playbook, were positive. I found it interesting that the author decided to connect mental disorders and dancing together. The fact that Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, and Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence, were able to overcome their mental illnesses by dancing together was significant. In addition, the movie showcased the changes in a family relationship really well and had unique characters that were different from previous movies I saw. For example, Pat’s father has OCD and believed in superstition, while Pat’s mother looked over the family quietly. Tiffany’s character
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The characters had multiple psychological disorders and their role in the movie wasn’t obvious. On the other hand, something that I thought was a bit confusing and weird was when Pat’s therapist, Dr. Patel, was a person who provoked Pat by playing Ma Cherie Amour by Stevie Wonders in his office and later in the movie, turned into a Eagles fan and went to games with Pat’s family. The shift is the character’s position confused me in a way. I thought that he was not a strong character in the movie. During the movie, I expected Dr. Patel to do something significant to help change Pat, but that wasn’t what happened. He was just a minor character. Also, the police appeared in the movie way too much. It seemed like he was just waiting for Pat to do something stupid or cause a ruckus. In addition, the film portrayed overcoming a mental disorder a little too easy. The ending was like any other ending. The two main characters, Pat and Tiffany, fell in love and overcame their mental disorders. It concluded with a happy ending too quickly. In my opinion, the movie needs to be more situations or triggers that would help both of them overcome their …show more content…
First and foremost, I learned the meaning of silver lining and how it tied in with the whole story. In the film, Silver linings referred to a brighter or hopeful side to a problem or a gloomy surface. Pat mentioned silver linings constantly throughout the whole film. Pat tried to look for a positive side to the situations he encountered including the time he met Tiffany. He also mentioned silver linings when he wanted to reconcile with his wife. Even though his whole family told him that his wife left him, Pat thought positively and wrote a letter to his wife to prove that he is and was transforming into a better person. Another thing that I learned was that society considers mental disorders as something negative that should be kept quiet. Mental disorders shouldn’t be kept quiet because it isn’t something to be ashamed about. Instead, people should help those with mental disorders overcome it. Overall, the movie was enjoyable because it wasn’t too serious nor was it a full-on

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