The Silver Lining Playbook Analysis

Living in the past can hold you back from opportunities that present themselves in the current day. This is shown in the film The Silver Lining Playbook directed by David O. Russell, this film sends an important message that living in the past will affect you in the present. Patrick Solitano Jr lived in the past, this torn his whole life apart. Living in the past cause Pat to go through many mental stages such as obsessed, Bipolar, defensive and decisive.

Pat’s first hurdle to become mentally sane was obsession. Pat was stuck in the past trying to impress his ex wife Nikki so that she would take him back, even though she had a restraining order placed on him. Pat went to the extreme by losing weight and reading the books she reads to her class. …show more content…
Pat, because of his condition had a sudden urge to watch his wedding video. He was looking everywhere for it and started to panic, when he could not find it his parents tried to calm him down, he said “I'm not yelling, im just frustrated because I should have my wedding video”. Pat was stuck in a flashback where he caught Nikki cheating on him, without knowing it he hit his mother to the ground. His Dad in defence, lept onto Pat saying “you throw your mother on the ground” and then proceeded to hit him. This shows us that living in the past can affect your mental state. Pat was that stuck in the past that it showed through his condition, making him only concerned about the past than the present. Lying in the past also torn his family apart. They all started becoming violent towards each other only because of Pat’s flashbacks, therefore they acted out trying to stop Pat from hurting anyone else. Because of Pat living in the past, his feelings were enhanced by his condition. This led him to hurt the people he loved only because he was focused on the past. This relates to anyone in the wider world. People are that stuck in the past that it hurts many loved ones around