Black swan: Madness of swan queen:

Susanna Kaysen’s “Girl Interrupted,” is an autobiography in relation to Kaysen’s two-year stay at a mental hospital as she battles borderline personality disorder. Although in denial, Susanna Kaysen is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder but is unable to come to terms with her illness as she reassures herself she is fine. The reader learns that Kaysen is an unreliable narrator that is unable to discover the truth behind her illness. Through the exploration of her relationships, actions, and opinions, enhances the fact that Kaysen is mentally ill. Through her past and present relationship’s, Susanna demonstrates her self-destructive tendencies. Kaysen’s impulsivity in the novel is another indication that her diagnosis is fitting. Finally, Kaysen’s thought process and anxious behavior further prove her as a candidate for BPD.

Kathryn Merteuil, the primary antagonist in Cruel Intentions, is the master at manipulating both men and women. She is the most popular girl at her school and bases the entirety of her self-worth on her perception that everyone either wants her or wants to be her. In order to maintain her appearance, Kathryn binges and purges and has a heavy cocaine addiction. Although well liked and popular, Kathryn holds no stable relationships and is easily upset and irritated when things do not go her way. Although this film’s focus is not Kathryn’s mental health diagnosis, Kathryn’s actions and unstable emotions are arguably that of a patient with Borderline Personality Disorder.

De-Hong helps clean up the carnage cause by all the civil war. When the communists take over the town, they do not pillage, rape, or extort as all the other groups of people had done before them. Many are courteous and kind and

In the film, the participants completed seven tasks, which were designed to highlight characteristics or symptomology of one or more mental illnesses. While observing each task, I sympathized with

The portrayal of people being sickly creatures has been used in Hollywood film for a very long time. This has been in the endeavor of putting the viewing public in the shoes of the patient and entertain them with over the top portrayals of disease. For patients that are women in particular this has been achieved by defining them along the lines of vague terms such as them being over emotional and unstable. Despite the advancement experienced by the society, women have not yet fully seen the goal of equality realize fruition. With the expansion of the psychiatric and psychological terminologies, there now additional ways via which mental illness can be ascribed as a weakness for men and women portrayed in Hollywood film. This is best

In psychology personalities are developed through several theorist, but from these personalities can become skewed, causing a psychological disorder on a person's personality. These personality disorders can commonly be seen in about 31 million Americans, which densely equals out to 15% of our population population (Davis, n.d.). Psychological disorders are seen as behavior patterns or mental processes that creates a difficulty for oneself or a hinder on an individual's strength to endure certain situations that take place in life everyday. Disorders are primarily discovered through psychological testing, however, it is possible to identify them through watching psychological films or thrillers. In this case, the character Joan Crawford will be analyzed for her dominant personality disorders in the movie Mommie Dearest. While watching the movie Mommie Dearest the audience can easily recognize obsessive cleaning rituals, a fantasy over one’s own success, and dramatic changes of moods that swing up and down. The main character, Joan Crawford, displays dominant characteristics of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and a narcissistic personality disorder. As an audience we see that these disorders become very upsetting to those that are close to her, affecting her relationships with everyone and everything, specifically with her daughter Christina.

The main character in the film “Girl Interrupted”, Susanna Kaysen, is an eighteen-year-old female. She admitted herself into a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide by overdosing on Aspirin and Vodka, where she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Susanna repeatedly denies trying to commit suicide, and claims she took aspirin because she “had a headache”. She appeared to be well groomed, her speech was articulated, and her thought process clear. Susanna is not currently employed, nor is she a student, and appears to have no motivation or ambition (Wick, Konrad, Ryder & Mangold, 1999).

Psychological disorders are very real and present in many people we come in contact with daily, however, are very rarely talked about. Learning about these disorders can help us to understand others and ourselves better by telling us why we do and think the things we do. One effective way that we can observe and learn about psychological disorders is through movies. “Mommie Dearest” was directed by Frank Perry. It is centered around the actress Joan Crawford, who suffered from various psychological disorders. Joan’s daughter, Christina, wrote a book about her mother and her many problems and it was later turned into a movie. It is very effective to use movie analysis as a way of learning, especially in psychology, because it provides a great way to observe without distractions. When you’re looking at disorders, it’s difficult to find a person who has many of these disorders and will allow you to observe them. Psychological disorders can be split into two major groups, personality disorders and mood disorders. Personality disorders are patterns of traits that can get in the way of your social or work life and may interrupt the individual’s normal lifestyle. Mood disorders are inconsistent and unreliable changes in mood by the affected individual. (Rathus, 1998). With all of this being said, it brings me to my point that I will be talking about for the rest of this essay. Joan Crawford demonstrates the personality disorders of histrionic, narcissism, and OCPD. When it comes to mood disorders, Joan demonstrates bipolar disorder.

Black Swan and Whiplash both feature intense practice sequences that build upon the narrative of obsessing over a craft. This intense and obsessive practice leads up to the conclusion of the films; where each character gives their absolute best performance. Nina’s final transformation into an impure and sinful character is completed when she grows black wings and slams her mother’s hand in her door. During the performance, Nina gets into an altercation with herself and stabs herself in the pure White Swan costume. Andrew transforms into “one of the greats” as he is embarrassed by Fletcher on stage. They both have their careers riding on their performances. They both fail to begin with; Andrew not knowing the chart the rest of the band is playing and Nina falling during act I of Swan Lake. Yet their greatness is proven when they give the final goodbye to their parental figures and former youth. Andrew runs off stage, hugs his dad and his former reality, as he knows his life will never be what it once was. Nina exchanges eye contact with her crying mother as she looks proudly onto her daughter dancing like she never could.

The main character in the film Black Swan, twenty-eight year old female Nina Sayers, displays signs of numerous disorders through her abnormal behavior. Nina’s life is consumed by her occupation: professional ballerina/dancer. Nina resides with her mother and rarely socializes with others. She has difficulty concentrating, is restless, irritable, suffers from muscle tension, and sleep disturbances from nightmares. Nina also feels very uncomfortable in social and intimate situations. She appears to be unable to successfully interact with those around her. The interaction that Nina has with her fellow dancers appears to be strained and superficial. Nina exhibits behavior that indicates she views all other dancers as competition instead of

Girl, Interrupted provides an in-depth look into Susanna Kaysen’s experience of living with a mental illness and staying in a mental hospital. Twenty-five years after she leaves McLean she learns of her diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and discusses it in her memoir. Kaysen reads about her disorder from the DSM-III-R and views her diagnosis as:

The film Girl, Interrupted focused on an eighteen year old girl by the name Susanna that was admitted into a private mental hospital after being accused of a suicidal attempt. The movie follows Susanna on her journey in the institution as she encounters women with different admittance stories. The one who intrigues Susanna the most is Lisa. Lisa is thought to be a sociopath with the way she manipulates those around her to get her way. She is constantly in and out of the institution causing those around to fear, yet admire her. My main focus will be on Lisa and although it was not specified in the film just how old she is, she seemed to be around the same age group as Susanna. This means that, according to Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages, she is on stage five or six. Stage five happens during adolescence where ones primary task is their identity versus their own role in society whereas stage six happens in young adulthood and one faces intimacy versus isolation. The article incorporated gives more insight on how Erikson’s stages play hand in hand with one another and can potentially affect the mental state of someone if not successfully fulfilled. There is also a possibility that, with the ‘symptoms’ of a sociopath, Lisa could have had past problems during what Sigmund Freud considered the anal stage of her childhood.

The composition called The Swan performed by Yo-Yo Ma, the poem called The Dying Swan by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and the ballet of Le Cygne (The Swan) by Anna Pavlova connected to each other clearly and meaningfully by describing how The Swan’s experience connects to human being’s life cycle. The compositions musical elements connect to the poem because it starts with a depressing and miserable sound as how the poem starts in the first stanza. Then, the composition gives an inspiring emotion to the listener as how the poem gives inspiration to the reader. Furthermore, the composition also connects to the ballet because it follows the rhythm and melody of the composition by creating a dance that expresses an aching heart over people dying, peace of the deceased, and it inspired people to accept death as the dying swan accepted its own death. The ballerina shifted her speed with the tempo of the music symbolizing the meaning and feeling of the poem. The composer’s choices were effective in creating such a dramatic moment because the composition, ballet, and poem flew along as they instilled a mournful and content joy causing a death confronting inspiration.

This case study was particularly fascinating in following the life of Karen Rusa and her obsessive compulsion disorder. It is interesting to study her childhood, present life, on-set symptoms she was experiencing, and the treatment she underwent. Though Karen withstood various trials that her OCD and depression effected greatly, I believe she received the best treatment to help her recover.

In the film, Black Swan, the plot centers on Nina Sayers, a ballerina whose only goal is to play the role of the Black and White Swan in her company’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet. While she easily embodies into the innocence and grace of the White Swan, her shy and fragile personality does not fit the seductiveness and mysteriousness of the Black Swan. As a result, she struggles to become the opposite of who she is, worsening her issues with depression and anorexia.