On screen depictions of MH that you Hate/dislike or Love/Like

Hate:
Sherlock (the TV series)
Fight Club
Benny and June
Shutter Island
Me, Myself and Irene
13 reasons why
The virgin suicides
American psycho
One flew over the cuckoo's nest (mcmurphy was in jail for statutory rape, hardly a lovable rogue)
Any Horror or thriller with a twist that makes the lead character or villain have D.I.D/multiple personalities, which most people mistake as Schizophrenia.

Like:
Perks of being a wallflower
Black Swan
Donnie Darko
It's kind of a funny story
Girl, interrupted
Bug
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
Primal Fear
Homeland

N. B. I'm not basing my opinion on how realistic I believe the shows or films to be but on where I think there is a good balance between entertainment and not wrongly romanticizing or undermining those with mental health issues.

Hate any depiction of people with bipolar as violent killers

I can't think of any I like.....

I liked Fight Club (the book is much different and more about masculinity in the post-modern world); love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - absolutely love - one of the best understated movies ever; Primal Fear - also incredible.

Luke warm on Girl, Interrupted.

Hate Black Swan (but that might be because I was a professional dancer and I hate it for more than just the MH aspect).

Love Virgin Suicides the book - it's actually a good depiction of a suicide cluster in teens. Movie didn't really hold my interest.

Hated 13 Reasons Why. Agree with you there.

There is a book "Veronica decides to die." I thought it was very good. Maybe check it out if you're into reading.

I haven't seen Benny and June for a while but I did like it back in the day, before I had MI. So, I might feel differently now.

The last installment of Into the Dark on Hulu, entitled "The Current Occupant" I know they weren't going for what it feels like to be involuntarily committed, but WOW, it felt spot on to some institutions I had been in, and the feeling (the details of course are inaccurate) but the FEELING they got out of it, omg, I was like, if anyone wants to know what it FEELS like to be involuntarily committed - this gets the ambiance and feeling SPOT ON.

American Psycho - agree for accuracy, but dramatically, I love that film, and the films that are tangentially related to it. But agree, not really accurate.

Agree. Dislike any film where a person with MI is a violent killer, because statically speaking they are more likely to be victims than perpetrators. IMO, Law and Order SVU has done a good job with different episodes showing different MIs in a pretty reasonable light and with some empathy. Although they also miss the mark sometimes (thinking of an episode where a young woman with PMDD kills her mom, and then they say that because she started her cycle she couldn't have been experience PMDD - it's not that cut and dry). But I've seen them deal with schizophrenia in a very compassionate way as well as BPD.

I will admit I did enjoy the narrative in the books of Fight Club and American Psycho. The themes they broach about modern life are very thought provoking - consumerism, materialism, greed, toxic masculinity, excess of the 80s in the latter, how wealth is often valued over morality. I will download Veronica decides to die. Ive never heard of the Web series but it sounds worth a look. I was on a section years ago to change medication and it was a complete waste of time. I was taken off the tablet I was on and tried on others only to be put back on the first one they took me off. One tablet put me in the heart ward and the other stopped my monthly cycle.

I should read it again myself. I read it in my early 20s, 15 years before my first Dx and hospitalization.

A Beautiful Mind, the film, I thought conveyed having severe delusions, hallucinations, mental health crisis, in a way I could grasp. It was a heartbreaking film but also, if anyone has seen it, a film about about triumph over inner adversity. Great great movie, and very inspiring in my opinion. Russel Crowe, 2001.

I thought A Beautiful Mind was well-done, too. I found Girl, Interrupted to be an excellent movie and I adored Benny and Joon. To me, Sylvia portrayed bipolar disorder accurately and it was an outstanding film.

I thought that both the novel and the movie American Psycho were brilliant - but I think many people who didn't live through the 1980's (as adults) didn't fully comprehend the message.

I loved The Virgin Suicides. Again though, more about an era than about mental illness.

Hollywood will never portray mental illness accurately or genuinely. I don't know why that is, but I have yet to see a movie where I thought the screenplay and director and cast honored the mental illness with respect and a thorough understanding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motts Hollywood will never portray mental illness accurately or genuinely. I don't know why that is, but I have yet to see a movie where I thought the screenplay and director and cast honored the mental illness with respect and a thorough understanding.

Well, because fictional movies are about imagination. There are documentaries on MI.

Modern love (programme about love but Anne Hathaway character Lexi has bipolar and it shows the ups and downs and how vibrant the world can be seen from a manic eye perspective) although I was embarrassed as its similar to me and I was watching it with my Sister. I felt they did a good job of showing how you can go from happy to sad in a split and how the world is seen through tainted glasses from our perspective.

Love

Girl interrupted
One flew over the cuckoos nest
Split
I kinda like 13 reasons why

I found the 1960's (!) program The Breaking Point to be very valuable. It starred Paul Richards as the psychiatrist McKinley Thompson:

Breaking Point (1963 TV series) - Wikipedia

It was a Bing Crosby production, of all things. I've never seen a portrayal of a more thoughtful and caring psychiatrist.