Inception Movie Psychology
One in seventeen people in America live with a serious mental illnesses. The film industry, for a very long time, has been obsessed with movies about the supernatural and evil, and have in the process managed to commodify people with mental illness. Paranormal Activity 1, 2, and 3, Jennifer’s Body, Orphan, Push and Minority Report, just to name a few, are all movies that in one way or another objectify people with a mental illness and the traits pertaining to it. Take the movie Push for example, it objectifies the traits of a mental disorder known as psychosis. It is a very serious mental disorder, and sickeningly common, effecting every three in one-hundred people. Psychosis effects the way that a person experiences and reacts to emotions,
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and can cause people to feel pain that is not there and not being inflicted on them. This same trait is present in one of the main characters in Push, who is a “watcher.” She has the ability to see things before they happen and feel others’ pain. The movie Push made $44,411,527 at the box office and $16,878,589 in DVD sales, while in the past few years over a billion dollars has been cut from mental health services. I believe that the film industry should not be objectifying and commodifying people with mental illnesses and their traits at the same place time that the government is cutting massive amounts of funding for programs that would actually help real people who are currently suffering from these disorders and their effects. Four of the most serious and most diagnosable mental disorders, are also some of the ones that get used the most in movies. These four disorders are: depersonalization disorder, psychosis, identity disorder and OCD. One percent of the population of America suffers from depersonalization disorder. This state causes a person to experience periods of detachment from one’s self or one’s surroundings, it often leads to not recalling memories, or having thoughts of something suddenly and not remembering the origin of that thought. It also causes people to have thoughts that arise from experiences that are “unreal” and to feel that they lack inner and outer control of themselves. Psychosis is found in three out of every hundred people in the United States. People who suffer from psychosis experience a loss of contact with reality, usually including false beliefs about what is taking place or who one is (delusions) and seeing or hearing things that aren't there (hallucinations). Many times people who suffer from this, experience “visions” in which they see scenes of something happening. Or they experience kinesthetic hallucinations which is where they feel pain that is not actually being inflicted. Two point six percent of the population suffers from identity disorder. When affected by this disorder, people basically have two personalities. They have one personality that is their actual personality and another personality which can often be harmful and that they do not remember having. Finally, around three point three million people in the United States suffer from OCD. While many people may think they know the basic symptoms of OCD, an overlooked symptom of OCD is obsessive thoughts. These thoughts are usually violent and have to do with the injuring or the harming of a loved one. Most people with OCD experience this to some degree and it is a very scary experience. Now let’s look at the references to these disorders in film, on more of a case by case basis. The movie Inception is about a man who is an “extractor,” which means he can take ideas from people’s heads while they sleep.
He is given a chance to do an “inception,” which is the planting of an idea, and he does it for a reward. This movie suggests that the brain is something that can be easily manipulated and have things planted in it so firmly that one might not even remember where it came from. The very idea behind this movie feeds off of the symptoms associated with depersonalization disorder as mentioned before. Inception made over eight million dollars at the box office. Another well known movie by the name of Push similarly feeds off of a mental disorder, but this time it feeds off of psychosis. One of the main characters in this movie feels pain that is not being inflicted upon her, which is one of the foremost symptoms of psychosis and not some supernatural power as Hollywood tries to make it. Push made over forty-four million dollars at the box office. We can even look a little bit further back to the movie Minority Report staring Tom Cruise. In the movie the futuristic justice unit known as Pre-Crime works off of these three people known as the Pre-Cogs, who have the ability to sense when people think about harming another person, and this helps society stop crimes before they happen. It may seem like a very creative idea, but in fact one of the most severe symptoms of OCD is having obsessive thoughts about harming someone who you care about. While it may seem that these two things are un-related, in the event that someone with OCD watches the movie (which is very likely considering the percentage of the population with OCD) they will be met with the idea that they are bad people because of the thoughts that they are having. Minority Report made over three hundred and fifty eight million dollars at the box office. Finally, the widely known film Paranormal Activity 3 draws from symptoms of identity disorder. In the movie a young girl by the name of
Kristi interacts with an imaginary friend who her parents insist is not real, but Kristi insist is more than just an “imaginary friend” and that he is actually there, actually real and actually a part of her. This is a very common symptom of Identity Disorder, in fact one third of people with this disorder have auditory and visual hallucinations of people who are not there. Paranormal Activity 3 made over two hundred million dollars at the box office; that’s a lot of money. About one in ten children live with a serious mental disorder, so tell me what would happen if Kristi was real? What would be society’s response to a child who actually suffered from a disorder like identity disorder? Well in the past few years, society has made their answer very, very clear. Most social programs that help people with mental disorders deal with the following aspects of the issue: acute (emergency) and long-term hospital treatment; crisis intervention teams and crisis stabilization programs, targeted, intensive case management services; and access to psychiatric medications. These programs help children and adults who suffer from disorders including but not limited to the ones discussed above. While Paranormal Activity made over two hundred million dollars at the box office, one point eight billion dollars was cut in the past two years from services that would help the real life Kristi. Why should society sit complacent while a few people make a a lot of money exploiting serious mental disorders while at the same time the state is cutting millions and millions of dollars that would go towards programs to help and rehabilitate these people, instead of make them a commodity. The answer to that question is that they shouldn’t. We should not tolerate a world where people can make millions off of objectifying those with mental disorders for entertainment and at the same time cut millions of dollars from programs that would go to helping the very people that Hollywood knows nothing about, yet is comfortable exploiting for their own benefit. Let’s take a moment to look at the facts, and the discrepancy between how society deals with mental illness. Take California for example, home of the film industry. California has one point two million mentally ill residents and over a quarter of its prison inmates suffer from mental disorders. One would think that with a high rate like this the state government would encourage funding to mental health programs, but that is not the case. In the past three years, California has cut 587.4 million dollars from mental health services that would go to helping over a million people in the state. California makes up for 12% of the population of the nation and 11% are mentally ill and California has failed to adequately address the issue. In 2006 the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) gave California a C for how they deal with mental health issues, and in 2009 when they were surveyed again, the grade remained the same, nothing had been done. In the three years that followed, California made a 16% budget cut to programs that aid the mentally ill. There is something very wrong with this picture. California houses Universal Studios which produced the box office hit Paranormal Activity 3 that made over two hundred million dollars at the box office by exploiting the traits of mental disorders, and at the same time they cut over five hundred million dollars from programs that would go to help the very people they objectified. People actually living with a mental disorder don’t always get a Hollywood “happily every after,” but they can. NAMI predicts that if states increased spending on mental health programs by just 2 million dollars annually, the amount of suicides due to mental illness, and the amount of untreated mental illness would go down by three point five percent. Two million dollars may seem like a lot to the average person, but when put in perspective it’s nothing. Two million dollars is less than one percent of what Paranormal Activity 3 made at the box office alone. We cannot allow the film industry to exploit people, while at the same time we take away programs that would give those very people a better chance at life. So before you go buy tickets to see Paranormal Activity 4, take a moment to think about the people who suffer constantly from what you watch timidly for an hour or so. Take a moment to think about the way that they are objectified. If you still want to help fill the pockets of a few on the backs of many, be my guest, but just remember if you support this type of exploitation then it is safe to say that the people Hollywood is exploiting are not the sick ones.
and can cause people to feel pain that is not there and not being inflicted on them. This same trait is present in one of the main characters in Push, who is a “watcher.” She has the ability to see things before they happen and feel others’ pain. The movie Push made $44,411,527 at the box office and $16,878,589 in DVD sales, while in the past few years over a billion dollars has been cut from mental health services. I believe that the film industry should not be objectifying and commodifying people with mental illnesses and their traits at the same place time that the government is cutting massive amounts of funding for programs that would actually help real people who are currently suffering from these disorders and their effects. Four of the most serious and most diagnosable mental disorders, are also some of the ones that get used the most in movies. These four disorders are: depersonalization disorder, psychosis, identity disorder and OCD. One percent of the population of America suffers from depersonalization disorder. This state causes a person to experience periods of detachment from one’s self or one’s surroundings, it often leads to not recalling memories, or having thoughts of something suddenly and not remembering the origin of that thought. It also causes people to have thoughts that arise from experiences that are “unreal” and to feel that they lack inner and outer control of themselves. Psychosis is found in three out of every hundred people in the United States. People who suffer from psychosis experience a loss of contact with reality, usually including false beliefs about what is taking place or who one is (delusions) and seeing or hearing things that aren't there (hallucinations). Many times people who suffer from this, experience “visions” in which they see scenes of something happening. Or they experience kinesthetic hallucinations which is where they feel pain that is not actually being inflicted. Two point six percent of the population suffers from identity disorder. When affected by this disorder, people basically have two personalities. They have one personality that is their actual personality and another personality which can often be harmful and that they do not remember having. Finally, around three point three million people in the United States suffer from OCD. While many people may think they know the basic symptoms of OCD, an overlooked symptom of OCD is obsessive thoughts. These thoughts are usually violent and have to do with the injuring or the harming of a loved one. Most people with OCD experience this to some degree and it is a very scary experience. Now let’s look at the references to these disorders in film, on more of a case by case basis. The movie Inception is about a man who is an “extractor,” which means he can take ideas from people’s heads while they sleep.
He is given a chance to do an “inception,” which is the planting of an idea, and he does it for a reward. This movie suggests that the brain is something that can be easily manipulated and have things planted in it so firmly that one might not even remember where it came from. The very idea behind this movie feeds off of the symptoms associated with depersonalization disorder as mentioned before. Inception made over eight million dollars at the box office. Another well known movie by the name of Push similarly feeds off of a mental disorder, but this time it feeds off of psychosis. One of the main characters in this movie feels pain that is not being inflicted upon her, which is one of the foremost symptoms of psychosis and not some supernatural power as Hollywood tries to make it. Push made over forty-four million dollars at the box office. We can even look a little bit further back to the movie Minority Report staring Tom Cruise. In the movie the futuristic justice unit known as Pre-Crime works off of these three people known as the Pre-Cogs, who have the ability to sense when people think about harming another person, and this helps society stop crimes before they happen. It may seem like a very creative idea, but in fact one of the most severe symptoms of OCD is having obsessive thoughts about harming someone who you care about. While it may seem that these two things are un-related, in the event that someone with OCD watches the movie (which is very likely considering the percentage of the population with OCD) they will be met with the idea that they are bad people because of the thoughts that they are having. Minority Report made over three hundred and fifty eight million dollars at the box office. Finally, the widely known film Paranormal Activity 3 draws from symptoms of identity disorder. In the movie a young girl by the name of
Kristi interacts with an imaginary friend who her parents insist is not real, but Kristi insist is more than just an “imaginary friend” and that he is actually there, actually real and actually a part of her. This is a very common symptom of Identity Disorder, in fact one third of people with this disorder have auditory and visual hallucinations of people who are not there. Paranormal Activity 3 made over two hundred million dollars at the box office; that’s a lot of money. About one in ten children live with a serious mental disorder, so tell me what would happen if Kristi was real? What would be society’s response to a child who actually suffered from a disorder like identity disorder? Well in the past few years, society has made their answer very, very clear. Most social programs that help people with mental disorders deal with the following aspects of the issue: acute (emergency) and long-term hospital treatment; crisis intervention teams and crisis stabilization programs, targeted, intensive case management services; and access to psychiatric medications. These programs help children and adults who suffer from disorders including but not limited to the ones discussed above. While Paranormal Activity made over two hundred million dollars at the box office, one point eight billion dollars was cut in the past two years from services that would help the real life Kristi. Why should society sit complacent while a few people make a a lot of money exploiting serious mental disorders while at the same time the state is cutting millions and millions of dollars that would go towards programs to help and rehabilitate these people, instead of make them a commodity. The answer to that question is that they shouldn’t. We should not tolerate a world where people can make millions off of objectifying those with mental disorders for entertainment and at the same time cut millions of dollars from programs that would go to helping the very people that Hollywood knows nothing about, yet is comfortable exploiting for their own benefit. Let’s take a moment to look at the facts, and the discrepancy between how society deals with mental illness. Take California for example, home of the film industry. California has one point two million mentally ill residents and over a quarter of its prison inmates suffer from mental disorders. One would think that with a high rate like this the state government would encourage funding to mental health programs, but that is not the case. In the past three years, California has cut 587.4 million dollars from mental health services that would go to helping over a million people in the state. California makes up for 12% of the population of the nation and 11% are mentally ill and California has failed to adequately address the issue. In 2006 the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) gave California a C for how they deal with mental health issues, and in 2009 when they were surveyed again, the grade remained the same, nothing had been done. In the three years that followed, California made a 16% budget cut to programs that aid the mentally ill. There is something very wrong with this picture. California houses Universal Studios which produced the box office hit Paranormal Activity 3 that made over two hundred million dollars at the box office by exploiting the traits of mental disorders, and at the same time they cut over five hundred million dollars from programs that would go to help the very people they objectified. People actually living with a mental disorder don’t always get a Hollywood “happily every after,” but they can. NAMI predicts that if states increased spending on mental health programs by just 2 million dollars annually, the amount of suicides due to mental illness, and the amount of untreated mental illness would go down by three point five percent. Two million dollars may seem like a lot to the average person, but when put in perspective it’s nothing. Two million dollars is less than one percent of what Paranormal Activity 3 made at the box office alone. We cannot allow the film industry to exploit people, while at the same time we take away programs that would give those very people a better chance at life. So before you go buy tickets to see Paranormal Activity 4, take a moment to think about the people who suffer constantly from what you watch timidly for an hour or so. Take a moment to think about the way that they are objectified. If you still want to help fill the pockets of a few on the backs of many, be my guest, but just remember if you support this type of exploitation then it is safe to say that the people Hollywood is exploiting are not the sick ones.