The Fisher King : Film And It Is Jam Packed With Psychological Illnesses

“The Fisher King” is a complex movie that follows a narcissistic radio host named Jack Lucas and a homeless man named Parry. Throughout the movie, I frequently felt overwhelmed by the complex nature of both Jack and Parry’s behavior. Although their behaviors are very different, both characters are complex individual’s that are often tough to follow. The movie portrays Jack’s narcissistic personality disorder, as well as depression and illustrates the tolling effect depression has on an individual, especially after feeling on top of the world. Additionally, the movie illustrates Parry’s PTSD and schizophrenia as an utterly chaotic, overwhelming and delusional existence.

The Hardships, struggles, and set backs faced by individuals in society have been portrayed in hundreds of films produced throughout the years. Antwone Fisher is one of those movies that take a first person look on the past and present hardships faced by a United States Navy sailor. Fisher’s struggle begins before he was born, continues through adolescents and he is burdened with these feelings in adulthood.

During brain development, beginning in the womb into adulthood, all of these cells must be grouped and organized into specific networks, which create the architecture of the brain (Perry & Szalavitz, 2006). The brainstem, the diencephalon, the cortex and the limbic system are the four major parts of the brain. The brain is organized from the inside out, thus, “the lower and most central regions of the brainstem and diencephalon are the simplest” (Perry & Szalavitz, 2006, p. 21) and are also the first to form, therefore, developing first as the child grows and develops (Perry & Szalavitz, 2006). As the brain develops upward and outward, the limbic system becomes more complex and the cortex is the crowning achievement of the brain structure (Perry & Szalavitz, 2006). These four areas of the brain are organized from top to bottom and inside to outside, although these four areas are interconnected, each one controls different functions such as the brainstem controls body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, as well as respiration. The limbic system and diencephalon control emotional responses that help to guide one’s behavior such as fear, love, joy and anger. The cortex, the top part of the brain, regulates the complex and high functions such as speech, critical thinking, and decision-making (Perry & Szalavitz, 2006). The

The film Shutter Island depicts the story of a World War 2 veteran Andrew Laeddis and his experience with mental illness, specifically portraying the memory phenomena of repressed and recovered memories also known as dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue (Kikuchi et.al. 2010). The illness is triggered by a psychologically traumatic event, which included discovering his wife had murdered his three children, and in response, he killing his wife (Kikuchi et.al. 2010). Additionally, the portrayal exhibits many of the criteria for a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Friedman et.al. 1994). The DSM-V now classifies dissociative symptoms as an additional subcategory of PTSD diagnosis, however, the film concentrates

We have come to a point where we are very susceptible to the things that we see in the media every day. We believe the things that are being told to us through media because we have been pushed to think this way. Social media has the ability to manipulate the way in which topics are viewed such as mental illness. We have come to a point where we are less likely to question the things that happen in films because we have become comfortable accepting the information we gather through media. However if you actually pay attention to the way things are portrayed in films, a lot of the time there is little truth behind it. For some reason it has become the norm to make mental illnesses more dramatic and seem way more dangerous than they actual are. Mental illness in films is very rarely accurately portrayed in films, a lot of the time they are made to be way more dramatic than they actually are solely for the purpose to make the film

What is the brain’s role in the learning process? Does the learning process include the three major areas of the brain: hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain? The brain is one of the most captivating organs in the body. It plays a huge role in how we learn and is made up of many components. Neurons are brain cells and people are born with over a billion of them. Neurons discharge signals to transmit information throughout the brain; these signals are called synapses. Neurons produce dendrites and they get larger as we learn. However, a dendrite gets bigger only if there is existing knowledge on something already learned. The brain consists of three areas and four lobes. The three parts are known as the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain. The four lobes of the brain are the frontal, parietal, occipital, and the temporal.

Once he understands his situation upon the island Jack sees it as a fresh start where he can act as a complete tyrant and have unlimited power, and by doing so, escape his fear of being publicly embarrassed, ashamed and humiliated by other children. But his “temporary” personality change seems to have completely changed him into the blood-thirsty savage that he has become. This situation can apply to so many events that have taken place throughout history. A great example would be Salieri and Mozart, Salieri who loved music, believed himself to be a talented musician and performer, until, Mozart. His jealousy and

The brain is a soft, delicate, non-replaceable and spongy mass of tissue. Brain is considered as a kernel part of the body and has a very complex structure. The brain consists of mainly two types of tissues: gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM). The brain also contains a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that consists of enzymes, glucose, salts, and white blood cells. The brain is divided into three major parts, the hindbrain (including the cerebellum and the brain stem), the midbrain, and the forebrain (including the diencephalon and the cerebrum).The body is made up of many

Movie Review of The Fisher King Jack, a cynical Manhattan disc jockey plunges into a suicidal depression when one of his outrageous comments inspires a crazed listener to shoot seven people in a fashionable nightspot. Redemption comes in the form of a derelict, ex-history professor named Parry whose wife was one of those killed by the sniper. Parry heads a gang of loony homeless people in the search for what he believes to be the Holy Grail. Jack helps Parry in his quest and in the process finds what he had been looking for, too.

All throughout his childhood, Jack always feels guilty or “unworthy” as he puts it. He is convinced that he is responsible for everything that is happening in his life and his mothers. It is almost as if he blames himself for his father leaving, and his mom’s shady relationships with abusive men. This reveals Jack as a very sensitive character who feels so bad for other people’s mishaps that he blames himself for them to cope with it, in my opinion. “I started loading up the rifle… I drew a bead on whoever walked by… and as they passed under the window I sometimes had to bite my lip to keep from laughing in the ecstasy of my power over them” (Wolff 25).

In William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, Jack Merridew possesses multiple qualities that would cause him to be an exemplary leader; however, there are negative traits about Jack that demotes his leadership. Jack Merridew is considerably stubborn when it comes to his ideas, and he contains an impulsive attitude in the decision­making, or lack thereof, process. Jack emits violence similar to that of a wild animal, along with looking down upon at anybody who has even the slightest handicap, including the “littluns”. Jack tells a fair amount of lies in the story, contributing to his extreme thirst of power. Merridew is a hideous, evil young man who is stranded on an island with a multitude of other British boys, including Ralph, Piggy, and Simon.

With the massive amount of appreciation and love for Disney movies from all types of people, it is hard to criticize or analyze any film without serious backlash. Recently, many Disney enthusiasts have theorized that the characters from these beloved movies present characteristics of mental disorders. Theories such as these have thrown people into intense discussion and vigorous debates, some arguing that these characters strongly show mental disorder symptoms and others disproving that their cherished childhood characters could never show signs of mental disorders. Although many people would argue that Disney movies are simply just movies and do not have connections to mental illness, I hypothesize that there are many characters with personalities that correlate with mental disorders and have strong connections to psychological conditions.

1. Jack is a dynamic character who undergoes many changes throughout the book. At first he seems to be calm, but by the end he turns to violence.

The brain is dividing into several sections, including the cerebellum, the frontal lobe, and the temporal lobe, among others. The temporal lobe exists in two parts, one on each side of the brain close to the ears. It is largely responsible for the memory system (2). On the medial surface of the temporal lobe there are three important structure that are essential for human functioning. These structures are named, in order from rostral to caudal, the olfactory cortex, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. Together these three structures are referred to as the "limbic system" (1). Their functions became understood after studying how the brain functions upon loss of each structure. For example, in 1953, a patient suffering from epilepsy underwent surgery which removed most of his medial temporal lobe (1). After the surgery, the patient was able to remember who he was and was able to carry out coherent, intelligent conversations. However, if the person with whom he was talking left the room, he would have no

The character "Jack" is a character the audience will feel sympathy for and even come to like. However, it is obvious he has serious