In this paper, I will analyze the film The Fisher King from the psychiatric perspective. The behaviors of the movie’s characters are complex, with numerous indications of different mental conditions. Although the movie does not directly identify any psychopathologies, there are strong hints at two conditions – schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The attention given to characters managing their internal issues requires an analysis of their psychiatric conditions as well as implications for the audience’s understanding of psychology.
The film is a redemption story about a man depressed over his past mistakes. A shock jock, Jack, causes an unstable radio listener to commit mass murder. Depressed and remorseful, Jack meets a victim of the same crime, Parry, whom he desires to help. Parry is obsessed with the legend of the Holy Grail, which he assumes to be a real cup. Jack helps Parry with his romantic dreams and retrieves the cup, which improves Parry’s both physical and mental state. Relationship with Parry heals Jack as well, as he manages to overcome his own depression and atone for the crime that he feels responsible for.
The first suspected mental condition is schizophrenia, which Parry appears to suffer from. Thought disorders and hallucinations are the core characteristics of schizophrenia (Stępnicki et al., 2018). Parry believes that he is on a quest to find the Holy Grail is indicative of delusional thinking. At the same time, the vision of the Red Knight that he actually sees after declaring his love for his crush is an evident hallucination (The Fisher King, 1991). Therefore, the overall depiction is accurate, even though Parry’s recuperation is too fast. Real schizophrenia is a protracted condition, which takes years of treatment and often involve the administration of drugs (Stępnicki et al., 2018). The most likely in-universe scenario is that Parry’s thought disorders would continue even after he receives the cup.
The second condition is PTSD, which the viewers can observe in both Jack and Parry. The reason why PTSD is relevant lies in the influence of a seriously traumatic event on the subsequent life of both men. Intrusive thoughts and social avoidance characterize this condition most of all (Sullivan et al., 2018). In Jack’s case, these symptoms are apparent in the scene where he is extremely unnerved by the necessity to talk to customers. Meanwhile, Parry’s PTSD is evident in his awkward behavior and the recurring image of his wife being shot. In both cases, the depiction is accurate, although PTSD does not necessarily cause hallucinations. A more likely scenario would be Parry having consistent sleep disturbances and nightmares about the mass shooting.
The movie’s portrayal of Jack’s professional conduct is extremely ambivalent. The entire logic behind the story is that a radio broadcaster can offend a certain group of people enough to encourage murdering attitudes in listeners. While it is true that dramatic exaggerations and possibly intolerant commentaries are a feature of a shock jock’s job, it is unlikely that such aggressive encouragement of violence would be realistically possible (Connelly, 2017). The portrayal is not accurate since Jack’s comments are extremely unethical and would likely lead to him being fired.
In my opinion, the main message of The Fisher King is that seemingly innocuous events can have dramatic consequences. First, Jack’s aggressive dialogue with a listener inadvertently causes a mass shooting. Second, Parry’s relationship with Jack is full of actions that may seem irrelevant, but are actually important in fostering their friendship, such as Jack giving Parry lunch money or Parry’s dance in the Central Park. Finally, Jack’s heist after the cup is important because he saves a suicidal man’s life and restores Parry’s mental condition. As a result, the story teaches the audience the importance of attention and consideration.
The subsequent implication of the movie’s plot is that in order to help people with mental conditions, it is necessary to understand their dreams, impressions, and anxieties. On the one hand, it advances public understanding of applied psychology, the purpose of which is to ascertain ways of helping people with psychiatric conditions and mental illnesses (Mathieu et al., 2017). On the other hand, the movie might encourage the audience to use alternative methods of helping schizophrenic patients, which is exactly what Jack did by retrieving the cup that Parry conceptualized as the Holy Grail. Such an attitude hinders public trust in science since it advocates for unregulated intervention, which may contradict established psychiatric approaches.
In conclusion, it should be evident that the filmmakers intended the viewers to consider various aspects of psychology and psychiatry. The development of mental conditions resulting from violent events is a recurring health issue. The Fisher King showcases a possible permutation of symptoms and behaviors that people suffering from schizophrenia and PTSD may adopt. Although there are some psychiatric inaccuracies, the film has the potential to influence the public’s opinion of approaches to addressing and managing mental health illnesses. Therefore, it is important to understand the current scientific comprehension of these conditions for forming adequate relationships between healthy people and those struggling with psychiatric conditions.
References
Connelly, T. J. (2017). “It’s Just a Show”? Paranoia and Provocation in Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 34(6), 520-534.
Mathieu, J. E., Hollenbeck, J. R., van Knippenberg, D., & Ilgen, D. R. (2017). A century of work teams in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 452-467. Web.
Stępnicki, P., Kondej, M., & Kaczor, A. A. (2018). Current concepts and treatments of schizophrenia. Molecules, 23(8), 1-29.
Sullivan, C. P., Smith, A. J., Lewis, M., & Jones, R. T. (2018). Network analysis of PTSD symptoms following mass violence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(1), 1-10. Web.
The Fisher King. (1991). Web.