Hollywood Psych: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

''A: Only one, but the bulb has got to really '''want''' to change.'' }}

 

[[Did Not Do the Research|Research is hard.]] While this is generally true of [[Hollywood Science|all science]], psychology in particular is vulnerable, as it's a very, ''very'' new field still under heavy development. Only recently has psychology emerged as a mature science with robust theories, and supposed "facts" of the past are [[Urban Legends|still in popular culture]] despite being [[Science Marches On|debunked]]. Writers fail to recognize this, and the [[Informed Ability|supposed professionals]] in their stories will quote woefully out-of-date representations of [[All Psychology Is Freudian|Sigmund Freud's]] theory of the unconscious, Carl Jung's collective unconscious [[archetype]]s, or Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This is the equivalent of a modern physicist [[You Fail Physics Forever|discussing luminiferous aether]], or a biologist believing [[Lamarck Was Right]].

 

 

Naturally, there is some [[Truth in Television]]. Freud is still relevant, he is simply not the state of the art, but rather, one of the beginnings (similar to the way Newton's Laws are still used alongside Einstein's). While many or even most of the theories of Freud, Jung, and other early psychoanalysts [[Science Marches On|have been refuted scientifically]], their work shaped and continues to shape psychology and the popular mind. Concepts like projection, defense mechanisms, and the like are still used in therapy... simply not in their antique form. For instance, Hollywood is woefully unaware of the refinements suggested by Anna Freud (Sigmund's daughter) and his other students.

* [[Super OCD]]

* [[There Are No Therapists]]

* [[Word Association Test]]

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]

See also [[Emotion Tropes]], [[Intelligence Tropes]], [[Madness Tropes]], and [[Parental Issues]].

 

{{examples}}

== General ==

** In a [[Real Life]] incident, the actress [[Keira Knightley]] sued [[British Newspapers|The Sun newspaper]] in 2007 over a story which clearly implied that a distraught mother held Knightly at least partly personally responsible for the death of her particularly young anorexic daughter. (Naturally, the Sun didn't shoulder any blame for inserting said pictures into their pages for very little reason several times a week throughout the last year or so...)

* Assertiveness Training in fiction usually plays out as an [[Extreme Doormat]] undergoes Assertiveness Training (usually in the form of hypnosis or reading a book) and he/she will suddenly become either a greedy, self centered, egomaniacal, [[Jerkass]] or a raging lunatic with a [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] and end up alienating all their friends. Unlike in real life by the end of the story [[Status Quo Is God|everything will be back to normal]] with no repercussions for their behavior. Real Assertiveness Training is not at all like that and involves multiple sessions with a trained psychologist. It's about learning diplomatic ways to stand up for yourself and get your fair share, not how to bully others to get what you want.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* L and most of the other children from Whammy's House in ''[[Death Note]]'' display many [[Rain Man]]-ish tendencies. Also runs with Silva's ideas about autistics being morally deficient. While all of them are ostensibly on the side of good, they are also completely amoral and freely admit that they only solve crimes for the intellectual challenge and are willing to sacrifice people's lives in pursuit of their goals. This inhuman morality is mostly to make them better foils to the [[Knight Templar]] [[Villain Protagonist]], who claims to be killing people for the greater good.

** But neither L nor the other kids are ever referred to as autistic, and most of the kids are not morally deficient as they are pretty upset when L details his [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] approach to crimefighting. Near and Mello are the only ones who are intrigued and Near explains his own moral philosophy later. So this trope is either inverted or averted. The only explicit psychology in the entire series seems to be L's profile of Kira, which is brief but spot-on.

 

== Comic Books ==

* The arc in ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' where Emma Frost seduced Scott Summers, is a clear case of bad psychiatry (probably an intentional one). Not only was she treating him when she made advances, when Jean brought up that her husband was being taken advantage of, to Xavier, who has [[Informed Ability|been an actual psychiatrist]] for years, he tells Jean she is overreacting, and doesn't even consider Emma just might be violating ethics. And as a double blow to actual psychiatry, Scott is now portrayed in a happy relationship with Emma.

** To elaborate, this "Super-Sanity" is that Joker remakes himself every day because he finds the flow of modern life too stressful and overpowering. Now, firstly, there is no universally agreed definition of sanity, but generally speaking it is understood by psychologists to be ones ability to function normally in everyday life, and how "normal" you are. So the idea that being ''Super'' sane means that the world is crazy is a contradiction in terms. The second thing is that what the psychologists are describing is actually more like an extreme form of Dissociation, a psychotic break from reality caused by trauma and/or an inability to deal with life's stresses. So Morrison and his shrinks are wrong twice over (assuming, again, that Morrison didn't just intend the doctors to be talking out of their asses).

*** Subsequent writers have occasionally made use of the term "Super-Sanity", as well, though the meaning seems to have shifted somewhat. Usually it just means he's at least slightly [[No Fourth Wall|aware of the fact he's a comicbook character]].

**** Which could, possibly, turn his earlier diagnosis into major [[Fridge Brilliance]]. If the Joker knows he's a comicbook supervillain, his behaviour actually is perfectly sane. His purpose is to entertain his fans, thus his violent acts and his constant reinventing of his own personality (to keep up with readers' changing tastes) are completely justified. As long as people keep buying and enjoying the comics he appears in, the Joker is, from a sufficiently meta point of view, a perfectly functional member of "society".

**** All this discussion could be Moot, considering this IS the Joker we are talking about. It's an equally valid idea that he simply managed to convince his doctors of something and is laughing his ass off about it.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[A Beautiful Mind]]''. Schizophrenic hallucinations aren't that vivid or focused, though naturally they had to be portrayed that way in order to keep the audience from catching on in the beginning and keep them from getting confused toward the end.

** The real John Nash once said in an interview about the movie that he had only auditory hallucinations, not visual ones, but he was okay with the change because otherwise it would not have been as credible in a visible medium.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[House Rules (novel)|House Rules]]'' by [[Jodi Picoult]], the typical portrayal of autism is actually inverted. Most portrayals have a character who simply is very smart and has no social skills, however Jacob has all the signs of severe autism but is simply said to have Asperger's Syndrome.

 

* There was a recent ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' episode where having synesthesia was depicted as being like the conclusion of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey|2001]]''. They wish it were that cool. In reality is really lame stuff like 7 having an intrinsic redness to it. And while there are slightly less lame versions (musical pitches having intrinsic colors is a version that many world renowned musicians have put to good use) none of them are anywhere as cool as that.

** Then, of course, there's the first episode of the sixth season where psychiatry in House's universe apparently never left the 70's. Admittedly, the creators stated that some of the mistakes were intentional to make allusions to ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest|One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest]]''.

* Averted in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. No doubt Season Two had flaws but one thing that it has been praised for is the treatment of Dean's [[Survivor Guilt]] and depression. He's trying too hard to stay like himself (be a good soldier, defend Dad from outsiders and protect Sam at all cost, no chick flick moments), trying for suicide more times than he should and just when you think he's been fixed, something happens to prove just how bad it's gotten.

** The reactions to it are pretty realistic to it too - throughout the series. While it's very sad that he has an abandonment complex, Sam (both times) and John couldn't very well stay just to please him. Sam really does try to help him out but he's got his own soul-crushing issues to deal with as well. By ''All Hell Breaks Loose'', there was a mass war going on and while Bobby was clearly worried about finding one more dead body when he got back, the best thing Dean could do was to save the angst for later and - for the moment - buck up and help out. And as for the demons, why do you think they always tell him how useless/damaged/worthless he is? Dean's deep, dark pit of self-loathing is just so frigging easy to get into that there's not much point in telling him anything else.

* Generally averted in ''[[The Sopranos]]''. It helps that creator David Chase has ''had'' therapy.

* Almost every attempt to portray more severe Kanner's autism tends to be a cutesy-poo [[Very Special Episode]] about a Mother struggling with her non-verbal child. The aim is usually to either find a cure, show people how angelic (or axe crazy, it depends on the writer) autistic children are or just highlight the turmoil these families go through. Good luck trying to find anything that has a non-verbal autistic person as the main character. This is perhaps one of the worse examples, as non-verbal autistic people are often, despite appearances, perfectly aware of their surroundings, and perfectly capable of rational thought. However, this doesn't sell as well, so it rarely comes up in any form of media, and as a result, most people think that low-functioning autism = no awareness whatsoever.

** ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' managed this, with a kid who was totally non-verbal but who House managed to prove was very aware of the world around him.

* ''[[CSI]]'' is guilty of this trope due to one episode misrepresenting Asperger's Syndrome.

** However, ''CSI'' also had Gil Grissom, who is charming and personable to his co-workers, but socially withdrawn, focused on scientific minutiae, and has described himself as a "ghost". It was hinted at least once that Grissom had Asperger's, and certainly displayed a more realistic array of the symptoms than most overtly-labeled TV portrayals.

** [[Word of God]] says Dr. Brennan does not have Asperger's, but the actress, Emily Deschanel, says she thinks the character does have it, and she plays the character that way.

* Subverted in the ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'' episode "Beat The Devil," which has a chillingly realistic portrayal of a murderous psychopath.

 

== Web Comics ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hollywood Science]]

[[Category:Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]

[[Category:Psychology Tropes]]

[[Category:Hollywood Style]]

[[Category:Index]]