Lights… Camera… Action!
Ayushi Y -
Hello everyone,
My name is Ayushi Yadav and my senior research project, “Beyond the Screen” was created to show how the negative manner in which psychopaths are portrayed in the media leads to the creation of many misconceptions regarding those with mental health issues. To find what traits cause psychopaths to be associated with other mental disorders as a whole, I ask the question, what traits lead the audience to view a character as “psychopathic” and how do these traits compare to other personality disorders?
I love watching thriller movies, so I’ve seen my fair share of psychopaths on screen. My current curiosity led me to watch more true crime podcasts, where I could see the real-life actions of psychopaths. As the range of podcasts I listened to grew, I observed a pattern: they never directly addressed someone as a “psychopath”. Even in cases where there are apparent characteristics that lead listeners to conclude such a thing, true crime podcasts tend to avoid using the term “psychopath,” due to its clinical nature. This raised the question, “What particular traits made me think these people were psychopathic?” This brings me to my main query: What constitutes a psychopath?
The violence portrayed in movies has negatively contributed to the mental health of people with disorders. “Half of mental health service users say that movie representations negatively impact their mental health and bout one-third of them said that family and friends treated them differently, and 25% experienced hostility from neighbors” (Beachum, 2006). To prevent stigmatization in the future and to foster an educational atmosphere in the film industry, I hope to shed light on the impact of filmmaking approaches on the stigmatization of individuals with mental health issues.
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Thank You for Reading,
Ayushi Yadav
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