Character Motivation in the Representation of Mental
Health Professionals in Recent Movies
Stephen Dine Young
In S. Glass (Chair), Analyze This II: Motivations and Professionalism in
Hollywood's Movie Therapists. Symposium
conducted at the 109th Annual Convention of the American Psychological
Association, San Francisco, CA on August 26, 2001.
Stephen Dine Young, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Psychology Department
Hanover College
P.O. Box 890
Hanover, IN 47243
(812) 866-7319
Character Motivation in the Representation of Mental
Health Professionals in Recent Movies
Stephen Dine Young
This
study explores the way in which therapists and other mental health
professionals have been portrayed in recent popular movies. A systematic content analysis is used to
determine the motivating factors behind the professional behavior of characters
who are identified as mental health practitioners. The top 20 box-office grossing films of each year from 1990 to
1999 were reviewed in order to identify characters who were mental health
professionals and who had a significant role in the film. Twenty-seven such characters in nineteen
different films were identified. These
characters where then evaluated using a coding scheme that includes categories
for character motivation as well as other categories such as release date of
movie, genre of movie, age of character, gender of character, race of
character, professional affiliation of character, and primary professional activity
of character.
Six
different motivational categories were advanced: 1) power; 2) love/lust; 3)
money; 4) curiosity; 5) concern for self; and 6) concern for others. AConcern
for others@ and Apower@ were found to be the most common motivators in the sample
of characters. Implications of these
findings are considered. In particular,
the motivational categories are conceptualized as representing archetypal and
cultural Afantasies@
about the nature of mental health treatment.
The possibility of distortions that can arise from the cinematic
representation of these portrayals, as well as insight/realities suggested by
the portrayals, are discussed.
Movies (1990-1999) with Mental Health Professionals as
Significant Characters
Film # Chars. Year Genre
Awakenings |
3 |
1991 |
Drama |
What About Bob? |
1 |
1991 |
Comedy |
Silence of the Lambs |
4 |
1991 |
Drama |
Hot Shots |
1 |
1991 |
Comedy |
Terminator 2 |
1 |
1991 |
Action |
Basic Instinct |
1 |
1992 |
Drama |
Sleepless in Seattle |
1 |
1993 |
Comedy |
The Santa Clause |
1 |
1994 |
Comedy |
Star Trek: First Contact |
1 |
1994 |
Action |
Nine Months |
1 |
1995 |
Comedy |
Batman Forever |
1 |
1995 |
Action |
Casper |
1 |
1995 |
Comedy |
Star Trek: Generations |
1 |
1996 |
Action |
Twister |
1 |
1996 |
Action |
Conspiracy Theory |
1 |
1997 |
Action |
Good Will Hunting |
1 |
1998 |
Drama |
Analyze This |
1 |
1999 |
Comedy |
The Sixth Sense |
1 |
1999 |
Drama |
The General's Daughter |
4 |
1999 |
Drama |
Motivational Categories
1.
Power: Power is broadly defined as
any indication that a character is engaging in the mental health profession in
order to exert control, dominance or authority over other characters.
Clip: The Silence of the Lambs
2.
Love/Lust: In these portrayals,
characters actively or passively use their professional status to pursue a
romantic or sexual relationship with some other character, most often a client.
Clip: Basic Instinct
3.
Money: Characters are portrayed as
basing their professional actions on the desire to receive monetary
reward.
Clip: What About Bob?
4.
Curiosity: These characters a
represented as being innately fascinated by the nature of the human
mind/behavior
Clip: Awakenings
5.
Concern for Self: These portrayals
are those in which the character is identified as being damaged/deficient in
some way and appears to be using the therapeutic/professional process to
correct this deficiency.
Clip: Good Will Hunting
6.
Concern for Others: These characters
are motivated by an altruistic desire to bring psychological
balance/well-being/healing to some or all of the other characters they interact
with professionally.
Clip: The Sixth Sense
Frequency
of Primary and Secondary Motivators
Motivator Frequency
Money 5
Power 11
Love/Lust 5
Curiosity 4
Concern
for Others 16
Concern
for Self 8
Note: Frequency indicates number of times
motivator coded as primary or secondary among 27 significant mental health
professional characters.
Reflections on Motivational Categories
1. Power
Distortions:
--Mental
health professionals have a special, almost magical power over people
Insights/Realities:
--Mental
health treatment is institutionally sanctioned
--Struggle
of young professionals regarding the limits of their authority/responsibility
2. Love/Lust
Distortions:
--Love/Sex
is a treatment for mental health problems
Insights/Realities:
--Sexual
motivation central to psychoanalytic theory
--Therapy
is a particularly intimate experience
--Proper
handling of romantic feelings for
clients part of training
3. Money
Distortions:
--Mental
health professionals are quacks, only in it for the money
Insights/Realities:
--Psychology
is indeed a profession
--Battles arise over proper role of money in treatment (e.g., brief therapy)
Reflections on Motivational Categories (Cont.)
4. Curiosity
Distortions:
--Mental
health professionals are morbid voyeurs
Insights/Realities:
--Intellectual
curiosity is important, particularly for an academic psychologist
--Field
is concerned about how Apatients@ or
Asubjects@
are treated
5. Concern for Self
Distortions:
--Healers
who are sicker than their clients
Insight/Realities:
--Real
professionals are flawed
--Successful
professionals eventually find a way work with personal struggles
6. Concern for Others
Distortions:
--Saintly,
selfless therapists saving humanity
Insight/Realities:
AI
want to help people@ may be a necessary requirement for the field
--Good evidence that mental health treatment is helpful