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Book: Me, Myself & Irene

2000; BMJ; Volume: 321; Issue: 7263 Linguagem: Inglês

0959-8138

Rita Baron-Faust,

Mental Health and Psychiatry

20th Century FoxDirected by Bobby and Peter Farrelly On worldwide general release; opened in the United Kingdom 22 September ——————— Rating: 0 The premise of Me, Myself & Irene must have seemed irresistibly clever to the film's producers and a natural for the chameleon comic Jim Carrey. A mentally ill motorcycle cop with a “split” personality—one sweetly passive, the other violently aggressive—ends up running from the law to save a pretty blonde from gangsters, while his dual selves battle each other for her affections along the way. Carrey's character, Charlie Baileygates, is diagnosed with “advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage,” supposedly brought on by suppressing his anger at being dumped by his wife and being laughed at by the townspeople. One day Charlie simply snaps, changing into the menacing Hank, who defecates on a neighbour's lawn, suckles a breastfeeding woman, terrorises a little girl, and insults and punches nearly everyone he encounters. Some US audiences enjoyed the joke (the film grossed $90m (£64m) over the summer), but mental health professionals and patients did not see the humour. Advocate groups, such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, have written letters of protest to 20th Century Fox, complaining that the film makes fun of and perpetuates ugly stigmas about mental illness. The writer-directors, who also gave the world Dumb and Dumber, did not seem to see what the fuss was about. It's only a movie—it's only a bit of fun, they argued. Britain's two largest mental health charities, Mind and the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, have joined with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, to protest against the film. In their joint press release they say that the film considers schizophrenia, its symptoms, and treatments as a joke. The charities and the college are not calling for a ban but will be handing out leaflets at 300 cinemas and have demanded that the film be given an “18” certificate. The behaviour portrayed in the film, they argue, has nothing whatever to do with schizophrenia. They also point out that people affected by schizophrenia don't switch from “gentle to mental,” as the billboard advertisements say, but are more often withdrawn. In fact, “split personality” is a totally different condition, a dissociative disorder rather than a psychotic illness. Me, Myself & Irene is not terribly funny, and it is one more example of how people with mental illness are stigmatised by the media. Charlie/Hank is portrayed as violent, dangerous, and unfit to hold a responsible job. The film perpetuates harmful myths about mental illness. Charlie's illness is blamed on his personal weakness, and he is “cured” not by medication or therapy, but by his own will power and the love of a good woman. Would anyone ever expect a person with diabetes, or any other chronic illness, to overcome their condition by willpower?