Joe Wright’s Notion of Mental Disease as Depicted in His Film The Soloist

Psychological Disorder Movie

The movie I picked that depicted someone with a psychological disorder is The Soloist. In the movie, the main character Steve Lopez, meets a Nathaniel Ayers, a musician who is also homeless and schizophrenic. Steve Lopez becomes mesmerized by Nathaniel’s ability to play the violin and begins to write articles which yield success. They become closer and closer over time and Steve begins to understand who Nathaniel was before his mental condition made him dysfunctional. Steve begins to believe that he can change Nathaniel’s life. Lopez makes it his mission to get Nathaniel off the streets and to the start playing music professionally. Nathaniel and Steve’s relationship becomes really strong throughout the movie and shows how friendship transformed their lives.

According to the textbook, schizophrenia is “a group of sever disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions”. According to Helpguide, people with schizophrenia may “see or hear things that don’t exist, speak in strange or confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel like they’re being constantly watched…In response, people with schizophrenia may withdraw from the outside world or act out in confusion and fear”(What is Schizophrenia). Schizophrenia predominantly affects young teens but can even show up in mid adulthood or even when you are elderly. There are several scenes in the movie where you can see the characteristics of schizophrenia in Nathaniel. In the scene where Steve meets Nathaniel, it becomes very clear that Nathaniel suffers from a disorder that altered his way of thinking. His speech is disgruntled and he has disorganized thinking. In one scene, there is paperwork that is required to be filled out by Nathaniel. The documents label Nathaniel as a schizophrenic and Nathaniel becomes very defensive. He strikes at Steve although he is his friend and tells him he “will gut him like a fish” if he sees him ever again. In this scene Nathaniel has a delusion that Steve is trying to send him to a mental hospital by labeling him as a schizophrenic. Steve understands Nathaniel’s type of behavior and is able to slowly fix the friendship they both had.