Movie a Beautiful Mind

¶ … Beautiful Mind

Ron Howard's 2001 film A Beautiful Mind caused as much controversy over its treatment of mental illness as it did over its winning the Academy Award for best picture. Based on Sylvia Nassar's book of the same name, A Beautiful Mind chronicles the life of a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who suffered from schizophrenia, one of the most little-understood mental diseases. While the film may not have deserved the overwhelming cinematic accolades it received, it is nevertheless a touching and sensitive, as well as poignantly realistic portrayal of mental illness. A well-respected Princeton-educated mathematician at the head of his field, John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) is no ordinary man to begin with. His theories arise in his "beautiful mind" like a musician's composition would, and like many brilliant individuals, Nash would have been eccentric with or without the accompaniment of schizophrenic delusions and paranoia. However, when he begins to exhibit symptoms of his illness, Nash evolves into an even more complex character, one who is at odds with his family and the outside world. His wife Alicia (played by Jennifer Connelly), sticks through her husband throughout the ordeal but the illness takes a noticeable toll on their relationship. Nash jeopardizes his career as well, for his inability to cope with reality interferes with his inability to teach in an institutional setting. Although it has its limitations, A Beautiful Mind accurately portrays the potential effects of schizophrenia on one's personal life and family. Moreover, the film also depicts the limitations of medical and psychiatric science in dealing with this serious disease; covers the negative side-effects of anti-psychotic medications, and suggests the paucity of information about the disease's etiology.

When he first exhibits symptoms, at around age 30, Nash is forced to seek medical treatment. At the time, around the mid-twentieth century, the options available were limited, such as coma-inducing insulin therapy. Such radical treatments produced unpredictable results, and Nash quickly realized that help was not going to be found in the existing medical pharmacopoeia. Even after Nash is offered newer anti-psychotic medications, he refuses treatment because the side-effects were as debilitating as the disease itself. Unfortunately, Nash's experience is common: patients with difficult-to-treat mental illnesses discover that the existing medications do not provide a welcome relief from the disease. Sure, Nash's hallucinations and delusions were minimized, but they ceased at the cost of his "beautiful mind." The meds thwarted his mathematical genius, stealing the key to his livelihood, his success, and the source of his passion for life. Although the schizophrenic delusions caused Nash to be unable to relate to others in a healthy manner, the meds didn't do much to improve the quality of his life.

This aspect of the film raises important questions about the treatment modalities available for schizophrenics and others who suffer from serious mental illnesses. Most psychiatric medications come with a long list of potential side-effects that can impede a healthy existence as much as the disease itself. Therefore, medication is not the only means by which a person can recover or cope with a disease like schizophrenia. Nash chose to battle the difficult delusions and hallucinations rather than dull his senses and his genius. His choice is admirable, especially in light of the common insistence within the psychiatric community that all things are treatable with drugs. Nash's uphill battle is successful in the end. Although he contends with continued delusions and is unable to work to his fullest capacity, Nash eventually triumphs and receives the Nobel Prize. The support of his wife Alicia is shown to be essential to his recovery, and although this part of the film is not consistent with the true life of John Nash, familial support does significantly impact the way a person recovers from any disease, mental or physical.

The film shows Nash as having considerable, pervasive visual hallucinations. These are included more as a cinematic necessity than anything else; most schizophrenic hallucinations are more auditory than visual. However, because the hallucinations are so powerful, so realistic, it is entirely appropriate, and even necessary, that the filmmakers portray them as visible. Nash's cohesive web of delusions is totally realistic: he believes thoroughly that the government is recruiting him to do top secret work as a mathematician, work integral to national security. Nash also believes that the Russians are following him because of this top secret work. Therefore, the delusions are both of grandeur and of paranoia: the fate of the world is in his hands, but he is being persecuted because of it.

William Parcher (Ed Harris in the film) is the U.S. government agent that makes an appearance in Nash's mind. Making Parcher a visual, rather than an auditory hallucination, is probably the best way to illustrate how pervasive schizophrenic hallucinations can be. The audience, like Hash, experiences Parcher as real. In this way, A Beautiful Mind treats schizophrenic delusions with accuracy.

Nash's emotional and social symptoms are likewise well-portrayed. Nash becomes withdrawn, unable to relate to Alicia or anyone else in his life. His affect is flattened, a common experience of schizophrenics. However, he does have a lot of pent-up anger and emotionality that he expresses to his wife and others in the film. This display of conflicting and confusing emotions reflects the difficulty that many schizophrenics have with a healthy expression of emotions. Moreover, as with the delusions, Nash is not really aware that his emotions are out of touch with reality. The film also depicts the toll schizophrenia or any mental illness can take on intimate relationships. His marriage to Alicia suffers as a result of Nash's struggle and his choice to go it alone much of the time, but in the end Alicia emerges as his bastion of strength and an essential figure in his recovery.