Author: BRWC

Psychological Films About Human Behavior. By Marie Miguel.

Film can be an excellent medium for understanding human behavior. Profound insight into human emotion and behavior can be explored by millions of people worldwide through different forms of cinema. 

As the filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard once said, “Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self.” The art of film is certainly no exception; by combining visual, audio, and other elements of creativity, film can help audiences gain a deeper appreciation for the human mind.

There is no shortage of movies that shed light on mental health conditions and behaviors,  including substance use and dependence, depression, and more.

Below are our top three psychologically-inclined films that do a wonderful job of deconstructing and analyzing human behavior. Any of these films are sure to be both entertaining and enlightening watches!

12 Angry Men (1957)

12 Angry Men is one of the classics of the 1950’s. Based on a courtroom drama, the film is a narrative following a jury of 12 men as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of an 18-year old defendant. 

A lone dissenting juror tries to convince the other jury members that the case is not as open-and-shut as it seems to be. The movie highlights individual prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, forcing all the jurors to question their values and belief systems. 

The clashing personalities of the jurors, the plot’s intensity, and conflict all add power to the movie. It also explores the idea of one man heralding change and considers how different behaviors and thoughts can create different individual experiences.

12 Angry Men explores important topics like prejudice, aggression, group interaction, and leadership. It’s widely referred to as one of the best movies of all times for its appreciation and critical understanding of social psychology, human behavior, and emotions.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A Beautiful Mind is a biographical drama film based on the life of the American mathematician John Nash. He was a Nobel Laureate in Economics and an Abel Prize winner who lived with schizophrenia. 

The movie revolves around Nash and his struggles with paranoid schizophrenia and delusional episodes. It highlights the psychosocial consequences of his mental condition, especially on his career and family. Nash’s fixation on his missions leads to psychiatric treatment and hospitalization. 

Another critical theme explored by the film is the adverse effects of medication. After treatment, Nash struggles with and experiences sexual dysfunction and sedation. As a result, Nash discontinues his medication use and begins to experience debilitating symptoms once more, highlighting the negative cycle between poorly treating mental illness and inevitably falling back into it.

Nash believed that his illness differentiated him from the masses, or he too would be one among the billions of people who lived and died. The film theorized that his ability to penetrate the depths of mathematical thought somehow came with a price attached. The movie does not and cannot say for sure. 

Based on a true story and a mathematical genius, the movie can highlight symptoms and consequences associated with schizophrenia and generate awareness about the importance of social support. 

Black Swan (2010)

This film focuses on the tale of Nina, a driven ballerina who is pursuing the lead role in Swan Lake. She is stunningly talented, but also extremely unstable – this reality is even more obvious as Nina approaches the verge of stardom. 

Nina is expected to play the innocent and fragile White Swan along with the dark, seductive, and evil Black Swan for the production. However, to get the leading role, Nina must bring out her deepest and darkest feelings of malice, hatred, passion, and aggression. As a result, she slowly loses her grip on reality.

Nina becomes so mentally and emotionally engrossed in her character that she begins to show signs of mental health conditions like obsessive-compulsive behavior, eating disorders, and schizophrenia. Her desire to be the lead role eventually destroys her. 

The psychological film can be seen as a critical appreciation of the character’s ability to achieve artistic perfection through physical and psychological challenges. In the director Darren Aronofsky’s words, “the film can be perceived as a poetic metaphor for the birth of an artist; that is, as a visual representation of Nina’s psychic odyssey toward achieving artistic perfection and of the price to be paid for it.”

The psychological thriller explores the effects of stress and the pursuit of perfectionism on an individual’s mind. It slowly builds and intensifies as family dynamics, personality disorders, anxiety, substance abuse, and an eventual plunge into darkness take place on-screen. Black Swan is undoubtedly a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece.

3 Of The Greatest Psychological Films About Human Behavior

Best Television Shows About Love and Intimacy. By Marie Miguel.

Almost all of us know how it feels to return to our favorite television shows or films time and again. They often help us escape our own reality and enter into the world of our favorite characters filled with love, laughter, and intimacy. 

We often get addicted to the warmth and comfort that comes from these shows, and streaming platforms make it particularly easy to watch large portions of shows at a time and easily rewatch favorite episodes.

In a TV landscape with dragon queens, corporate lawyers, and princes, there are many types of shows and storylines to choose from. 

Some of the best and most meaningful television shows, in many cases, are those that involve love and intimacy. These stories are intertwined with hope, friendship, laughter, and more, making them a great comfort watch.

Below are some of our favorite picks, all of which contain storylines and characters that emphasize just how important love and intimacy can be in life.

Grey’s Anatomy (2005)

This ongoing fictional series focuses on the journey of its characters as they develop into seasoned doctors and juggle personal and professional conflict. The show has well-rounded characters (including its protagonist Meredith Grey), unique and exciting storylines, and great storytelling elements, all of which have made it a successful and notable television staple.

To make things even better, the show uses its platform to represent characters of different ethnic and cultural representations. It captures stories of uncharted yet vital territory freshly and uniquely relevant to a larger conversation at any given time.

This Is Us (2016)

This beautiful series follows the lives of characters Kevin, Kate, and Randall along with their parents Jack and Rebecca Pearson. 

Jack and Rebecca have a triplet pregnancy in which Kevin and Kate are born prematurely. After losing their third triplet, Jack and Rebecca, believing they were meant to have three children, decide to adopt Randall, an African American child. 

The series traces the lives of the three siblings with flashbacks to various periods in their childhoods and their parents’ marriage. It constantly moves between the past, present, and the future, intertwining all three into a seamless story that leaves you feeling warm and emotional. 

The show’s compelling characters and their relatable journeys have made the series the most-watched drama on any network in the past 10 years. The show is able to gently weave in the emotions of love and intimacy through the relationships shared by the characters, touching the hearts of millions of people around the world. 

The Bold Type (2017)

The series centers on a trio of millennial women – Jane, Sutton and Kat – living in New York City. The three best friends work for Scarlet, a global women’s magazine. 

The story centres on their career trajectories, romantic relationships, and personal struggles. However, the three’s friendship is the heart of the series. It highlights just how special (and messy) friendships that are as close as theirs can be.

The portrayal of female friendship in this show is uniquely authentic. With the clickity-clack of the heels adorned by these powerful women, we navigate their lives as they walk, balancing friendship, love, and ambition hand-in-hand. 

The main characters balance each other out and grow together, and the show’s plot tackles important but difficult topics like sexual intimacy, sexuality, traumatic childhood experiences, infidelity, and growing up. Racism, immigration, corporate corruption, and the “Me Too” Movement are all also addressed with a valiant effort. 

This series is truly about love, about discovering what we love and who we love, and just holding on to it for life. Watching the women of The Bold Type live their lives is sure to inspire generations of girls and women to pursue their career aspirations, form meaningful relationships, and tackle any challenge the world has to offer.

Unhealthy Love Affairs in Movie History. By Marie Miguel.

At the end of a tiring day, there’s nothing better than cuddling up on the sofa and watching our favorite shows or movies. 

Because it’s so embedded in our lives, media and pop culture can and does shape the way we make sense of the world we’re living in. It affects our views on relationships, love, and intimacy in helpful and harmful ways. 

Unfortunately, the media tends to romanticize the actions and behaviors that occur toxic relationships. Audiences can experience the consequences of such portrayals; normalizing unhealthy behaviors can lead real people to accept them in real life. 

Toxic, obsessive, or otherwise unhealthy relationships are so normalized that they’re often seen as desirable, particularly for young viewers. These behaviors may also be perpetuated more often when the media paints them as a normal part of love. 

As a result, it may be time to start questioning the couples that we have glorified and accidentally romanticized, even those we hold near and dear to our hearts. 

Here are 3 of the most unhealthy love affairs in movie history as well as a breakdown of what sort of behaviors they attempt to normalize:

Bella and Edward – Twilight

The Twilight Saga, written by author Stephenie Meyer, was one of the best-selling book series of the 2000’s, and the hit film franchise that followed took the world by storm. While the movie fulfilled the fantasies of readers of all ages, it also arguably normalized abuse and obsessive behavior.

The story of the series revolves around the love between a 100+ year old vampire and a 17-year-old high school student. Though Bella and Edward’s relationship is painted as classically romantic, both a major age gap and an unequal balance of power characterize their bond as potentially problematic. 

Both in the book and film, Edward exhibits strange behaviors – he sneaks into Bella’s room to watch her sleep, for instance – that often border on obsessive. Later on in the series, Bella experiences crippling anxiety and depression when kept apart from Edward, again highlighting an unhealthily obsessive focus on her lover.

Ultimately, despite being very young, Bella gives up her chance at a normal life and becomes a vampire so she and Edward can be together forever. Though the series attempts to convince readers that the two are meant to be, it fails to consider how its implications may be damaging to real, young readers.

Their relationship is precisely the opposite of a healthy relationship, even if supernatural elements are in the mix. Multiple scenes in their relationship depict stalking, dishonesty, manipulation, and obsession. 

Although their relationship is deemed to be romantic, when considered objectively it’s more than alarming. This type of uncomfortable, and unhealthy behavior could lead to many legal issues in a standard off-screen relationship, and the story’s portrayal of relationships as all-or-nothing romanticizes the idea of completely sacrificing who you are to be with someone else.

Jackson and Ally – A Star is Born

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s movie achieved widespread recognition and praise for its beautiful and heart-wrenching story and characters. However, the glory and acclaim glossed over the unhealthy and toxic relationship shared by the main characters.  

The film explores the narrative of Ally, a talented singer, and musician, and Jackson, a country-rock music star, as they deal with the burdens of excessive fame and addiction. The movie shares a dangerous message: women should stay in abusive relationships if they genuinely love the other person. 

Ally makes excuses and sacrifices for Jackson because she feels that she owes her success to him. No matter how hard she tries or the efforts she puts in, she cannot save him from his demons. Instead of celebrating Ally’s achievements, Jackson goes into a downward spiral of addiction and depression. 

Time and again, people have been captivated by this sort of “love story” when in reality, these stories better serve as cautionary tales. Passion and love are appropriate and healthy, but enabling abusers or accepting toxic behaviors at one’s own expense is not. 

Belle and the Beast – Beauty and the Beast

Even the “tale as old as time” can be interpreted as a problematic representation of what it means to be in love.

Many of the relationship dynamics in the film are potentially harmful. Gaston, for instance, displays intense and obsessive behavior. His interest in Belle goes beyond what’s healthy; it seems to stem more from a desire to control Belle and use her as a means to boost his own popularity.

The Beast, who Belle ends up falling in love with, is mean, temperamental and abusive, particularly in the first half of the film. Though the relationship between the two blooms as a result of these circumstances, it’s hard to deny that isolation and fear are largely at play. 

The film develops the Beast as a flawed, but still desirable, love interest, but the fact that the relationship between the two stems from an imbalance of power suggests that it may not be meant to last. This sort of relationship model can send messages to young viewers that can result in unhealthy expectations for the future.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the relationship was that it seems to want to make the audience believe that staying with an abusive partner is worthwhile because they may change. Unfortunately, as most people in toxic relationships discover, there is no prince under all the hostility, lack of respect, and abuse that comes with unhealthy partners.

Takeaway

The world of movies is often alluring and beautiful, but viewers should be critical of what they watch. Identifying and calling out films that portray toxic relationships is extremely necessary to avoid promoting unhealthy characteristics and help viewers identify such instances in their own lives.

The media should be diligent about the characters and relationships it portrays on-screen and their impact on audiences, but it also helps to be able to remember that what we see in film is not, and shouldn’t necessarily be, reality.

Activities You Can Do With Friends to Mix Up Your Social Events: Spending time with friends is the ultimate joy that keeps many people looking forward to their weekends. The thought of social interaction can keep you motivated throughout more difficult aspects of your week, and the time spent with your friends and family can often make you feel as though all the worries of your usual routine are just melting away.

However, as people get a bit older and seeing their friends becomes something they can only do less frequently, they might start to fall into the same old habits when they see their friends, which can lead to these social interactions feeling less novel.

One of the biggest examples here is how a lot of people will regularly just spend their time with their friends going to bars or drinking at home, which is something that you can have a lot of fun with but can also be quite unimaginative as far as hang-outs go. The last thing that you want to risk doing is becoming bored of these events and risk drifting away from people due to fatigue that you misplace as being focused on each other’s company instead of the activity. So it’s good to have some alternatives in the back pocket.

Introduce Game Nights

Some of the energy between you and your friends while you have fun and drink can be replicated with a competitive game night. If this is a concept that’s fresh to your friend group, you might be looking for a good place to start. While certain board games that will remain nameless are quite effective at tearing you and your friends apart from each other, other games can stoke the friendly fires of competition. A good example of such games are classic card games such as blackjack. This is because it’s a game that’s easy to learn and get to grips with while offering further possible merit, such as teaching you more about business. So if you are a budding entrepreneur, there is a lot to learn from this game. 

Think of the Activities Around the Drinking

Often, when you’re out drinking with your friends, you might find that while the drinks are potentially the ‘main’ activity, there are a lot of other activities that carry you from place to place, acting as the backdrop for the event. For example, if it’s a clear and warm day, you might take to having a barbecue outside. This is something that you can still very much participate in and enjoy even without the drinks. While you might be asking how that’s going to lead to any different outcome in the long-term, you might focus more on each other’s company and not have the hangover be the lasting impression you have of the event.

Go for a Meal Out 

Alternatively, if you spend a lot of time with your friends drinking in bars or restaurants, you might well find that these venues have a lot to offer you on a sober night. Having a memorable meal out with your friends can be a great source of stories and anecdotes, as well as a way for you to become familiar with some eateries that could become lifelong favorites.