The portrayal of mental illness in cinema and TV shows is still nowadays problematic in many ways, and regarding both genders. When men with mental illnesses are endlessly portrayed as mad, sociopath, or killers [e.g. Sherlock BBC series, Joker, Pulp Fiction, etc.], women with mental illnesses are too often sexualized, romanticized and almost fantasized. Think Cassie in Skins (2007), Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) or more recently, Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit (2020). Why does gender play such a role in the portrayal of mental illnesses?
According to the Mental Health foundation statistics, one out of five adults suffer from a mental illness, and “women are three times more likely to experience common mental health problems.”1 However, when it comes to media, especially cinema and TV shows, men and women suffering from mental illnesses seem to be portrayed very differently. Since the early years of cinema, stereotypes towards mental illness have emerged such as the “homicidal maniac”, “the narcissistic parasite”, or the “specially gifted”.2 Those stereotypes can be illustrated in movies such as Psycho, Fight Club or Joker. However, those stereotypes (which are of course very problematic) mainly apply to male characters suffering from mental illnesses. What about women then? In Hollywood it seems that women’s experiences of mental illness are usually more stylized, “aesthetic”, idealized, and often reduced to hypersexuality.
Think about one of the teens shows that shaped the early Gen-Zs, Skins. Skins is a British TV show, which premiered in 2007 and follows the life of a group of teenagers in Bristol. At least two of the main characters in the show, both women, suffer from mental illnesses. In the second episode of the first season, we are introduced to the character of Cassie: she suffers, among other things, from eating disorder and suicidal thoughts. In the show, Cassie is presented in a “quirky” way, expressed notably through the way she speaks, thus, reducing her mental state to almost a joke. Moreover, her large pale dress and her blond hair results in an angel-like picture, idealizing her and her distress. In the fifth episode of the same season, Cassie attempts to kill herself by jumping off a bridge. In the scene, she is dancing around, with her headphones on. The music, the scenery, and the acting do represent the seriousness of the situation, and therefore, romanticizes mental illness.
A similar representation is made in the popular series on Netflix, The Queen’s Gambit, premiered in 2020. In the fifth episode of the show, the character of Beth is supposedly at rock bottom, suffering from alcoholism. However, the scene that the YouTube channel “Still Watching Netflix”, describes as her “Downward Spiral”3 is pretty far away from what I, and many, would consider a depressive episode. Personally, when I feel at rock bottom, I do not dance around in my lace panties, a sexy little top and makeup on. I will more likely be in my cookie monster sweater, the same jogging I have since the age of 16, will have had Cheetos for dinner and will not have showered in the last three days (but maybe that’s just me). In Skins and The Queen’s Gambit, mental illnesses are not treated seriously but rather minimized, idealized in a dance.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) is an interesting case because it features two main characters, a man and a woman, both suffering from mental illnesses. Pat (Bradley Cooper), who suffers from manic depression, is shown as violent, whereas Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) is pictured as a hypersexual depressive woman. The question now becomes “why?” Why does Hollywood feel the need to gender-code mental illness? Why are those representations so common? Because, although hypersexuality can be a symptom developed during depression, it is pretty rare and the loss of libido is a far more experienced symptom.4 But Hollywood has spoken that the female experience of mental illness is dancing around, probably drunk, or sleeping with many men, while the male experience of mental illness consists of being crazy and killing people. It is fair to say that there is still a long road towards good representations of mental illness. Fortunately, all hope is not yet lost as “good” (e.g. not stylized or exaggerated) and non-gender centered representations of mental illness do exist. The show Euphoria has been praised for its accurate representation of a non-beautiful depression through the character of Rue5, especially in the seventh episode of the first season. So who knows? Maybe my cookie monster sweater will appear on our screen one day.