Effect of Movies in Medicine - Henry Poole Is Here and Lars and the Real Girl - Movie Review Example

Module Effect of Movies in Medicine Henry Poole Is Here and Lars and the Real Girl are two movies that revolve around the physiological effects of a change in psychology, with both presenting pathological cases that were treated by careful manipulation of the patient’s psychology. In Henry Poole Is Here, the main protagonist’s psychology is manipulated by a group of religious believers; in Lars and the Real Girl, a psychologist uses the patient’s belief to cure him of delusion. This essay offers a review of the two movies and their implications to modern medicine. Henry Poole Is Here This movie causes the audience to rethink their perceptions on faith healing, and want to believe the ease by which a person can be healed without the use of any form of medication. In addition, it gives non-believers the idea that faith healing is not dependent on the form of faith, but the faith itself, meaning that a person does not need religious faith to be healed; a little faith is enough. Henry Poole discovers that he has a terminal disease during a routine check-up, gives up hope in life and buys a house in the suburbs in his home area, where he can die in peace after wasting his life on drinking. This retreat into suburbia shows that Poole had given up hope on life, and all he wanted to do with his life is to waste it before he died. To ensure that he lives in solace, Poole buys a house in a busy suburb that resembles many others, and since people will be too busy minding their own business, he will not be disturbed. However, this is not to happen as he finds out that he had a nosey neighbour, Esperanza, who insists that a stain she saw in his house was the image of Jesus, and it has healing power. While dealing with Esperanza, Poole meets with Millie; the daughter of Dawn became taciturn and lost her speech when her father left them. Millie touches the stain and her speechlessness is cured, and Poole’s neighbours start insisting that he was in that house for a reason and the stain could heal him (Henry Poole Is Here). Poole did not believe this, and in anger, he smashes the wall due to the frustration of believers insisting on imposing their faith on him, even though there is nothing wrong with their insistence or his resistance. However, denying the apparition means that Poole consciously thinks he does not believe in faith healing, though later events in the film show that he believes but at a subconscious level. Smashing the wall intensifies Poole’s relationship with his neighbours, especially since Millie’s healing had an effect on him. He knows that he touched the stain when he smashed it, and he finds out that he has been healed when he goes for a medical check-up afterwards. Therefore, though he does not admit it, Poole has a belief in the healing power of the stain, which is evident when he is cured for his terminal illness (Henry Poole Is Here). Implication on Medicine. The results of the film can be used to explain the placebo effect, whereby people are cured, not because of the physiological effects of drugs, but because of their faith in the healing agent. Like the placebo effect, the stain on the wall does not need spiritual faith for healing to occur; it just needs the patient to have faith, which can be strengthened by seeing evidence of the healing agent at work. The effect of this film in medicine is that people need faith and not drugs for them to be healed; they just need to believe that whatever the doctor administers will cure them of their ailment, even if that belief is merely subconscious (Benedetti, F., et al. 10400). Lars and the Real Girl Lars and the Real Girl shows that a person with a psychotic disorder such as delusion usually has the capacity of getting oneself from the delusionary state, especially if he or she gets the necessary guidance. It emphasises on the need for support from family on the community around for the patient to undergo complete recovery, and the need for a correct diagnosis by a specialist. However, the movie shows that helping a sick person deal with one’s delusion may result in others being under the illusion that the delusion is real. Lars’ mother died during his birth leaving his father heart-broken, which led to a drastic change in Lars’ behaviour since he has to deal with fathers’ shortcomings and his mother’s absence; Lars became distant and unable to interact with people. The relationship between Lars, his brother and his sister-in-law is distant; it is difficult for Lars to interact with them, share a meal or engage in a conversation, and he lives outside in the garage. Due to loneliness and need for acceptance, Lars buys a life-size doll named Bianca form an online store, and he believes that she was a real person, and he even introduces her to people as his girlfriend. Lars takes Bianca for a medical check-up; his doctor confirms that Lars is delusional since he believes strongly, despite evidence to the contrary, that Bianca is a real woman and the doctor decides to play along in order to help Lars make a complete recovery (Lars and the Real Girl). In addition, the doctor requests Lars’ family to go along with his delusion in order to help her in his therapy, and she tells Lars’ to take Bianca for weekly treatments. These ‘treatments’ are the doctor’s way of ensuring that she keeps track of Lars’ progress, and to enable Lars to have the perception that Bianca is terminally ill. Bianca helps Lars through his social distance by helping him to interact with more people during her makeover from the beautician, during her involvement in volunteer services and part time job as a model (Lars and the Real Girl). The family, co-workers and the townspeople try to include Lars, as they want to make him feel that he belongs, especially the time that he wants to be included for the sake of his ‘girlfriend’, whom he ‘kills’ later in the film in order to be with Margo. For instance, the sister-in-law insists on sharing meals together, the townspeople and co-workers treat Bianca as a real female to help in mental healing of Lars because they care about him. The townspeople come to see Bianca as more than a doll, as when she is taken to hospital ill, they are with him and send flowers, and the whole town attends her burial. This shows that though at first people of the town treated Bianca like a real person for Lars’ sake, they also ended up having the perception of her as a real person due to the effect she had on their lives (Lars and the Real Girl). Implications on Medicine. This film affects psychological medicine, whereby it applies the principle of reversed psychology instead of antipsychotic drugs to treat a psychotic patient, as Lars’ doctor did for his condition. The film could also convince psychologists that faith is relative, and an individual can apply a certain principle as if it were true, then he or she would eventually believe it. For instance, people started treating Bianca like a real person for Lars’ sake; however, by the end of the film, they are all active participants in Lars’ story (Eliot and Mackie 380). Conclusion Henry Poole Is Here and Lars and the Real Girl show that physical and psychological disorders can be treated without the use of medications, whereby an individual does not even need the intervention of a doctor. In addition, the movies show that the same principles apply in medicine regardless of the field, and a person’s conscious or unconscious perception of a situation is the major determinant of one’s perception. In conclusion, the movies emphasise on the need for healing mechanisms that are not dependent on chemicals. Works Cited Benedetti, F., et al. "Neurobiological mechanisms of the placebo effect.” Journal of Neuroscience 25.45 (2005): 10390–402. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. Eliot, Smith, and Diane Mackie, Social Psychology. Sussex: Hove, 2007. Print. Henry Poole is here. Dir. Mark Pellington. Overture Films, 2008. Film. Lars and the Real Girl. Dir. Craig Gillespie. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 2007. Film. Read More