Psychopathology in the Film - Assignment Example

Each year Hollywood produces hundreds of film and with the production comes awards seasons, which are characterized by glitz and glamour. It goes without saying that most if not all Hollywood movies derive from psychology most of the themes that keep audiences glued. Most movies involve some form of psychopaths as main acts or minor themes. Psychopathology is a term used to refer to the science of the study of mental illnesses and diseases, and what appears, as these symptoms manifest in individuals who suffer from such disorders. The film we will focus on is V for Vendetta, a film produced and filmed by Warner bros. in 2006. The main character in the movie is a masked hero known as "V". Symbolism, costume and dialogue are used a lot in the film, to pass across information. This is a harrowing tale of future, dark England (2030). The country is completely monopolized by the government. It follows an extremist terrorist group led by "V", who is later joined by Evey, with the main aim of returning Britain to its former glory. The group aims to sensitize people, which fear has made them trust a government that they should not, leading to cruelty, intolerance and oppression." V" was among the many abducted into concentration camps with many other such a homosexuals, Muslims and other groups, deemed as delinquents by the ruling class. He undergoes major medical examinations in the camp, in addition to torture. But unlike the others, he manages to escape. The above groups, including media houses not favorable to the government, continue to be abducted by the secret police. The ruling party is called Norsefire, and basically the United Kingdom has turned into a fascist state, where everyone is under constant surveillance. Evey, a beautiful radio presenter at a state run corporation is rescued from possible rape by the secret police, by “V” a vigilante. The government is ruled by chancellor Sutler, who promises to protect the citizens from all forms of terrorism if they give up all their civil rights. Evey has been brainwashed by the government. V takes her to his lair, after showing her the buildings he has burned down, as a form of rebellion to the government. She is angered by this and runs away from him, and starts the journey of self liberation. She discovers many secrets, for example, her boss (Gordon Dietrich) is a closet homosexual and has a collection of books banned by the totalitarian regime. She together with her boss is captured after a television episode in which where they satirize the government. During her time in jail, material by an actress by the name Valerie keeps her going. She is tortured for information regarding the whereabouts of V, but refuses to budge and is released just before she is executed by the police. She later realizes that everything had been staged to free her from her fears, and Dietrich had been executed. Evey and V begin a journey of freeing the general British mass through acts of terrorism, though it is done after curfew hours, and nobody is killed. The inspector general of police discovers that V is revenging for his time in detention. Patient. The character V is a mysterious one, and it is quite difficult where to place him in the fight for freedom. He wears a mask, black cloak and hat, in addition to living alone. He was admitted to a resettlement camp, together with other “unwanted people”in society, he displays no psychological characteristics like the other detainees. The doctor at the camp diagnoses him with schizophrenia. This form of mental disorder causes people to believe that someone is trying to harm them, they hear voices that other people do not. He has super human abilities and is very intelligent. This is illustrated by quoting a line from Macbeth and various literary works. V learns how to make explosives in the concentration camp, a skill he uses, when he needed to burn down parliament. There are two reasons why he wears the mask, one is to hide the scars he acquired while in the concentration camp, during the fire he started to escape, and also to show the fact that although he is a man, he is essentially wants to be an idea, that will lead to liberation. He is a person on a vendetta to kill all those involved in his torture while in the concentration camp, who occupy high positions in the current government. He allows the inspector of police, Mr. Finch to kill him. He believes that we have to kill to obtain freedom, and out of chaos we get order. His relationship with Evey is the most confusing, where he tortures and educates her at the same time. She is the future of freedom that V was fighting for. In short, the character is a result of a government experiment gone badly. History of the present illness The background of V is largely unknown, only that he is part of the inmates at the Larkhill Resettlement Camp. There is nothing wrong with him physically, but the experiments have given him certain abilities. He is also left bitter and resentful towards the staff at the resettlement camp. Despite the fact that all prisoners died during the experiments, he was able to survive due to certain genetic mutation in his cells. Medical history The character does not have any medical history apart from the one in the concentration where he undergoes mental and physical torture. The experiments are conducted on the subjects without their consent. Most of the subjects are killed during the process, but he, somehow survives through the experience without noticeable changes. The scars he obtains from the explosives in the concentration camp leave his face scared. Psychosocial history What makes V a psychopath is the fact that he manages to commit atrocities but still remains charming and intelligent. The reviewer starts to question the sanity of the masked man by questioning why he wants to bring to an end the totalitarian government by promoting anarchy. His believe that chaos will bring freedom is that of a disturbed man. This in addition to the fact that he takes matters into his own hands, to bring his captors to justice by killing all the staff at the resettlement camp where he was once a captive. This promotes his belief that the end justifies the end. If the world operates like that, this would lead to a state of anarchy. In addition to this, V tortures Evey physically and emotionally, so that she can experience what he went through while in the concentration camp. The whole time he does this, he also tortures the viewer, who has to go through the gruesome experience of seeing her being tortured.ths is because we have been conditioned to identify with her, from the beginning of the book. Behavioral / cognitive observations V in V for vendetta knows exactly what he is up to, when murdering all the staff from the recreation camp, he was in, then covers them up, by making them look like accidents. He plans ahead on murdering the people in governing using explosives that he manufactures. Diagnosis V the mask wearing character in V for Vendetta, can be described as psychotic, because he exhibits characters such as murdering the staff from the concentration camp, and planning on killing government officials, without showing any remorse. Torture by the government is no way an excuse to kill or to bring about anarchy and disorder in a country. Read More