Social Factors in the Soloist - Movie Review Example

Midterm: “The Soloist” Alicia K. Armogum SSW 775.05 Daniel Farrell April 3, Summary of the Soloist Movie setting was in Los Angeles, California in 2005. The movie commences with one the main characters: Steve Lopez being involved in a biking accident, which lands him in the hospital. Interestingly, throughout his stint in the ER, Steve continuously records his thoughts and feelings on a tape recorder. It appears as if in a steady state of unrest. He is a journalist who actively works for the Los Angeles Times. Steve is divorced and works with his ex-wife and friend, Mary Western who is an editor at the newspaper. One day while Steve is sitting outside drinking a soda, hears a violin being played. He walks around the plaza until he finds the source. He finds Nathaniel Ayers, playing a two string violin under a statue. Nathaniel is a former child prodigy. He abandoned his former life due to his inability to cope with the auditory hallucinations (voices in his head). Steve immediately realizes that Ayers has a mental disability and tries to walk away, but Nathaniel follows him for a while until Steve introduces himself. In their dialogue, Nathaniel tells Steve that he once went to Julliard. Steve’s curiosity as to how a former Juilliard student ended up living on the streets causes him to starts researching into Nathaniel’s past. The plot focuses on the redemption of Nathaniel and how Steve tries to ignore his mental illness to help him show off his musical gift. As Steve endeavors to help Nathanial find his way back to what he thinks is a normative state, a unique friendship gets formed, one that transforms both their lives. Perception of characters with mental illness There are many different perspectives in the movie in regards to mental illness. There are those that treat people afflicted as “normal”. David, for instance, an employee of a community based organization appears to treat those individuals afflicted with respect. He realizes that society and medical institutions often have labeled them, causing them to suffer significantly. What this has done is exacerbate the issue and make it even harder for individuals to be functional. The DSM diagnosis for many people could be a death sentence because it places a label on an individual and society sometimes reacts to that label in a negative way. It can be compared to the self-fulfilling prophecy, which is a prediction that can directly or indirectly cause it to be true, by terms of the prophecy, due to positive comments between behavior and believe. When people afflicted with mental illness get labeled, it carries negative connotations in the future because society does not expect a normal effect from them and hence, treat them differently (Levy, 2010). When thinking about David and his work ethics, Hartmans In Search of subjugated knowledge, comes to mind. She has a strong sense of a battle cry towards the social work profession. She also encouraged social workers to search for subjugated knowledge. According to Hartman, those disenfranchised have no power in society. They have been silenced through those that control scientific research methods. Without being taken into account the raw experience of an individual is processed towards the end goal. Their claim to legitimate knowledge is not recognized by those few that make and break the rule. The knowledge they hold is not treated with respect because they do not follow a specific route. Peoples feelings and thoughts are unaccounted. Hartman would be proud of someone like David because he viewed his clients as people and did not try to suffocate with societal standards of correct behavior. He put the client first by recognizing their claim to legitimate knowledge, although it is of their own experience this gave them a greater opportunity to be heard. The Mayor of Los Angeles treats people with mental illness with destain. Although, he appears philanthropic by recognizing Steve’s humanitarian effort in helping Nathaniel and proposes finances to aid the community. It is a political decision. The solution he took to fix the problem is creating a public image that fixes into a more “normal” view of individuals with mental illness. By removing individuals’ from living on the streets and putting them in jail, is not a solution to the issue of aiding homeless individuals with mental illness. For example, one man got arrested for “possession of a milk-crate”. If the Mayor was a true advocate and possessed empathy for those afflicted with mental illness, programs like L.A.M.P. would have a larger budget to cope with the needs of the people. People like David would be recognized for their work, not Steve Lopez for writing about one man’s story. Policy implications When I think of the way the political system view mental health individuals I think of Hartman’s opening quotation “I cannot say who I am unless you agree I’m real” by Imamu Amiri Baraka. It is quite profound and true today, especially in regards to gay rights and those bounded by the labels from DSM manual. According to post modern thinking, who are we to say people’s natural, intelligent actions and verbosity is not correct and should be curbed and packaged accordingly, so it is easily digested? During the winter, I took a child welfare policy class, and it changed my perspective on how I have allowed myself to be fooled by face value. Who am I to say someone is not a competent parent based on a pattern or a supposed “deviant action”? The system has forgotten to meet the client where they are at so that the healing process can begin. Meaning the system does not look beyond the client and the label then evaluate them based on personal experiences. There is a systematic way of doing things. I was not happy with the depiction of those afflicted with mental illness people because those afflicted are shown as homeless, lost, deranged, lacking coping mechanisms, unable to support themselves financially. Individuals with mental illness do not behave in the same way, and they are all unique in their diagnosis. Steve understands Nathanial has a mental illness, but he does not allow it to limit involvement in his life. I thought it was amusing that he used Nathanial’s trusting nature as a replacement of his own relationship with his son. It appeared to me that perhaps he felt that he had failed as a parent and person and Nathanial was his redemption. It felt as if writing about him was a catalyst in resolving his own frustrations and closure about the way he viewed his own life. For example, the movie scene where he was in his living room with Mary and he was reminiscing about their son Thomas, the past and his frustrations getting through to Nathanial. Mary acts as his voice of reason tell him that he could not even stop an earthquake that he needs to be his friend. She tells him to be there do not try to change him just meet him where he is at. Mary’s perception may be influenced by social policies. In attempting to understand the client, one must view them in a social as well as cultural perspective. Steve did research into Nathanial’s life but did not take the time to view him from a cultural perspective. According to Gitterman and Germain, exploring whom your client is or where they are coming from culturally will assist in creating a supportive and accepting environment, this creates empathy. This is the ability to convey understanding and acknowledgment of the persons experiences, and this is done by first researching the population to better discern where the client is originates (Gitterman & Germain, 2008). In the movie, Nathanial is African American, has a working class background. He is described as having inability to cope with the auditory hallucinations. He grew up with his mother and sister, but despite his mother’s financial success that is business and able to afford music lessons, his environment was a constant reminder of his predicament. According to Berzoff, Flanagan and Hertz, despite the encouragement from his mother regarding his talent, it is clear that he needed a father figure in his life. When Nathanial describes his father as an adult, he did not idealize him. He points to Steve and says “Steve Lopez is my God”. Berzoff, Flanagan and Hertz points out personality are shaped and molded by culture, ethnicity and gender, and socioeconomic status, illness itself is given form and meaning by these variables. Social factors such as poverty, discrimination, and inequality can deplete emotional and psychic resources, creating undue stress on people who are constitutionally vulnerable to schizophrenia’ (pp.300). According to psychoanalysis theory, if one were to view Nathanial from this vantage point it would appear as if his mental illness was fueled by his childhood experiences. I could not help but to speculate whether or not Nathanial was an “overburdened child” a long-term consequence of divorce for some children. The child experiences effects from the role of holding custodial parent together psychologically, become responsible for reducing depression and other threat to parent’s psychological functioning, at their own needs costs. There is a probability that they are unable to have functioning relationships because they are “guarded” due to the lack of trust experienced from their parents. This may cause mental health repercussions. They may also experience a wide rage somatic issue such as sleep disorders, fear of abandonment, lack of achievement in school, weak peer relationships; and some end up being clinically depressed. (Wallerstein, 1995) I could not help but think that Nathanial’s race might be an influence on his mental status. Black fatherless children get jeopardized by a lack of sensitivities to the realities of fatherhood for Black noncustodial fathers. Efforts to secure the social, emotional, and economic supports for children from their Black noncustodial fathers, is impeded by a lack of understanding of and information about how fathers receive these aspects of parenting (Hamer, 1997). The movie does not give the viewer an idea of what Nathanial’s childhood was like prior to age 13, but one can speculate as to why he is in his current state. Nathanial has used negative language regarding his father one can hypothesize that his current mental state is a product of his upbringing. Predominant Lens The movie is to be viewed through more than one lens. The one that caught my attention was the humanistic lens, which is imbued with theories of motivation and personality and accents human development. It emphasizes “positive change can result from life experiences” (Green, 2010). At the conclusion of the movie, it appears that both Steve and Nathanial have been influenced by their interactions with each other, for example, Nathanial is no longer living on the street, continues to add to his musical repertoire, able to conquer his fears and watch a concert with others. Steve is content to let life lead him wherever it may and not try to change Nathanial to accept him as him. Steven can be viewed with humanistic lens in the movie. He took a humanistic approach when dealing with Nathaniel. He agreed with the diagnosis that Nathaniel had auditory hallucinations but disregarded it. This shows that Steven saw Nathaniel as a person first, instead of seeing his mental illness. The two theorists most associated with the humanistic perspective are Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. According to Carl’s two fundamental ideas, healthy development is, in terms of, how the individual perceives his or her own being or sense of self. A healthy individual will tend to see the relationship between what they feel they should be and whom they are. This is the goal Steve was constantly trying to influence on Nathanial. Examples of his action would be giving him the cello, finding lamp, find an apartment, getting the apartment and helping with cello lessons. These are few of the many ways he tried to change his life and actions. The second idea is the conditions for health growth and the role of the therapist fostering healthy growth through person-centered therapy. The therapist fostering an environment of openness, empathy and positive regard exercises. Steve constantly tried to be open and empathic to Nathanial even after his articles were published. He acted as a pseudo therapeutic conduit even though he was not a medical professional (Green, 2010). David can be viewed with medical lens. He takes a biomedical approach when dealing with his clients. His role of as a practitioner is to safeguard their well being. Clients should take into consideration the advice of practitioners so that the lives would be better. David put his clients first and tried to assist them. The second theorist Maslow, created the hierarchy of needs, he inferred that individuals have needs to be fulfilled in a hierarchical way, from the least to the uppermost. This is in inclusion of safety needs, belonging needs, achievement needs, basic needs, love and belonging needs and self actualization. The needs must be achieved in order. This is according to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Meaning one need cannot be full-filled without the other being complete. For example, one would be unable to fulfill their esteems needs if their love needs have not been met (Green, 2010). It seems as if Steve was attempting to ensure that all of Nathaniel’s needs got met hence advocating for an apartment for him. This would help him get off the street and reach out to his sister for him to have a familial connection. He thought like Maslow if Nathanial’s needs are met then he would be able to play and share his music with the world. Nathaniel can be viewed with both humanistic and psychological lens in the movie. He does not see himself as schizophrenic. He accepts Steven’s help in order to improve his life. Nathaniel is human; he unites with his sister later. The language used in the movie made me come up with these inferences about the characters. The manner in which Steve describes Nathaniel to his ex-wife makes me view him in humanistic lens. Although, Nathaniel was living in the streets he continued to play music. The language Nathaniel uses when he communicates with Steve shows that he is human. This is an indication that although the community viewed him as someone with mental illness, he did not stop playing his music. David’s character shapes up ones perspective. He has professionalism in his carrier and treats his patients well. History and culture shapes my perspective of characters in the movie. African Americans were viewed as lesser human beings in the society. According to my perception, this is why the author uses an African American as one to play a person with mental illness. Homelessness was also seen as a ‘Black’s thing’. Historically, most of the people who were homeless were African American. Culture also shapes up my perspective in that the society viewed a person with mental illness as an outcast. This is the reason why Nathaniel left his family and went to live on the streets. Language Utilized In evaluating the way Nathanial is described; I felt the language used was positive and somewhat worshipful. Steve always pinpoints how brilliant Nathanial is in his conversations with Mary. He thinks of him as surprising and is astonished at his surrender when he plays. His description of Nathanial is, almost idyllic, somewhat worshipful. Ironically Nathanial views him as his own personal “God”. He thinks Nathanial needs mental health assistance he is extremely humbled by his talent and sees beyond his illness to the brilliant musician that he is. We all have biases, and I think Steve’s perseverance and tenacity to see beyond the physical appearance of Nathanial impacted my own need to watch this movie to the end. I probably would not dig so deep. I agree with Levy, when he states that we possess an inborn need to categorize people things and experiences and put them into schemas. I am guilty of evaluation bias by visual assessment and glad that I was able to view this movie. It will force me to think twice if I allow labels to rule the way I evaluate someone. References Berzoff, J., Flanagan, L., & Hertz, P. (2008). Inside out and outside in. (5th ed). Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. Gitterman, A, Germain, C. B., (2008). The Life Model of Social Work Practice. (3rd ed). New York: Columbia University Press. Green, R. (2010). Human Behavior Theory & Social Work Practice. (3rd ed) New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Hartman, A. (1992). In search of subjugated knowledge. Social Work (3) 6, 483-484. Hamer, F., (1997). Fathers of “fatherless” Black Children. Families in Society. 78(60): 564-578. Levy, D., (2010). Tools of Critical Thinking: Metathoughts in Pschology. Illinois: Waveland Press. Wallerstein, S. (1985). The Overburdened Child: Some Long-Term Consequences of Divorce. Social Work. March-April, pg 116-123. Read More