FFS #2: Main Characters with Mental Illnesses

In modern America, society seems to be fixated on being perfect. Magazines dominated by

airbrushed models, television shows whose content is a competition to see which contestant can lose the most weight, and advertisements trying to convince consumers that purchasing a product will result in them acquiring sexy friends and a sleek car assault the average citizen every day. However, behind the "perfect" media fabrications lies a destructive condition known as perfectionism. Perfectionism, psychologically speaking, is a personality trait characterized by striving for flawlessness, setting excessively high standards, and overly critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others' opinions. For a perfectionist, life is an infinite downward spiral of never truly being able to achieve an ideal existence, which most often causes them to sink into depression or develop other psychological disorders. For this formal film study, I focused on the critiquing of American perfectionism through three main characters who experience forms of psychosis as a consequence of their futile pursuit of unreachable perfection: Patrick Bateman of American Psycho, Nina Sayers of Black Swan, and Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YnGhW4UEhc
Review: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-psycho-2000

In American Psycho, directed by Mary Harron, a wealthy banking executive in Manhattan, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), hides his psychotic mannerisms from his colleagues and friends while descending deeper into his instability. Bateman obsesses to a ridiculous level, which can actually be considered humorous, over his body, clothes, reservations at the most luxurious restaurants, money, apartments, and even the look of his business cards. Though he is violently antisocial, murderous, and experiences a personality disorder, Bateman is intended to be a perfectionist "yuppie" (a male focused on elite perfection) satire. When the audience is first given an in-depth introduction to the main character, Bateman takes viewers through an explanation of his daily morning routine where he describes his efforts to maintain an ideal appearance through exfoliation, anti-aging products, "a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine", and ice packs to remove any hints of puffiness from his face. His apartment is modern and elegant, but as the audience later finds out, it isn't as nice as Paul Allen's (Jared Leto) Central Park flat. Allen's new business card is also better, at which Bateman is horrified and remarks in a sweaty daze, "Oh my God, it even has a watermark." His efforts to be top dog fail and he

resolves to wipe out the competition; preferred weapon, an axe. Bateman gets Allen drunk and invites him over to his apartment, supposedly for drinks. He puts on the song "Hip to be Square" by Huey Lewis and the News, during which his perfectionist critiquing, this time of the music, continues. The scene ends with Bateman dancing around and swinging a beautifully polished axe at Allen. As more people get in the way of Bateman achieving perfection and success, the more bodies begin to pile up. The message of "down with perfectionism" can be witnessed written in blood in Bateman's closet: "Die Yuppie Scum".


Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs
Review: http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/black-swan-review-a-second-opinion/

In Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, ballet dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) wins the dual lead role of Odette, the white swan, and Odile, the black swan, in her ballet company's production of Swan Lake. From the beginning of the film, the viewer is able to see that Nina is driven by her obsession with performing the perfect dance. I was a ballerina once, and what I garnered from my experience was the pain and criticism that came with staring into mirrors for hours, while the strict instructor screeched at the dancers and whacked the "lazy" ones with a ruler, and becoming preoccupied with whether someone could pirouette more precisely or had longer, more delicate legs than I did. Black Swan perfectly captured the brutality of ballet and the psychological effects that it can impose on young women. First off, Nina's anxiety disorder manifests in bulimia and anorexia. She barely eats, consuming only half of a grapefruit for breakfast, and she refuses to touch any "dangerous" foods. For instance, Nina turns down the cake that her mother brings home to celebrate her getting the lead role in the ballet, but finally tastes a tiny bit of frosting with an expression of pure disgust playing over her face. She is also shown purging in bathrooms several times in the film, because she knows that she absolutely cannot gain any weight and risk not fitting into her costume. Adding to this, the constant stress of not living up to the company leader's expectations causes Nina to become delusional as well as convinced that a competing ballerina, Lily (Mila Kunis) is out to get her. Knowing the jealousy that exists in the world of dance, this is quite possible, but never proven. Nina's

desire to be the only perfect prima ballerina culminates in her slamming her rival into a mirror, seemingly killing her. On stage, at the end of the performance, it is actually revealed that the incident never occurred and Nina ended up stabbing herself with glass from the broken mirror. As she lays dying, Nina claims that she was perfect, showing that she thinks she achieved her goal, but gave up her life to do so.


Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARN6agiW7o
Review: http://www.richardroeper.com/reviews/thegreatgatsby.aspx

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, The Great Gatsby tells the story of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) and his meeting the mysterious Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) when he moves to West Egg in New York. Gatsby is obsessed with his lost love, Daisy (Carey Mulligan) who lives just across the bay from him in the elite East Egg. While he may just seem to be a man who desires the happiness he had in the past, Gatsby is in fact a pathological narcissist. His ego, grandiose lies, lack of connection with reality, sense of entitlement, and his disregard for the feelings of others become overpowering and destructive by the end of the film, ultimately ending in his death. Gatsby's pursuit of perfection deals with him perfecting himself for Daisy in every single detail. He bootlegs to amass a great fortune, constructs a monstrous mansion worthy of a king, and throws fabulous parties hoping to attract her

attention. He also believes that he is entitled to have Daisy, actually going to far as to see himself as a "son of God", due to which he also in convinced that he can repeat the past. When Nick tells him that such a thing cannot be done, Gatsby insists, "Why of course you can!" Not only does Gatsby wish himself to be perfect, he places Daisy up on the perfection pedestal as well. To him, she symbolizes the purity and wealth that he yearned for since he was a young farm boy, but she ends up not being the ghost that Gatsby designed her to be in his fantasies, which robs Gatsby of his will to live as he realizes that the perfection he chased is not real at all.

Overall, I can understand the message that perfectionism is disastrous and unreasonable, and I completely agree that such an attitude will lead to anxiety and even disorders, having had friends who experienced such an unfortunate circumstance. Perhaps the thing to take away from these movies is a focus on self-acceptance rather than criticism, and the realization that flaws are a natural aspect of humanity.