Media Essay- a Beautiful Mind

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The media play a substantial role in portraying various types of mental illness either in a negative or positive manner. Mental illness is described as a chemical imbalance in the brain which significantly affects the way a person feels and thinks, as well as their behaviour and interactions with other people. The media is a very broad definition and could mean film, television, radio, newspapers, novels and plays which can press ideas and images into the public’s thoughts, perceptions and beliefs. This essay will include a summary of the chosen media, a discussion of the mental illness that is portrayed, the interventions that were used to regulate the mental illness and the implications for community attitudes relating to public perceptions of that specific mental illness. The chosen media for this assignment is a film called A Beautiful Mind. This film was directed by Ron Howard and is a winner of four Academy Awards. It is based on a true story on the life of a brilliant mathematician, Dr. John Nash. The story begins with John Nash arriving at Princeton University as a student where he met fellow graduates who immediately viewed him as being a little unusual. He also developed an unlikely friendship with his roommate Charles Herman who was a literature student. Some years later Dr. Nash falls in love with one of his students, Alicia Larde and they marry. He was invited to the pentagon to decipher encrypted enemy telecommunication codes, which he did mentally, and was given an assignment by a mysterious supervisor William Parcher. Parcher informs Nash to search for patterns in magazines and newspapers in order to uncover a Soviet plot and Nash becomes increasingly obsessive about searching for the hidden patterns. He begins to believe he is being watched and followed while delivering his findings to a secret mailbox. Dr. Nash returns to Princeton University where

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