How FilipinoMovie Characters

Position the Mentally ill

AQUINO, MikkaCASTRO, Jiane

FIDER, BeaMa’am Cristina MONTIEL

INTRODUCTION

How the mentally-ill are seen

• child-like, violent, incompetent,

morally-weak (Jocano, 1973; Perlin, 2008)

• across cultures

• strange, different

the community has the tendency to exclude the mentally-ill

EXCLUSION

• mentally-ill has too close-contact with community

• community feels uncertainty insecurity

• Limited from access to education, housing

HOW do they achieve mentally ill’s Exclusion?

• certain interactions, behaviors

• Ex. Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease excluded by own husbands (Moghaddam & Harre, 2010)

Took over household tasks

Chose patients’ clothes

Fixed patient’s appearance in public

dictated what activities she canand cannot perform

kept patient “outside” of capable group

(community)

= EXCLUSION

The Role of Media

Media and Social Reality interrelate

reciprocal relationship

• Social reality is shaped by media• Media confronts social reality

– Presents archetypes, traditional ideas– Appears realistic, possible to viewers

(Barthes, 1977; Macey, 2008)

• Not necessarily realistic (portrayal)• Communication takes place• viewers already have own set of beliefs

– compound with the ideas presented to them (Anderson, 1977)

Mentally Ill in Media• 146 college students…later revealed

negative attitude toward the mentally ill (Domino, 1983)

• Onscreen interactions preempt viewers

(Harper, 2005)

• Vicarious experience (Gerbner, et al., 2002)

• Portrayed as burdensome, non productive, social threats

Reality is produced through social interaction and

conversation (Adoni, & Mane, 1984; Harre & Langenhove,

1999)

Social Interaction = DISCOURSE

between community and mentally-ill Media contributes

both interactive process and end result

(O’Sullivan, Hartley, Saundres, Montgomery & Fiske, 1994, p. 93)

• End result = Exclusion of mentally ill

• Interactive Process ?

Positioning Theory

• study of the dynamics of human interactions

• Not just talk itself - flow of talking

• Each Utterance, Gesture, Behavior = “speech act”

• Attribute rights, duties, and obligations (Harre & Langenhove,

1999)

• Positions = dynamic (VS role = static)

• can position others or be positioned by others

• with certain rights and duties

Person A to Person B: Good morning, how are you?

Person A positions… self with RIGHT to greet, ask a

question Person B with the DUTY to respond

• Right - justifying certain for action as following the rules or social norm

• Duty - a demand that one participant places on another

How do the utterances and gestures of Filipino movie

characters position thementally ill?

METHOD

Criteria

• Different time frames

- Filipino movie classic (Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang,

1974)

- released in past 10 years (Baliw, 2007; Kimmy Dora,

2009)

Criteria

• Availability > Realistic

Mainstream (Kimmy Dora)

- high box office revenues

Independent (Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, Baliw)

- most awards

Criteria

• Transcribed each film• Social Episodes were picked

• Every scene where… Community and mentally ill interact Community members interact about mentally ill Both words and acts Acts = “socially understood behaviors” (Moghaddam, Harre, & Lee, 1993, p. 25)

• 3 Blind-coders (each Thesis group member)– 1 blind coder per movie

• Text re-read 10 times

• Noted down in Raw Data table

– Episode Number– Characters– Dialogue

Procedure• Statements analyzed for rights and

duties attributed (Positions)

– Rights attributed to self– Corresponding Duty attributed to

other participant– Paired blind coder to reach consensus

about positions

Further AnalysisPerson who had the first utterance in

Episode

Analyzing whole

episode,

“Parent” or General

Right and Duty

of Initiator

“Parent” Right and

Duty of

Participant whose

Position was

maintained at the end of the Episode

Initiator (Mentally Ill

OR Community)

Dominant Right and

Duty

Response (Contested

OR Not

Contested)

Outcome(Maintained

OR Repositioned

)

Dominant Right and

Duty

• 6 Main Patterns• For each film, generalized rights and duties both of the Initiator and after the Response that fell under each Pattern

• Further generalized for one Parent Right and Duty to represent all 3 films

• After re-analyzing, one additional pattern due to one more Dominant Right and Duty

7 Main Patterns can be further grouped into effects of interaction:

• Exclusion • Inclusion

• Tallied number of episodes (per film) pattern applied to

• Totalled, divided by number of episodes• Presented as Percentages for ALL social

episodes

RESULTS

Table 1

(32.68 %) • INITIATOR: Community

Dominant Right and Duty:- (Community) The

right to put the mentally ill under surveillance

- (Mentally ill) The duty to allow

self to be scrutinized

• Not contested• Maintained

(17.05 %) • INITIATOR: Mentally ill

Dominant Right and Duty:- (Mentally ill) The

right to decide for themselves

- (Community) The duty to comply

• Contested• Repositioned

Dominant Right and Duty: - (Community) The right to control the

mentally ill - (Mentally ill) The duty to obey

• The Community Excludes the Mentally Ill by Controlling Them

– The mentally ill tend to be put under surveillance.

– The mentally ill tend to be

repositioned as dependent on the community when the community contests the rights of the mentally ill.

• The Inclusion of the Mentally Ill Occurs If They Have Support from Any Member of the Community

– The mentally ill can only maintain their positions when they initiated with statement of goals or intentions and with full support from any one member of community.

– The mentally ill’s right will not be contested if supported by a member of the community.

•  Two Exceptional Patterns

– The mentally ill can be positioned to accept the community’s position as voluntary providers.

– The mentally ill are positioned to let the

community aggressively involve themselves toward them.

10.78

LEGEND:

Black – Exclusion

Gray – Inclusion

White – Outliers

Figure 1

DISCUSSION

Main Findings: Summary

1.The community excludes the mentally ill through control

2.The mentally ill assert inclusion by expressing their intentions to participate, and then gaining support from the community

3. Two additional patterns

3. 1. Community fosters dependency of

the Mentally Ill upon them through

provisions.

3. 2. The mentally ill do refuse the aggressive advancements of

the community made towards them.

1. Exclusion of the mentally ill through control

• SURVEILLANCE • Very positions the mentally ill occupy• Lack of contestation on the part of the mentally ill

2. The mentally ill’s assertion of Inclusion

• The mentally ill initiate the interactions• State intentions (ex. responsible for…)• Garner support from community members (Protection)

• Conditional Inclusion

Contributions

1). Methodological use of Positioning Theory

• Possibility of the theory being used to analyze films and movie discourse

2). Clinical Psychology

Deinstitutionalized mentally ill can also forge better, stronger

relationships within the community

Practical Contribution of Our Study :

Movie industry

• To highlight the possibility of including the mentally ill into the community in films

• For scriptwriters to focus on the relationships of the mentally ill in the dialogue present in films

ENDThank you!