Mental Illness and Women in Cinema: “Beautiful and Troubled Women”

Introduction

From primitive times until the modern era, all societies have been required to establish certain systems of norms in order to prevent chaos and disorder. In general terms, these terms regulating and controlling the social life by defining good and bad, and right and wrong, consist of religious rules, manners and customs, moral rules and laws. Even though these laws' prohibitions and degrees of sanction, and the penalties and awards prescribed by them may be different from each other, the common point of all of them is that they determine the boundaries of the ‘acceptable’ and the ‘unacceptable’. Therefore, while the behaviours approved and abided by general society are seen ‘normal’, all actions that contradict with the ‘normal’ are considered as out-of-norm or in other words as ‘deviation’.

In all societies, it is inevitable that there are individuals compliant and incompliant (or failing to be compliant) with the system of norms established. According to this, “a person getting away from the models and norms that determines the group that he/she belongs with his/her behaviours, attitudes and opinions, and thus that he/she will be judged by” is defined as ‘deviant’ (Picca, 1995: 15). ‘Deviation’, which generally has negative connotations, may be associated with the person's behaviours chosen consciously, as well as due to some physical properties owned against their free will. Joseph Ficther made a classification as follows of the persons described as deviant (2009: 190-191):

• 1.

  Psychological deviants: Morons, idiots, retarded persons and persons who have neurotic disorders

• 2.

  Physical deviants: The deaf-mute, crippled and chronic patients

• 3.

  Addicted deviants: Beggars, exiles and outcasts

• 4.

  Criminal deviants: Murderers, thieves, fraudulent, etc.

The point to be considered in this classification is that deviation and the deviant is not universal and constant, but artificial, vague and relative. Because, the norms referred to characterise any behaviour as deviation are devised by people who have the power of establishing, changing or regulating such norms. The power firstly identifies what is ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’, then sorts the ‘abnormal’ within itself. The underlying factor in all these efforts is the will to control the social deviation. Prisons, sanatoriums, rehabilitation centres, asylums and educational institutions are control and supervision institutions established specific to any kinds of deviations.

As seen, one of the categories of deviation intended to be taken under control is the mental diseases. Insanity has been a phenomenon that has always been positioned against what is considered as the ‘normal’ and that is marginalised and excluded in society. In pre-modern times, madness was thought to emerge as the result of the rage of gods or under the effect of supernatural powers such as the devil, malign spirits and magic. This situation has brought the general point of view that the mad people should be kept away from general society and thus ‘social exclusion’ together. Mad people being seemingly chained, segregated and being kept under surveillance for rehabilitative purposes is for the sake of the welfare and safety of society in its essence. Besides the fact that the exclusion criteria have been different in the ancient world, Medieval Times and Modern Times, it is possible to say that the process of isolating and marginalising the mad people from society has been continuing throughout the history of humanity.

Accepting madness as a mental illness finally under the light of scientific explanations corresponds to modern times. Mental illness conceptually has associations such as the mind being ill, failing to function or being totally lost. Therefore, madness has become a threat to the understanding of society that glorifies the mind, especially with the Age of Enlightenment. As Foucault expressed, madness revealed the awareness related to the “fragility of reason” (2006: 363). Even though it has elevated from ‘lunatic possessed by supernatural powers’ to the status of ‘a patient who cannot fulfil his mental function’, it is evident that mad people are still seen as a danger to those considered normal.