Introduction
The understanding of mental health issues is impacted significantly by the images portrayed in various sources such as printed media, news media, film and drama as well as real-life experiences. The movie “Snake Pit” by Anatole Litvak brings about images of poor psychiatric care in a State Mental Institution. The movie is based in the 1940s and provides a closer view of the dire state of mental treatment at state facilities. The story is told from the perspective of de Havilland, a young writer who is taken to Juniper Hill State mental facility by her husband (The snake pit, 1948). One of the psychiatrists based at Juniper Hill (Dr. Kik) tries to discover the happenings in de Havilland’s past which contributed to her mental breakdown. Dr Kik has to overcome Juniper Hill’s terrible conditions, overcrowding, insensitive nurses and poorly designed facilities. Like most movies on mental illness, the Snake Pit is guilty of classical stereotypes of people with mental health problems. This paper investigates the historical significance of the film “Snake Pit”, the stereotypes it presents on mental illness, the role of the mental health service provider as well as other prevailing issues.
This melodramatic movie has historical significance because it provides a complex and well-nuanced account of how psychiatric care was undertaken in the Mid-20th Century. There are several instances of good deeds in the whole mess of poor care such as the work of Dr. Kik, a skilled psychiatrist who employs a series of modern synergistic approaches of psychotherapy and biological interventions. The movie is arguably very authentic in showing the state of the mental institutions. It shows the pressures on the staff members take the patients through the system without real care but rather with superficial care. The state of inadequate funding, overcrowding and numerous controversies regarding the use of psychotherapy are significant themes in the film. The title of the film comes from a backward practice which involves throwing mentally unwell individuals into a pit with snakes as a form of shock therapy. This method was meant to provoke the mentally ill individual’s survival skills with a view to restoring their sanity.
Most movies with the mental illness theme tend to focus on the split-personality angle where the mentally ill individual has a good and bad side. Mental illness is then interpreted as violence or as a comedy. There are several stereotypes of mental illness people that are portrayed. First, in Snake Pit, de Havilland has a split personality. When she feels unsafe, she transforms from gentle politeness to indignation. This shift in temperament is conveyed through her voice. Her well-mannered voice shows that, ordinarily, she has a good personality. However, she changes suddenly into paranoia and confusion. While this behavior is stereotypical, de Havilland’s superior acting skills help to pale the stereotype and make the situation believable. Secondly, the mental institution at Juniper Hill is portrayed as a zoo. This is a common stereotype for mental institutions. The inmates are depicted as having unusual habits and animalistic behavior (The snake pit, 1948). This is especially well represented by the hard-core mental cases in the film. Through the eyes of de Havilland, the movie shows patients wandering about aimlessly while singing or muttering to themselves. The third stereotype is the macabre humor with which insanity is depicted. For example, some mentally ill patients are shown singing and muttering in a sick form of humor which is a common stereotype.
The realistic portrayal of the situation in the mental institution at Juniper Hill is suggested and achieved through the superb acting. De Havilland’s demeanor and general outlook transforms from a vibrant one to a dull one when she is moved to Juniper Hill. Her character deteriorates greatly. When in the institution, she genuinely appears to be mentally ill. She constantly gets delusional suspicions and can hear disembodied voices emanating from behind her. This is a remarkably accurate representation of being psychotic. Her bouts of paranoia and tendency to forget things are also an accurate depiction of psychosis. The supporting cast is equally talented. The realism and texture of the institution scenes are also accurately represented.
Another reason why the film is realistic in its depiction of mental healthcare in the 1940s is that it sticks to documented facts with remarkable exactness. The cast overcame the persuasion to turn insanity into a melodrama. The film is a credible revelation of the cry for better mental car facilities. It achieve this by being harrowing and moving. This is because it reveals issues plaguing the facility such as unhygienic conditions, overcrowding, poor care, violation of human rights, endangering of human life as well as insecurity from psychotic and violent patients within the facility. The realism of the film is impacted by the rich allusion to and dependency on Freudian thought. It provides distinct flashbacks of de Havilland’s life as a child and her sour relationship with her father. Dr. Kik bases his treatment methods on this.
One major unrealistic thing about the film is that Dr. Kik still manages to offer intensive and individualized psychiatric care to de Havilland in an institution that is grossly under-funded under-stocked with medical tools, equipment and medication. However, the execution of Dr. Kik’s role is still credible enough to rouse emotion and the desire to do good even when one’s surroundings are not favorable.
The role of the care-provider is well represented by Dr. Kik who, in an extremely faulty and unfavorable situation, does his best to offer de Havilland a new lease of normal life. He uses a combination of Freudian concepts and improvisations to restore her sanity. He is used in the movie as a symbol of hope in the midst of dire conditions. He is reliable, engaging without being intrusive and even-tempered. He learns how to relate with de Havilland in a trust-based relationship which she does not have to equate to that her father. He also shows the progress of the psychoanalytic view in American psychiatry in the years just after the Second World War.
Conclusion
This film has enriched my perspective of the extent to which mental healthcare has been transformed over the years. The barbaric treatment of mentally ill patients by throwing them in a snake pit is a practice which happened slightly over half a century ago. This is a situation which stands in extreme contrast to that in mental institutions today. Mental healthcare has made remarkable strides. Dr. Kik leaves the impression the healthcare and medical care should be a calling. The care-giver should not be motivated by financial gain or fame but the need to be helpful to those in need at all times. Overall, the personal resolve to overcome difficult situations, as shown by de Havilland, is applicable to many personal battles and it is a source of encouragement.
References
The snake pit. Dir. Darryl Francis Zanuck. Perf. Olivia de Havilland. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1948. Film.
