Lobotomies In Shutter Island

In Shutter Island, Daniels’ doctor, Dr. Aule, allows Daniels to live out his alternate storyline where he is a detective solving a case of the missing 67th patient. It turns out that Daniels is actually the 67th patient, and in order to escape the reality of knowing that his wife had killed his three children, he imagined a story where he was the hero. Dr. Aule along with the lead psychiatrist, Dr. Crawley, believed in trying to reach the patient instead of hastily implementing psycho-surgeries such as lobotomies. Dr. Crawely and Dr. Aule’s treatment was seen as radical during the time because it was not what the mental institutions normally did. The directors of the institution opposed this kind of therapy because they did not believe other

supporters of this procedure, neurologist Walter F. Freeman travelled throughout the world to advertise the positive effects of this new procedure. He even cited a study where thirteen of twenty patients’ conditions supposedly improved after their lobotomies (Lerner 1). There was opposition from other neurologists as they saw the aftereffects of the lobotomy performed on one of the Kennedy children – Rosemary Kennedy (Goldberg 1). After the surgery, she was not able to coherently articulate herself and she was not able to take care of herself. Despite the negative outcomes, doctors were still implementing lobotomies between 1930’s and 1970’s. One Who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place in 1963 and Shutter Island takes place in 1954, which is why both of the main characters undergo lobotomies for their mental health problems due to the popularity and promotion at the time. The conflicting views on innovative surgeries such as lobotomies, relates to how people react to new procedures as well. The surgery or treatment that the medical world is currently promoting may be harmful, yet it is being promoted because the long term effects are not

Some people viewed this movie as the turning point in Hollywood movies about mental illness as this film won five Academy awards. Prior to this film, no one expected that a movie, which portrays a non-horror story about mental illness, would garner so many viewers. David Cox cites how the film’s total production fee was 3 million, yet the film’s grossing was 108 million, which is nearly 300 times more than the cost of production. This was when Hollywood realized that it is not necessary to bring attention to mental illness through horror movies as it was degrading to do so. Additionally, in order to portray the authenticity of a mental institution, the director Forman, requested that all of the cast members actually stay and sleep in the mental institution. By doing so, the members were able to build up the adequate emotions of living in an institution with the same group of people for a long period of time. In relation to Shutter Island, director Scorsese also delved into deep and comprehensive research about mental illness and treatments used in the 1950s, the time in which the film took place. In addition to include better expertise of what the treatment is like today, Scorsese also had the professional help of a psychiatric consultant from New York University, Professor James Gilligan. It appears as if directors filming mental