Mental Illness In The Film 'As Good As It Gets'

An excellent film that demonstrates a mental illness is As Good As It Gets. This film is based on the East Coast in Manhattan in 1997. The main character, Melvin Udall, who has the mental disorder, is challenged everyday to complete task of what the average person thinks is simple to complete. For instance, Mr. Udall has the hardest time not being able to sit in his exact spot every time he goes to the same restaurant. His mental illness affects himself and his surroundings. As the film goes on, his neighbor, Simon, is robbed, severely beaten and has to be hospitalized. This leads Mr. Udall to have to watch his dog because no one else is willing to take care of Simon’s dog. Mr. Udall eventually accepts having to care of a dog and having a friendship with the waitress, Carol Connelly. In order for Mr. Udall to do these tasks, he has to overcome his fears and his mental illness. The era of this film definitely affects the outcome. Mr. Udall is given medication and therapy to help with his mental disorder. This way

Udall copes with his disorder by secluding himself in his apartment to write novels, curses at people, mumbles under his breath, and having that satisfaction of buys all the bars of soup that he only uses once. The ways that he copes with his disorder affects the way people treat him. In the film, when he mumbles under his breath and disrespects Carol, other people hear his comments and they give Mr. Udall horrible looks like he has something wrong with him and that he has no idea on how to respect people. Also, they look at him in a rude way because they think he has no manners. Another scene that shows how people treat Mr. Udall because of his disorder is when Simon is in his wheelchair making sure that his dog has been good to him. Simon was checking up on how the situation was going and Mr. Udall was making rude comments to Simon. After Mr. Udall said what he had to say, Simon had started to cry because the comments that were