“I’ve been diagnosed with being bipolar. It’s an affective disorder in which the individual alternates between states of deep depression and extreme elation. And it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Despite what some people might think” Karen Maguire (Shameless)[1]
To what extent and why is the depiction of mental illness less truthful in contemporary British teen drama, such as Skins, in comparison to mainstream soap operas, such as Eastenders?
The media landscape is often criticized,"for promoting stigma and discrimination towards people with a mental illness,[2]” through unrealistic and exaggerated representations of those with mental health issues. This is apparent through a number of texts such as the British teen drama, Skins and E4 drama Shameless, whilst it can be argued some texts such as Soap Opera - Eastenders shows a truer to life representation of such issues, claiming to challenge television’s “dressed up[3] ” representations. However a lack of realism is still evident.
Over time from the primary years of soap operas to the present , soaps have shaped themselves to “follow the day-to-day lives”[4] of ‘everyday’ characters, similar to in the genre of drama. The genre itself is highly pluralistic with a number of soaps shown daily from Coronation street to Australian soap Home and away offering a number of ways in which audience can obtain their “soap opera fix”[5]. However, within drama the representations of individuals are typically exaggerated, this can be seen across the genre in a number of examples. Television however now uses these conventions in an up-to-the-minute and contemporary manner reflecting the zeitgeist of today, viewers no longer want the “cliché plots, themes, and situations”[6] of the cheating husbands, arguing families which would have previously been shocking and emotionally gratifying , viewers have now become desensitised to these expecting to see something ground-breaking on television. With “ 'how mental are you' questionnaires on the net that tell you which disorders you’ve got”[7] plaguing the youths computer screens it has become apparent that “some people want to be mental”[8] and they want to see the new phenomenon unfold on their screens in front of them. Such enthusiasm towards the area can be interlinked with the cultivation theory. Children are being cultivated to accept mental illness and to show interest in the topic unlike in the past fuelling the desire to see the issue in the media.
The BBC Soap opera Eastenders "Signs itself as being 'as it really was' [9]“ working alongside a number of charities in the making of their mental health story lines. The story of Stacey Slater’s bi-polar disease won a Mental Health Media Award in September 2009[10] for its realistic and positive representations of the disease. Unlike many texts from other genres and in the past, Eastenders has worked alongside a number of charities in order to appropriately reflect the image that the mentally ill are perfectly normal and safe, unlike the common representation that they are “unpredictable, unproductive, asocial, vulnerable and dangerous to themselves or others[11]”. Soap Operas have the perfect reputation in order to successfully represent such an issue, using characters and stories which to a certain extent present the everyday human.
Like Eastenders, Soap opera Coronation Street also claims to create a real-to-life representation. Their 2006 story line surrounding the character of Claire Peacock suffering from Post Natal Depression[12] received a number of complaints for poorly representing the illness. The soap opera uses typical conventions of this genre such as the “everyday person” characters, a middle class/working class setting and understated elements of the drama genre such as quick camera shots to emphasize on the events in the program. Like in most Soap operas “mental illness’ are presented as a character’s main personality trait, to the exclusion of any other characteristics, the illness or behavior becomes the only way of defining that person and the main point of the story.[13]” This is most definitely reinforced through Claire Peacock’s character as before the character was diagnosed, she had very little significance to the plot line in Coronation Street. Similar to this is 1970’s text Family Life (Ken Loach, 1971,UK), a British based film, with “social realist”[14] director prided the film on being a breakthrough in the criticized area of sufficiently representing mental health issues. however in today’s day and age the film can be classed in a similar category to many others – over exaggerating and to a certain extent glamorizing poor mental health through typical stereotypes of Schizophrenia with the ‘split personalities’ , lack of morals and irrationality which are in fact generally misconceptions. Unlike texts such as Eastenders and Coronation Street the film takes on a different format, however characteristics shown in today’s portrayals of mental health can be seen to be coherent with those of the 1970’s. For example in a number of scenes within the film the ideology of poor mental health is shown to be unpredictable and irrational through the character of Janice Baidon’s Schizophrenia in a stereotypical manner through the use of her juxtaposing personalities represented. This is a common stereotype shown within texts, which is in fact a false representation as the closest form to a second personality is hallucinations , including hearing voices[15] etc.
Drama, “The term itself means 'action' or 'enactment' and the notion of 'performance' is a key element.[16] " but to a certain extent when reaching out to such a mass audience , surely a sense of reality should be brought into the shaping of storylines , especially when regarding such an important issue. Teen Drama Skins is in effect the perceived diary of the masses of the youth today; teens want to mimic what they see within the iconic drama, thus taking on the values the series puts forth. Series four touches upon the mental health disorder of Schizophrenia with character ‘Effy’. Like all other drama’s and Soap Operas the show claims to “incorporate elements of documentary[17]” however the level of realism apparent in the text is minimal. Typical conventions are used to place emphasis and a sense of the all important drama onto the story of Effy such as low-key lighting in a number of shots, slow and still shots and non-diegetic sound to evoke an emotional gratification for the audience.
While “madness has multiple meanings on television, [...] at the same time violence is commonly included[18]”, character Effy’s psychiatrist is also represented as mentally ill, although the audience is never made clear of what mental health disorder he obtains. The psychiatrist often acts verbally abusive towards character ‘Freddie’ and in the end brutally murders him after. This story received a number of complaints surrounding the reinforcing of the unjust ideology that those who are mentally ill should be perceived as a risk. Specifically, when regarding the influence such stereotypes have on the youth based audience; the theory of the hypodermic needle can be closely linked. Through Skins presenting such extreme representations of mental illness, the teens within the audience are inevitably having these representations injected into their minds as being “true-to-life”[19] as the ideology put forth in effect " denies itself as an ideology; In other words, it does not express itself as an ideology but as reality.[20] " due to the loyal following by the Skins audience.
However "Skins is not alone in presenting these negative stereotypes; rarely are we shown positive or accurate depictions of mental health practitioners on screen."[21] Other Drama’s such as Shameless can similarly be seen to use exaggerated depictions of the mentally ill, in particular surrounding the story line centred around character Karen’s post-natal depression. The show itself quite realistically shows the unpredictable nature of the disorder however uses distinctive iconographies of the Drama genre such as extreme top lighting, secluded settings to place emphasis on the segregation of the characters and amplified story lines. At one stage in series 7 Karen is shown barking at a dog in the street, portraying her as animalistic and vicious, which although post-natal depression can lead to some forms of aggression is a large misconception of the disorder.
Stacey Slater’s ‘sectioning’ scene in Eastenders is a perfect example of a soap operas attempt at portraying mental health realistically. A series of typical conventions are used in order to do so such as; Stacey herself being dressed in white to connote her innocence and vulnerability within the situation as well as a number or quick cuts and transitions from close-up shots to medium shots to place emphasis on the fear and uncertainty she feels in the situation. This specific episode approached the matter in a sensitive manner, looking at the struggle patients actually face with coming forward with their illness through Stacey’s disregard that she may actually be worthy of diagnosis, rather than simply using mental illness as a means of gaining entertainment gratifications. The storyline was “recognised as an accurate and powerful portrayal of mental distress”[22] and received a number of awards to honour this. The BBC itself is a fundamental broadcaster in the injecting of messages and information into Britain so such issues as mental health have to be as close to reality as possible considering the large effect the program has on the wider society. However in a scene where Stacey is shown to breakdown at a funeral resulting in her falling into a grave after trying to free who she believed was a woman being buried alive , Although to a certain extent the scene does express some realistic issues associated with the disorder such as the extreme emotional lows and the seclusion the individual feels through the enclosed nature of the grave , the scene itself can be seen to amplify symptoms generally associated with her Bipolar disorder in order to add an element of theatre to the episode.
Unlike Eastenders, Skins uses more elements of drama to create a highly dramatised representation , however unlike typical drama’s due to the directors being aware of the loyal following of the show they take on the approach which “conspires to convince us that we are not viewing something that has been constructed”[23] and instead are viewing a realistic portrayal of mental illness. A scene in series 4 where Effy is shown standing in the middle of a busy dual carriage way is a perfect example of the over exaggeration skins uses. Mise-en-scene is key in the emphasising the element of drama within the scene such as the scene is filmed during the night , therefore the darkness acts as a means of making the shot seem empty connoting the extreme loneliness of Effy. As well as this the fact the scene is set on a busy road could be seen as presenting the anarchy surrounding Effy in her life whilst she remains still. The scene can be seen to reinforce typical misconceptions of mental illness such as being seen as a threat to their surroundings, which is more rare than common.
Although to a certain extent the British soap opera can be seen to reflect a higher level of realism than Drama in truthfully represented mental illness, both drama and soap operas as genres "do not simply offer 'neutral' descriptions of social reality - they actively work to constitute it."[24] Thus leading away from the idea that what is being presented to an audience on television is actually of much truth. The media landscape aims to almost inject ideologies into the audiences mind in order to create social norms and values which may not be completely centered around truth in order to benefit the dominant groups within the society such as those who are able-minded/bodied and those of a high demographic background. Both Skins and Eastenders can be seen to amplify realistic characteristics of mental illness in order to create a sense of drama in order to present entertainment gratifications for the typical thrill-seeker attracted to such genres of television today.
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[2] Stuart,H. (2006)
[3] Bennet,P. Slater,J. Wall,P. (2006) pg.79
[4] http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Soap_opera
[5] http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideOpinion.htm?f=2011/march/9/bongaustero.isx&d=2011/march/9
[6] http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-soap-opera.htm
[7] http://www.socialphobiaworld.com/twisted-logic-is-mental-illness-glamorised-960/
[18] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1298(199805/06)8:3%3C213::AID-CASP449%3E3.0.CO;2-C/abstract
[19]Creeber,G. (2003) pg.50
[22] http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a289419/eastenders-wins-mental-health-gong.html?rss
