After you have watched a movie, you should blog your general impressions of the movie (by 5pm on thursdays) and provide 1 example from the movie (scene, character, etc) and how it relates specifically to a theory or construct in Motivation and Emotion.
Your full analyses are due the following Tuesday turned in via eLearning (aka WebCT).
In this movie we see Lyle in a hospital room as a perceived victim, but quickly learn that he’s in the room because he’s the person who caused the damage. His mother is afraid of him as Lyle is a person with uncontrollable rage and she has him committed to a mental institution. Reeve (2009) states that “empowerment involves possessing the knowledge, skills, and beliefs that allow people to exert control over their lives” and that “self-efficacy as empowerment can be found in learning to defend oneself against intimidation and threats from abusive others.” In Lyle’s case he is not in control of his reactions and therefore not in control of his life. It is revealed that his father beat him when he was younger. Lyle has no control over his anger and how to respond from abusive threats or taunting from others. Case in point, Lyle beat the hell out of the kid with a baseball bat because the kid knew Lyle’s dad beat him. Lyle didn’t like the comments the kid was making and instead of dealing with it in a nonviolent way Lyle dealt with it in his own violent terms. In the group sessions Lyle attends at the mental institute we meet a cast of characters who suffer from various mental illnesses. The group is not really excited to talk and has to be coaxed into it by the lead psychiatrist. Reeve (2009) writes “when people expect that they cannot adequately perform the required task, they are not willing to engage in activities requiring such behavior.” This statement also holds true as Lyle’s bipolar friend, Chad, is told he will be going home but Chad knows he won’t be able to cope on the outside. Chad then attacks a worker at the mental institute with a knife and knows he will now be in the care of the hospital/prison system for a long time to come.
“He deserved it.” This is the insufficient justification Lyle gives when asked why he would ever make the choice to bash in the face of his opponent with a baseball bat during a game of baseball one sunny afternoon. Because this kid knew of the abuse Lyle’s dad had inflicted on him at an early age, Lyle felt that the boy was threatening the identity he had created for himself in their cultural context. He was viewed as someone others should not mess with—tough and mean when people got in the way of his efforts. He couldn’t allow for someone to leak out his past memories of abuse and weakness when his identity-confirming ways included compulsive rage and physical violence.
While receiving care from the facility he was at, Lyle continually faces the intrinsic motivation to fight when his emotions are unstable. One of the other patients believes himself to be a tough guy and is threatened by Lyle while also wanting to prove that he can beat him in some throwing of fists. He constantly eggs Lyle on, and though he is able to exercise self-regulation for a time, his ever-increasing desire to brawl gets the best of him. The kids in anger management are more or less asked what the purpose of their existence is, and Lyle finds that he does not have an answer. “An individual without a possible self in a particular domain lacks an important cognitive basis for developing abilities in that domain. An individual who can envision a possible self in the domain engenders feelings of competence and acts to attain the future view of self” (Reeve, 2009, p. 275). With a lack of distractions to take his mind away from his past actions, he begins to think back to his previous rages and the harm they have caused him and others. He seems to want to harness the anger that is currently controlling his life by modifying his self-concept and identity. His counselor empowers him in his development of personal potential by helping him seek his ideal possible self. “Seeking possible selves is a goal-setting process that invites self-concept development” (Reeve, 2009, p.269).
Lyle’s personal strivings to leave the facility constitute the superordinate goal he wishes to accomplish. Reeve (2009) tells us that “personal strivings are important not only because they organize and foreshadow a person’s underlying goal system, but also because they foreshadow a person’s emotional well-being.” Lyle finally recognizes that his self-schema is problematic and strives to want more from his life than the negative self-confirmatory feedback he has been receiving. The fear his own mother exhibits toward him is enough for him to see that he is following the same ugly path his father once took. He is presented with an opportunity to break free and leave before being discharged, and we see him return to the facility after watching a bus heading out of town pass him by. Lyle wishes to restore his identity to that of goodness prior to the abuse that altered his self-concept, and he realized that he wasn’t yet well enough to make it on his own.
First, I have to say that I found this film more interesting as I watched. At first I was not sure if I would be able to make sense of the storyline because in the past I have seen a couple psychological thriller films that seemed utterly beyond comprehension, but I was happily surprised that I could understand at least part of what each character seemed to be going through.
Although the obvious choice for analysis is the main character (Lyle), I think it may also be fruitful to analyze the characters Mike, Chad, and Tracy. Lyle seems to be a rather unlikable and disagreeable character. He is quick to anger and unpredictable. Over time, however, I think the audience can come to have a somewhat better understanding of what experiences may have helped influence Lyle’s current behavior (understanding without necessarily condoning). We learn that Lyle was physically assaulted by his father. On page 235 of our text, Reeve wrote about vicarious experience “which involves observing a model (and enacting) the same course of action (as the performer).” This concept is clearly illustrated by both Lyle and Kenny. Lyle continued his father’s pattern of abuse, perhaps in part because as much as he did not want to become his father, that was the dominant model for an adult male that he had in his life. He did not have a step dad or other strong male figure in his life aside from his father. It was also implied that Kenny was sexually abused by his stepfather, and that Kenny then repeated this behavior with children younger than him. While nothing could ever possibly condone such behavior, learning more about a person’s background can help us better understand potential causes for abuse and how best to take preventative action.
Although I have never quite understood bullying behavior and other forms of youthful aggression, that seemed to be present throughout this movie. The main psychologist (played by Cheadle) made a very good point in the film (while he was throwing chairs, etc.) – almost anyone can destroy things, utter hate speech, and exert aggression, but there is absolutely nothing about that behavior that is particularly conducive to really solving problems in most situations. This idea probably makes sense to us, and we probably have all understood this since our childhood, but such bullying behavior remains rampant in many places and we have to wonder why that is. I think part of it may have to do with the physiological activity involved. Although I am certainly not an expert on the subject, it appears to me that adrenaline is sometimes used as a type of drug (as with rush junkies). An example of this would be the time when Lyle and Chad turned up rock music and began hitting each other. An even more extreme example is when Lyle hit another boy in the head with a baseball bat or when Lyle hit Mike on the basketball court (and later in Mike’s room). As was shown in the film, there is sometimes a blurry line between violent aggression and playful fun amongst youth. It seems that basketball and other sports may be a way to cope and release stress in a relatively non-violent way, while still being able to behave in a somewhat aggressive manner. And, as thoroughly as any one of us understands that violence is not the answer, I think it can be very hard to find an alternative defense in certain situations. For this reason I found the interactions between Lyle and Mike to be rather thought-provoking.
There are definitely more things I would like to address that would be relevant here (Tracy and Self-Efficacy, the patients and their need for autonomy, and Chad’s apathy/loss of interest in life), but I suppose here is a good place to stop for now. Overall, I believe this film raises many important questions that have relevance in everyday life.
I found the movie kind of confusing, trying to link everything together. It is not one of those movies I would technically catch myself watching. If I had more time I would probably have to watch it again to get more of a feel of it. What I did catch from the movie is that Lyle has problems with his anger. He is turning into his father, whom in the past beat him, which now we see that Lyle is turning down the same path. Reeve states that this is a vicarious experience, which consists of observing a model (Lyle’s father) enact the same course of action the performer is about to enact (Lyle using anger towards fighting other nearly to death, e.g. Hitting the boy with a baseball bat). In addition, in the movie we also see that all the patients in the hospital have different ways of coping. The main strategy that I saw in the movie was control versus Escape which is whether one takes charge versus staying clear of the situation. In most of the movie, we see Lyle try and escape his anger driven behaviors that lead to fighting, but he eventually slips back into place and cannot control himself and we see this approach when he is talking to his lady friend and starts yelling at her about “sorry” not meaning anything and shoving her against the fenced area. We also see this when he flips over chairs and fights with Michael constantly. Furthermore, I focused mainly on Lyle, but the other characters in the film can apply to many of Reeve’s theories.
As I started to watch the movie I was a bit skeptical of how well I would like it; however, as the movie progressed I became more interested and intrigued on how the situation would unfold. The plot seemed to stem deeper than I had originally anticipated when the stories of other people in the house unfolded. The beliefs of the adolesecents were illustrated in the begining on the group meetings when the psychologists presented with the questions regarding what they live for. Some of the patients in the home responded blankly stating there was nothing that they were living for; eventually the psychologist got them to open up and they shared ideas and concepts linked to freedom, friendship, love, and creativity. I viewed this as somewhat of an inside to how these patients viewed life which in turn was linked to their perceived self control over situations and their perceived outcomes. The author of out textbook states that their are two different types of expectancy. Efficacy expectations which are defined as a judgment of ones capacity to execute a particular act or course of action. This is when someone asked them self if they think they can carry out the action. The other type of expectancy is outcome expectations. These are expectations judgments about what the outcomes of these actions will elicit. There are many situation in the movie where Lyle demonstrates that he does not follow through with the thought process of these two expectancies and does not consider the fact that taking his aggression out on people does not elicit the desires outcome he expects. There are numerous examples of this in the movies. One example is when he starts a fight with Chad (of course there are many fights with Chad) but on in particular is when he punches Chad in his room. In this situation I feel as thought Lyle continues to punch Chad after he clearly is in no state to fight back because the aggression Lyle thinks he is relieving is not relieves through the fighting. One example of a time in which Lyle does use these two expectancies is when Chad approaches him in the bathroom and verbally tries to get Lyle to fight him. In this situation Lyle has thought about the consequences of his actions and the efficacy expectations and outcome expectations are considered. With this thought process occurring Lyle does not fight Chad and in the end this is the first step he takes to relieving his aggression and fighting issues. These are only two example of the way in which motivational ideas and concepts are represented in this movie. I thought this movie did a good job illustrated the struggles people have and their beliefs about their perceived control.
I actually enjoyed this movie. The cinematography drove me nuts, but I think that the director had it filmed so that it appeared as if someone was making a homemade documentary with a handheld camcorder to make us feel as if we were right there with the patients. I also think that the bounciness of the picture made us (or at least me) have a headache and frustrated and confused to give us a better insight on how the patients felt. But - maybe it's just me who got frustrated with the instability of the camera!
There were so many concepts from the course that could be applied to the characters in the movie. However, I think that they all displayed that their need for power was not being met. For example, Lyle and Mike showed this through their aggression. As Reeve (2005) states, individuals who have a high need for power use aggression to impact, control, and influence others (p. 190).
All of the patients also demonstrated learned helplessness. At one time or another, they all felt like nothing was going to get better, life sucks, and they should just give up. In the scene where Dave became enraged and acted like they had - throwing objects, breaking stuff, etc., he screamed at Lyle: "Life's a struggle. That's it. A fucking struggle. Can you handle it?!" This is an example of two things - first, mastery motivation. Dave showed that he, like many of us, know that sometimes life sucks, and it constantly requires us getting through difficult and challenging times. However, where he differs from the kids (who show learned helplessness), is that he responds to the failures in his life and difficult times with persistence. He also demonstrates self-efficacy by understanding that he is capable of coping with every situation in life. Secondly, he shows that he is a source of self-efficacy through verbal persuasion and vicarious experience. When Dave is throwing and breaking stuff, and then explains to the kids that it hasn't helped - that he's still pissed - they can understand that even though he, too was pissed, for him, throwing and breaking stuff and hurting people isn't going to make him less pissed. Then, they may believe that if he can get over it and move on with his life, so can he (Reeve, 2005, p. 231). Him yelling is an example of verbal persuasion. He is honest with them, but almost challenging them to get over the struggles of life, and deal with them effectively.... or give up and die. By questioning their ability, he is boosting their belief to accomplish the challenge that their mentor is giving them (Reeve, 2005, p. 231).
Overall, I think that this movie was awesome. It kept my attention, had a positive ending, and was chocked-full of examples pertaining to the class material.
First off, terrible movie. As it relates to our book is how Lyle's inability to cope with situations and control his emotions. As someone already said, "he deserved it." That was his reasoning for numerous situations, including when he decided to bash someone's head in with a baseball bat. Self-efficacy is defined by Reeve's as one's judgment of how well (or poorly) one will cope with a situation, given the skills they possess and under the certain circumstances. He clearly had know idea of how he would react. For example when he yells at Tracy for saying, "sorry about Kenny," then he turns around and tries to kiss her to make-up for it. He can't control his reactions to anything, he automatically wants to beat someone up or break something. He gets too emotional about what others say and think, when he should just brush it off and say who cares. I think it's a relapse from his childhood though, because that's what his Dad did, so I think he believes as though it's okay to freak out and hit others or whatever it may be. His Dad beat him when he was younger, which is why he hit Chris with the bat. Chris was making fun of him and he just snapped. He took it too far however. He took it too far with Mike when he kept punching him after he made nasty remarks about Tracy. I found it interesting that they allowed Lyle, who almost killed another individual, to be in the same room as Kenny. If I were Kenny I would be terrified for my life, you never know what you are going to say that may piss Lyle off. I feel as though all the kids in the movie had major self-esteem issues and issues at home. You never saw anyone's parents come besides Kenny's stepfather, who we found out raped him. The only thing you hear any of the kids say about their parents is how they don't like them and how they're "trying to get rid of them" to be more specific. At the beginning none of the kids showed empowerment, which is, possessing the knowledge, skills, and beliefs that allow people to exert control over their lives. At the end you see how Sarah has overcome some of her issues and gets to go home. She no longer says how much she hates everything, she talks about freedom and paints a lot. I like how Dave challenged them to think about why they were there, what progress they have made, and what gives their life meaning? Dave as an individual shows how you can have hope and believe you can get past life difficulties whereas the children show neither.
Overall, I think this movie showed concepts out of our book but it was a struggle for me to finish watching it.
Manic definitely lived up to its title. I think someone else commented that the way the film was shot (bumpy camera, weird angles, close ups, etc) gave off a really off-putting vibe. However, I think that is probably what the director was going for in terms of displaying a sense of confusion and discomfort. I wasn't really sure what kind of therapy Dave was trying to do with these kids. It seemed like some kind of group psychotherapy, but it seemed like they all needed a little one-on-one attention. But, we probably wouldn't see this in a movie because it would be more boring than having them all argue with each other. Also, as we discussed in class, we have some pretty good actors capable of delivering believable characters (Dave-Don Cheadle, Lyle-Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
One thing that stood out to me and seems to explain (at least in part) Lyle's progression is reactance theory. When people expect to have control over what happens to them, and they experience an uncontrollable outcome, they are likely to show opposition to that outcome (aggressive, more active). Evidence for this can be seen in the opening scene when we see Lyle being taken from the hospital to the mental health facility. He thrashes and screams and finally has to be sedated by hospital staff. Lyle must have felt that he should have some control in what was happening to him and pleaded with his mother to step in on his behalf, but she didn't for whatever reason. As he realizes that there is nothing he can do to prevent being taken, he becomes more and more agitated until we finally see his frantic outburst. There are many more similar examples throughout the movie with Lyle.
Also, I couldn't help but think that the age of these kids (at least depicted in the movie, the actors might be older) might have something to do with their sometimes aggressive behavior. Specifically, one influence that I think is obvious is testosterone. I'm assuming all of these kids are around 15-18 although I think they say Kenny is 13 (which partially explains why he acts differently). Pubescent and post-pubescent teens are new to heightened levels of testosterone, which can predispose them to aggressive and sexually active behaviors. Obviously, this is not the only reason for these teens erratic behavior, but it probably plays a part.
I thought Manic was a very powerful movie with several strong, postive messages. It's sad to think there are young people that go through the hell the kids in the movie experienced, but sadly, it's all too common. The kids were in a form of psychotherapy, as Sam mentioned, commonly called "group." Group is often used in mental health counseling and it has many positive effects and allows for the individuals to form relationships to feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and feelings. As the movie shows, group can get very heated, but often times it can be a positive thing, and usually closely controlled by a professional.
As for Lyle, he was a very troubled teen who had very little social support in his life. I think the six demensions of psychological well-being is a very interesting fit for Lyle, as he appears to only be on the low end in autonomy. The six dimensions of psychological well-being inlude: self-acceptance, positvie relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth.
Self-Acceptance- Lyle appeared to have low self acceptance because he obviously feels negative about his past. He says the classmate he almost killed "deserved it" but I beleive he feels remorse for the incident as he attempts to avoid talking about it as much as possible.
Positive relations with others- When Lyle is asked "who is the most important person in your life" he states that he is yet to meet that person and if he does he would end up screwing it up anyways. This shows he has nobody he can truly trust in his life.
Automony- this is the only area that Lyle excels in because he has had no other choice. His father is dead, and him and his mother do not have a good relationship. Lyle doesn't care about what othe people think and does not try to conform to social pressures.
Environmental Mastery- I beleive this is one area that Lyle improved on throughout the movie. In the begninning he cannot control his reactions to environmental stimuli, thus the fighting and confrontations. He has very little sense of control, but appears to be getting better as the movie goes on.
Purpose in life- It is clear Lyle does not have much of a sense of direction, as all he wants to do is get away from everything and go to Europe. He has the perception that everything will get better in his life if he simply escapes.
Personal Growth- This is another dimension that appears to improve throughout the movie. Lyle, over time, realizes that he cannot continue the lifestyle he is living and I assume that is why he decided to go back to the institution at the end of the movie.
I thought "Manic" was a pretty entertaining movie depicting the struggles of Lyle and other adolescents in a psychiatric facility. These adolescents were led by David, the staff psychologist. David led them through group therapy, which I thought proved to be pretty ineffective throughout the whole movie.
I thought if anyone, the goth-looking girl improved the most of anyone mentally from beginning to end of the movie, as she was able to use painting as her psychological coping mechanism to improve her well-being. Her problem was she claimed she didn't need any friends and thus when her social need was met for friendship through the other girl in the facility, her problems improved. Specifically, this other girl allowed her to fulfill arguably the social needs of achievement (doing something well to show personal competence; her painting), affiliation (opportunity to please others and gain their approval; her painting pleased her friend and even Chad hugged her after she gave it to him for a birthday gift), intimacy (warm secure relationship; her girl friend) and power (having impact on others; Chad, Lyle, girl friend).
Regarding Lyle, I thought he had a psychological need for autonomy as he was struggling with mental growth and overall well-being after his brutal beating of the baseball player (as well as his father's abuse). Autonomy is the psychological need to experience self-direction and personal endorsement in the initiation and regulation of one's behavior. Behavior is usually self-determined, but when we are not self-determining/allowing others to influence and determine our behavior, the outside forces take our sense of choice away and pressure us to think, feel, and behave in certain ways. To an extent, I believe Lyle inability to control his rage within him as a result of his father's abuse was a result of this experience's influence on his behavior and his ability to behave in certain situations.
Overall, I believe David was trying to discover these adolescents psychological needs which have motivated their learning, growing, and development. Specifically, I believe he was trying define their perceived locus of causality within autonomy. PLOC refers to an individual's understanding of the causal source of his or her motivated actions; i.e. why they cut themselves, are unable to control their rage, dress in black, act black, are violent, etc. I think David felt once they were dually able to uncover the individual's PLOC and socialization history, that adolescent would be able to return to the real world and socially and psychologically function at an efficient level.
Manic was interesting… I can’t say that it was the worst movie I have ever seen but certainly not the best. Though most of it was disturbing and violent, I found it funny at times how angsty teens were stereotyped completely. There was the goth girl, wanna be gangsta white boy, weird shy girl, violent crazy boys. They all had characteristics that you would totally expect them too, the goth is a cutter and the boys are violent and listen to slipknot. The cinematography drove me absolutely crazy. I did however appreciate the reference to Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Crows.
There are a large number of psychological factors that could be addressed in this film, mental illness, racism, therapy methods, self-control.. on and on. Sticking with the chapter 9 concepts, there are many examples of self efficacy, empowerment, ways of coping, learned helplessness. All of the teenagers in the institution were victims of low self efficacy. Both their efficacy expectations and outcome expectations were very bleak. Many of the kids just thought they would be back the second they got released and didn’t think they could do anything about it. There were multiple examples of verbal persuasion. The one that stuck out to me the most is when Lyle was talking to Chad helping him with dreams of Amsterdam and hookers. It seemed as though, no effort was made by anyone to make an attempt to improve, many most likely because of their terrible at home situations and past experience. Learned helplessness occurs when people expect that voluntary behavior will produce little or no effect on outcomes they want to attain or avoid (250).
The main thing about the movie to me was that no character had much depth to them. Some of the acting wasn’t so hot, and with the cinematography going crazy the whole time, I really had a hard time enjoying the movie. Lyle finally did make progress in the very end when he broke out, decided not to take the bus and to head back to the institution. I feel like that’s the only significant event in the movie.
Like a few of the comments above, I had a little trouble with it at the beginning, but "Manic" later blossomed into an intense thriller-like indie film. I could tell it was intense for me because my heart raced a lot during the movie, and I became emotionally attached to most of the characters. However, I had a problem with the cinematography and the style of filming. Maybe because Netflix wasn't at full quality, but I kind of got a headache from all the jerky camera movements. It wasn't until the very end of the movie when I realized the director probably wanted the audience to experience the frantic life of those mentally ill adolescent patients, suffering from depression to extreme chronic anger issues; the only way to fully express that was to shake the camera frantically during moments of intense emotional states. I couldn't imagine being in a position like Dr. David Monroe was in. One must possess the utmost patience and composure to be in such a stressful and seemingly dangerous work capacity. A couple major motivational concepts crept through the characters and story of the film. The most notable ones I could think of came from chapter 9 of the textbook, and are primarily concentrated around the self-efficacy and learned helplessness sections.
There is no doubt that every patient depicted in the film had some powerful struggle to deal with as a younger child and/or during their current stay at the psychiatric ward. Moreover, each of their backgrounds placed them in very difficult positions, which inevitably discouraged healthy lifestyle choices (i.e. drugs, alcohol, fighting, outrageous anger management problems, etc.) Therefore, they were unable to cope with whatever problems life threw at them. On page 237 of the textbook Reeve states, "In general, people seek out and approach with excitement those activities and situations that they feel capable of adjusting to or handling..." Michael, the impetuous and overaggressive "fighter", admitted he found comfort in picking fights. Whenever he felt the slightest bit threatened he immediately regressed back into his comfort (fighting) zone. Additionally, he intentionally found ways to upset the other patients as an excuse to "keep it real", as he so eloquently proclaimed. With this example, and many others throughout the film, the characters genuinely felt they could only control their environmental circumstances by exploiting the negative qualities that sent them to the institution in the first place.
"Learned helplessness is the psychological state that results when an individual expects that life's outcomes are uncontrollable" (Reeve, 244). Many, if not all of the patients at one point in their discussion, perceived their lives to be meaningless, cyclical, and unchanging. Essentially, they all thought that since they had all been submitted into ward their lives were entirely out of their control. Lyle was under the impression that if he and Chad fled from the ward and traveled over to Amsterdam their problems would be forever solved; he thought it was the environment of the ward that was actually inhibiting their chances for recovery, instead of his own potentially efficacious behaviors. Dr. Monroe finally successfully conveyed that meaning to Lyle towards the end of the movie. It's all about the right perception. The last scene when Lyle saw the Van Gogh painting while he was waiting for the bus summed it all up: How are you going to view your life's painting? Full of constricting borders that lead to depression as Chad perceived it? Or full of open fields and endless improvement as Sara perceived it?
In chapter 10 of the textbook Reeve talks about personal growth and subjective well-being It states that personal strivings which are extrinsic and are “dictated by social pressure or by an expectation of what others think” are less effective than personal strivings which are intrinsic and seek “greater autonomy, competence, or relatedness” (pg. 288). I think that throughout the movie this concept is seen in the difference of some characters. Chad seems to be extrinsically motivated in his striving to improve his well-being. He was doing what was needed to be released, taking the medication and attending the group meetings. Extrinsic motivation to get better causes conflict within a person according to Reeve. That internal conflict is seen in Chad at the end of the movie he seems to snap cutting himself and an employee. Throughout the movie Chad seemed to be doing worse; he did not want to go to Amsterdam and was becoming more reserved in his conversations with Lyle and the final conflict came with the fight.
On the opposite side I think that Sara (the “goth-girl”) was more intrinsically motivated. She sought out relatedness in her connection to Tracy. The bond between the two girls seemed strong, they had a lot of conversations and when Sara was leaving neither wanted to stop the hug. Sara showed her competence in her drawings and paintings. She painted (I think) a copy of a Van Gogh painting for Chad’s birthday as a present. The painting and Chad’s reception of it gave her feedback of her competence in that arena.
Overall I really enjoyed this movie. It took me a while to understand what was happening and not to be confused by the cinematography, but once I did understand I thought that this movie was very interesting. It was believable in that it relates to stories I have heard from my brother who used to work with adolescents in a similar situation.
The movie Manic was a scary look into the lives of kids at a rehabilitation center for kids with mental problems. I, like most other people, was a little put off by the camera work, but I think it was shot that way to reflect the crazy and confusing atmosphere most of the kids were experiencing at the center. My first thoughts about the center was that it must not be a very good one. If kids are able to sneak in weed, Swiss army knives, and have a full-out freak session to heavy mental music for three minutes before any supervisors take notice and check out the situation.
One thing I noticed about the characters is that they all blamed someone else for their problems. Everyone had issues with their family that they felt made them the way they were. While it makes sense that they feel like their family messed them up, I think they need to start taking some responsibility for their own actions. Not to say they should blame themselves, but they won't be able to get better until they recognize they now have a problem and need to work on it.
In the book it talks about the relationship between emotion and motivation. Especially for Lyle, emotions were a big driving force behind his aggression. He was often energized because someone said something that evoked strong emotions and then directed his aggression towards them in the form of violence. He used this as a way to right an injustice. Secondly, the book talks about emotions serving as an indicator of how well a person is doing mentally. The book gives the example that joy signals social inclusion and progress, whereas distress, a common felt emotion at the center, signals social exclusion and failure. It's obvious that especially Lyle was motivated by his strong emotions he felt. His friend, the one that ended up slitting the guys throat at the end was heavily motivated by the emotions he experienced from music. He says at one point in the movie that he doesn't know what he would do without music. As stated in the book, if you take away his emotion (the music) you take away the motivation (to live, perhaps). It doesn't seem crazy to say that Chad not have been alive if it weren't for his music and other art forms, like the Van Gogh painting he loved so much.
Overall I thought the movie was interesting, but could have done without the shaky camera work and whining about how much everyone's family sucked. I can easily say that I could NEVER work in a place like that with people who are so negative and hostile. I think any person that could be a counselor with those kids deserves a gold medal and a fat paycheck because working in an environment like that must be extremely stressful and depressing. Although if you could get through to those kids and help them succeed in their lives, i'm sure it's also very rewarding work.
I also thought this movie was interesting. It portrayed the adolescences learning helplessness, learning how to cope with their issues, and learning how to cope with their expectancy of their issue. It begins with Lyle in a hospital room being aggressive toward hospital staff and screaming at his mom to tell the hospital he is not crazy. Lyle is committed to a mental institution in the juvenile ward. The therapist at the mental institution, Dr. David Monroe, held group therapy meetings for all the juveniles in the ward. In the meetings at the beginning, Lyle had a weak sense of efficacy (Reeve, pg. 239, 2009). He was focused on his personal problems and was quickly threatened by difficulties. When David would ask him questions he did not want to answer, he stopped talking, staring into space. When Lyle was threatened by Mike, or vice versa, they would argue and start fighting. It was interesting to see the progress of some adolescents in the ward.
During the first group meetings, each patient seemed to be a helpless-oriented person. They would immediately regress to their “old self” when he or she encountered a setback or were afraid of a challenge. For example, the weeks before Chad was to be released, he quit taking his medication and began cutting himself more frequently. The day before Chad was to be released, he held a staff member captive and proceeded to slit his throat. He seemed afraid of the unknown world and the freedom he was about to gain. Chad knew if he regressed to old way of dealing with problems, violence, he would be required to stay in the hospital or his comfort zone. In this situation, Chad’s efficacy expectations and outcome expectations were low. In regards to efficacy expectations, he did not think he had the ability to survive in the world without some assistance to guide him. Regarding outcome expectations, he was unsure of being released. However, Chad did know if he did something drastic, like cutting the staff members throat, he would be detained in the hospital for a longer time.
I really didn't care for Manic at all. A lot of people have said they didn't like the beginning, but liked what the movie turned into-- I, however, thought it kind of sucked.
The kids in the institution were all victims of having low self-efficacy. Many of them were not empowered to get well and thought they would be right back into the institution once they left. As Reeve (2009) states in ch 9, self-efficacy is the idea you have of your own abilities to cope with situations as they arise. These kids were not able to see that they had the power and they could overcome the institution. all of the kids in the institute also displayed a lot of 'learned helplessness'. Learned helplessness happens when a person believes their voluntary actions will not have an effect (or little effect) on their desired outcomes-- or outcomes they're looking to avoid. (Reeve 2009, p 250). In those therapeutic sessions, they should have been trying to build the kids' confidence so they could overcome this learned helplessness and improve their self efficacy.
I thought this movie was very interesting from the beginning to the end. In the movie, the lead psychiatrist is trying to help the teens come to the conclusion of why they are here, and also when they are put into the situation where they want to fight or do drugs and other things of that matter, what makes them stop and think how can I handle or cope with this situation differently? Most of them cannot come up with an answer to any of those questions. Lyle, who cannot control his anger at any times, is one of those who cannot come up with a good enough answer.
Coping definitely plays a role throughout this movie with every kid in the psych ward. Lyle, Mike, Chad, Tracie, Kenny and the others all face coping problems, whether it is with anger, depression, drugs, or self-esteem issues they all need to face those problems first hand instead of dwelling on them. Lyle and Mike both use violence as a form of letting out their anger within them. It is known as the Approach vs. Avoidance way of coping. The definition given by Reeves is that it is an action by moving toward and interacting with the problem versus walking away from the problem. Lyle bashed the kids head in with a baseball bat because the kid thought it was funny Lyle got beat up by his dad. Lyle in that situation went towards the action and interacted with the problem, but in a bad way. His coping with the situation was with violence and hitting a kid with a baseball bat. He could have walked away from the problem but as Lyle says it “he deserved it”.
Another thing that I noticed in the movie is that vicarious experience played a lot in the lives of the kids at the psych ward. Chad who was depressed, said in the movie that he only does what he knows and that is what his mother is. He said that his mother is a depressed, addict and that is all he ever knows, so that is how he is. It is sad to think that way, but he could change the way he thinks, and Lyle was trying to help him with the scenario of going to Amsterdam.
This movie has a lot more motivation and emotion concepts that were taken into account in the recent chapters of the book, so I believe this was a good choice for this chapter!
I HATED this movie. I didn't even bother making cookies because I knew they wouldn't help.
I do not like abnormal psych at all. It's illogical and completely frustrating to me. I felt that it was about a bunch of psychotic kids or kids who had never learned self-control or how to control their behavior. The language they used was appalling, and they had little to no self respect - let alone any respect for anyone else.
Because their histories are filled with so much pain and negative results, their expectations are dismal at best. When confronted with problems or obstacles to overcome, these negative events affect their outcomes by not providing them with the beliefe that they can do X or Y. In this way, their histories affected their self-efficacy. This would have made them less likely to believe that they can do something and their outcome expectations would be low and full of doubt. This paves the road for creating learned helplessness. These kids were stuck in a cycle of dispair, and their only way out was going to be very difficult. Even if they hit bottom, there was no guarantee that they would recover.
I actually enjoyed Manic. I didn't think that I would based on the description, but I thought that it was interesting. The style of shooting used (one camera) was effective. At times I think it made me feel as disoriented as Lyle felt. I really enjoyed Don Cheadle as the doctor. My favorite quote of the movie was when Dr. David Monroe said "'m not gonna give you some bullshit hokey speech and tell you that if you come to some epiphany about your dad you're gonna make a break through and everything's gonna be pizza and blowjobs." It made me laugh, while also being true, nothing is going to make life perfect or even close. I think that quote also mirrors the view of the entire movie. That while we cannot fix everything and we cannot make it all better forever, we can try.
Dr. Monroe was an interesting character. He, like many of the characters that we have discussed this year seemed to have a high need for power. His leadership was evident in his working with the kids, as well as with the other employees. He was in charge of all of the people at the psych ward. His aggression showed after Kenny's step-father came to visit. He threw the chairs around the room in anger. He had an influential occupation as a doctor. He was attempting to influence the kids in the ward to become well again. In the context of the ward he had prestige possessions, such as keys and an office. But he didn't just want to control the kids, he wanted to help them. This may have been motivated by a need for achievement or maybe even relatedness.
Chad was one of the most interesting characters in the movie. I was never quiet sure what was going on with him. His self concept was negative. The feedback that he had received was that he was crazy and worthless. He seemed to be effected by learned helplessness, when it came to him getting better. He said that he had been in the psych ward before and each time he got out he just had to get back in. He did not try to get better during his time in treatment. He did not take his medication or talk with the doctor. He seemed to have come to the conclusion that he could not get better - since it had never happened before - so he wasn't going to try. He believed that there was low contingency in his life - that he was unable to control the outcomes with his behavior. He told Lyle that his mother was just like him, depressed, addicted, overall messed up, so he assumed that he could not control the outcome of his life, he was going to always be the same as he was.
Personally I thought that this movie was kind of weird. Overall, it was rather depressing. It seemed disturbing to me. It seemed odd to me that the movie moved so slow, it didn't really seem to have a solid plot line.
The example I am going to use is one of vicarious experience. Each day the patients had a focus group where they talked about their personal struggles and problems. Some of the patients were more open then others. The goal was to get the more closed off patients to feel more comfortable talking about their struggles by listening to the other patients. One day, in the focus group, Lyle finally put his guard down and discussed his childhood and how his father used to abuse him. Tracy, another patient that stayed quite for the duration of most of the focus groups, interrupted Lyle and discussed her childhood and how her mother used to call her vulgar names and tear her down emotionally. Lyle's ability to lead the way helped Tracy follow. Which is something that probably wouldn't have happened without Lyle's help. After the focus group Lyle and Tracy confided in each other for many things. Lyle revealed to Tracy the thing he used to do and the ways he used to scare his mother. And Tracy revealed to Lyle all of the things her mother used to say. This displays the books example of "you go first, I'll watch" idea. The idea of a Vicarious experience is that all a person needs is to see that something can be done and then they believe they can do it. Tracy knew Lyle was as quiet and sick as her, but when she saw him open up she knew she could too.
I really enjoyed watching Manic. All of the kids were facing real problems that people go through every day. I think movies like this really try and help the average person understand the different experiences people have in life. After watching the movie and then reviewing the chapter, I was amazed by how well Manic coincides with the topics of Chapter 10. Table 10.1 relates quite well to the movie, specifically. The category of "purpose of life" stuck out to me as something all the patients and even Dr. Monroe were all dealing with. Lyle was placed into the psych ward after beating some kid who relentlessly joked about his abusive father with a bat. He is persistent in saying that he does not belong there, and that his anger is normal. When asked who is most important in his life or what the purpose of life was he had no answer. His only goal in life that he expressed was getting out of the psych ward and traveling in Europe. One of the most interesting characters, in my opinion, Kenny, really struggled with the purpose of life. It was rumored that the 12 year old had molested kids at the age of 8. Later, we learn that Kenny is actually being molested and raped by his step-father. Before his step-father comes to visit, Kenny expresses the will to live when Lyle threatens to kill him if he doesn't get up and talk to him by the count of three. By the count of 2, Kenny is up and talking. After the visit of his step-father and the exposure of his secret, Lyle visits Kenny once again. Like before, Kenny is motionless and silent. Lyle threatens him again and starts counting, but this time there is no response from Kenny. I think at this point Kenny has lost all sense of meaning in life and couldn't care less if Lyle fulfilled his threat. Another character who loses sight of the meaning in life is Chad. He loses it right before he about to be released and cuts the throat of a guard. He backs out of his and Lyle's plans to leave the country and really shows no hope for life.
I could go through more of the characters and how they related to each of the topics on this chart, but that would take forever. I'll save that for the analysis! In all, it was a great, dark film that explored the effects of parenting, rape, mental illness, and more. It showed characters with low self-esteem, and their fights and defeats in the struggle of going through life.
Overall I thought the movie was interesting, but not something i would have chosen for myself. The camera work being choppy gave me a headache and made parts of the movie hard to watch. But i do understand that they were trying to show the emotional turmoil that each of the teens went through in the movie.
Lyle's character was clearly troubled. He showed no emotion when describing what he did to land in the psychiatric ward. He did not seem to know how to aggression or other feelings. The scene that stuck out to me was when he was beating up Mike, and when Mike was clearly not going to fight back, Lyle kept hitting him. This to me showed that he had no self control. When he had a problem his coping method was anger.
All of the teenagers in the ward discussed that they felt they had no value. They all showed learned helplessness, which is "is the psychological state that results when an individual expects that life's outcomes are uncontrollable (Reeve, 244)." This especially shows when Chad is about to be released and slits a workers throat. He does not have the self esteem to be out on his own in the world and so he does something to make sure he does not have to go.
Manic was a unique movie, for sure. It served its purpose in being thought-provoking and making the audience feel a fraction of the discomfort and sorrow that the characters lived with. My impression as soon as it was over was that it was entirely too close to real-life situations without providing some semblance of positive outcomes in the future of the story. Most people watch movies to escape real life for a bit, but there was no escape possible with this one. It violated the basic expectations of moviegoers to provide at least a glimmer of hope even if the storyline is generally depressing. This movie provided no concrete glimmer.
As chapter 9 explains, hope is a dynamic combination of self-efficacy and mastery beliefs. According to the text, an individual needs to feel like they have the ability and motivation to accomplish something, as well as some kind of means to do so. Many of these kids have neither one. This leaves their situations seeming rather hopeless based on this perspective of hope. Another important aspect of hope is having several different pathways for accomplishing something, which I feel is another thing the kids in the movie lacked. They were in a psych ward because no other path they’d tried had worked. They have limited options and few of the options would lead to desired results.
The character that seemed to have the most hope for a future was the girl that was given the question about how she deals with anger and emotion, to which she replied that painting served as an outlet for her. She had artistic ability as well as a way to use that ability to cope with problems in life. She was the character that maybe provided some glimmer of hope for the situation of these kids.
Mike’s character interested me a lot. He seemed to embody the idea of empowerment to me. He refused to let people to take advantage of him, and he explained his thinking in a group therapy session when he explained that he had to stand up for himself against everyone. Because he took an aggressive approach to this idea, he avoided the typical feelings of anxiety many would feel when threatened or intimidated. He feared feeling this way, so became empowered by his aggressions and physical strength over others. To prevent feeling threatened, he threatened others so he could exert what control he could over his own life.
The characters in this movie all applied to so many of the topics we talk about in this class. This post will only name a few.
Low self-esteem goes hand in hand with self-efficacy. They have group discussion where the counselor Dave really tries to get everyone to talk. Tracy is working on her self esteem and gain back some strength and confidence from being beat down my her mother. We see her grow in that she stands up for herself pushing Lyle away when she doesn't want that. Or walking away from him instead of submitting to his aggression.
Learned helplessness: Chad talks about how he is not free, he doesn't really have much control over his life. He'll be in there for a while, get released, go back in, get back out, and so on until he dies. He doesn't want to take drugs and let them control him because he doesn't have enough control as it is. Which brings me to another topic, the need for control.
Every character expressed and displayed actions that they had a need for more control. Their parents were all so controlling and put them in that place. They needed that power over other people to feel good.
Mike, (aka the most annoying character in the whole movie) really had a need for control. He had to be the toughest, the strongest, the baddest, the most everything and tried to knock down, physically and emotionally anyone that stood in his way.
This movie was bursting with topics from class that I can't wait to type up in a bigger paper. It was an interesting movie that I really enjoyed.
I found “Manic” to be an interesting movie. I, however, like many others did not like the camera styles used for the movie. Lyle is an extremely angry and frustrated teenager. We found out that when he was younger his dad used to beat him. One day a classmate was making fun of him about it, and Lyle beat the crap out of him; the other student had to have several stitches. Lyle then gets committed to a juvenile section of a mental health facility. There we meet many other teenagers who have everything from depression, self-esteem issues to severe, angry and violent tendencies. I believe that all the teenagers at this facility have learned helplessness; none of them believe that they are in control of their own lives. All the teenagers had something done to them earlier in life and they blame that person for their resulting reactions. Lyle blames his dad for beating him and that is the reason that he is so angry, and when others upset him he attacks them because they “deserve it”. Another character, Kenny, who is Lyle’s roommate was sexually abused by his step father. All of the teenagers want to blame someone else for the way they are and how they act. This movie shows many different ways that the troubled teens try to cope with their situations. Most have used avoidance and have just tried to walk away and not think about the problem. In the mental health facility the psychiatrist brings the teens together in a group therapy and tries to help them cope socially with other teens who are in the same sort of situation. However, the students are not taking either the problem focused or emotion focused way of coping. They do not try to manage the problem causing the stress or try to regulate their emotional responses. Most of the teens let their emotions completely run how they react to a situation.
I, like many others, did not like this movie. The main reason I think I didn't like the film was because of the camera style. It in a way made me motion sick and I had to stop to movie and watch it in small increments so it didn't make me feel nauseous.
And by watching it that way over a couple of days I think I may have missed a few points here and there but got the main idea that they kids in a treatment facility all have what you would call big issues. Many of their problems it seems could have come how they were treated by their parents, or at least how they said they were treated. Some of the kids were treated very poorly by their parents growing up, not only was there emotional abuse but also physical and sexual abuse for some. One of the scenes that stood out to me that I could relate to class was when Lyle, the main character, was beating up on Mike, another kid in the facility. Lyle was beating on Mike so hard that his face was all bloody and swollen right away. Lyle kept hitting Mike even though he wasn’t fighting back all because of a comment he had made about a girl that Lyle liked. I think this was his way of proving not only to himself but also to Mike that he had power over the situation and over Mike.
Although the movie was not my favorite, I do think that it brought up a lot of good topics that relate to our class. Such topics that were seen were personal control and self-efficacy.
Most, if not all, of the patients in the clinic face self control issues. None of them have control over theoir lives or really want to make their lives better. A lot of this can probably be related to how the patients were rasied or treated when they were younger.
Also, most of the patients are experiencing low self-efficacy. They do not believe in themseleves and what they are capable of. The lack of interest for them to get over their addictions, lack of motivation, and the lack persistence all relates to the lack self-efficacy. The patients rebell and don't want to take medications or talk about what they were experienceing. I think throughout their whole lives, a lot of them have learned helplessness and had gotten to the point where they believe that they are always going to fail, no one is there to support them, and they do not care about their futures or what they are capable of.
Overall, the movie did a good job talking about specific topics that we have covered in class.
Manic illustrates a harsh reality that some of us could never even imagine and a world that I hope to one day make a difference in. The fear and anger that lives within those adolescent is rooted deep and twists throughout their entire being. They live each day feeling the weight of the past pulling them down and blinding them of their futures. The facility is meant to act as a controlled environment so that the kids may focus on themselves and begin to remove the weights. However, it is difficult to heal when they have learned not to trust.
As I was reading other comments I was slightly disappointed to see that Lyle and the other kids were not being considered victims when their behavioral issues, for the most part, have been directly related to the environment in which they were raised. Researchers have done studies showing how stressful, abusive environments have the ability to alter brain chemistry, thereby, resulting in bipolar, depression, impulsivity, etc. While those children are not innocent, they are victims and should not be treated as criminals or be put in situations that may cause them to be retraumatized (e.g. Kenny). As for Lyle’s justification of “he deserved it,” I understand that justification and why he did it. Lyle has anger and impulsivity issues related to his father’s abuse, a need for power, and feelings of worthlessness and those issues were not dealt with so grew and bottled and until they explode. It is not as if he explodes without cause, he simply has a short fuse and a long history of anger to keep the aggressive behavior going. I’m not trying to excuse his actions but the rationale is there and most of us do not have the history or social modeling to understand his situation. So we judge because we’re scared but we don’t think about his fear, his pain.
Tracy has severe self-esteem issues. She has been emotionally abused by her mother for years. Additionally, she was raped, causing her to have depression and nightmares. It seems as if her entire identity is wrapped up in how others see her, a social identity. Most days she barely talks in group, therefore they sit and judge as she used by her mother instead of talking and claiming who she is. Mike has some identity issues of his own, average white boy acting like he’s black. He also wants power and he sees Lyle as a threat. As for Chad, he doesn’t trust that his disorder is treatable with drugs and therapy but I don’t think he wants it treated. His disorder is a crutch, an escape from the responsibility that waits for him on the outside, responsibility that scares him. Chad uses cutting, music, and drugs as his coping mechanisms but they are temporary fixes and he knows it. Kenny wants power in his life. Power is what his stepfather took away when he molested him which is most likely the reason Kenny molested others. He was able to have control over a situation when he wasn’t able to have control over his stepfather moving into his house then subsequently molesting him. The fact that David didn’t know what had happened shows that Kenny felt deeply ashamed and humiliated for what had happened to him. Self-efficacy issues are pervasive in this movie. David is trying to teach these kids that they do have the skills to control themselves and have healthy coping behaviors. They simply need to work on exercising them in all situations. It is okay to be upset and angry but it is not okay to exact that anger onto another person’s physical body, verbal abuse, or destructive behavior. He demonstrates this by throwing chairs, a seemingly normal destructive behavior around the facility. Though Dave feels as if he isn’t making an impact on those kids, he truly is. If he wasn’t then Sara wouldn’t have been able to go home, Lyle wouldn’t have come back to the facility after escaping, Tracy would be silent. It takes baby steps. He should know that he said there wouldn’t be some miraculous epiphany for any of them. It would be a daily struggle for the rest of their lives quite possibly.
This movie looked into the lives of teenagers who were living in a psychiatric facility. Each of the teenagers was dealing with different forms of anger issues, each of them would also deal with their anger in different ways. When it comes to anger it looked like each of the kids in the video couldn't control their feelings in healthy ways instead they would start fights, cut themselves, or just hide out. Like the idea of Skinner where these teenagers had perceived control over their lives, Skinner came up with the idea of Self action control. Where these teenagers would try and take control of their lives (self) and the actions that they thought would take control were actually hurting them and the people around them. So David was trying to talk to the kids in helping them discover alternative actions to take so they would be on a better road and not hurt themselves or others.
Self-efficacy is one’s judgment of how well one will cope with a situation, given the skills one possesses and the circumstances one faces (Reeves, 2009). A lot of these teenagers didn’t think that had the right tools to deal with the bad things that were going on in their lives. They thought that cutting themselves, taking drugs, fighting, and not making or keeping friends were the best ways to go about keeping control in their lives and their emotions. For these children to overcome all the overwhelming things that they had been through and the things they were currently dealing with they had to be empowered that was another role that David was trying to help the teenagers with. To help someone, they have to realize that there is a problem, and he was trying to show them that there were other ways of going about the things that they were dealing with. To be empowered, David was trying to help them with the skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy beliefs, to feel empowered.
All of the kids were also having trouble with mastery beliefs. Mastery beliefs are the extent of perceived control one has over attaining desirable outcomes and preventing aversive ones (Reeves, 2009). These teenagers felt no control for what they were going through, so they were acting out, some children couldn’t help what they were thinking due to mental disorders, but others were trying to help those disorders by having them take medications. By the teenagers not taking their meds, which was a form of control. Lyle in the end found out that he needed help to control his anger, and the feelings that he was having. I thought that this was a good movie showing teenagers in a psychiatric facility and each of them struggling with control over their lives.
The thing that interested me the most about this movie is the relationships between the teens. The first that I saw to develop was between Lyle and Kenny. Lyle saw something in Kenny and reached out a sort of 'helping hand' and stood up for Kenny against the 'bully' Micheal. I feel as though Lyle had a high social need, and because of his past experiences he was not able to fulfill this need correctly. Instead his relationships with others involved fighting and beating them. However it is evident that Lyle developed his social need and further more developed his need of intimacy. Lyle had a special relationship with Tracy, a fellow teen in this institution. At first, I thought that like all hollywood movies, this relationship with Tracy would help Lyle open up and talk about his aggressiveness towards others, and about his past experiences. However, that was not what it turned out to be. Lyle had other issues at hand which did not pan out well for him.
In our book, Reeves talks about the Reactance Theory, where it states that any instruction, favor, advice, no matter the intent has the potentional to interfere with a person's freedom in making up their own mind. This can easily be seen at the beginning of the movie when Lyle lashes out and refuses to go calmly with Dr. David Monroe to the institution. Lyle calls out for his mother while kicking and screaming. Lyle reacted actively and violently. Lyle does this because he has lost control over the situation, and does not have the control over whether or not he wants to go to this institution. Once at the institution, Lyle actively is violent towards others because he has lost a lot of freedom while in the institution, like choosing daily activities, where he can go, and even having shoe laces on his shoes.
According to Reeves, once a person realizes that their active and aggressive acts do not gain their freedom back, they become helpless. This can be seen in Chad, a friend of Lyle who constantly talks about his lack of freedom, and that the institution is forcing down medications to make everyone the same. It is easy to witness Chad feeling down, or feeling like he has no control over the situation, and lacks motivation to do anything.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie, however I will still need to watch it again. I feel as though I did catch some things, I feel as though I am missing apart of the picture for the entire movie.
I thought this movie was really interesting. Although parts of it were kind of depressing (especially when it showed flashbacks to the violent fight that landed Lyle in the facility), but it was interesting to see how Lyle and the other teenagers worked through their problems and differences. One of the key constructs that is both discussed in the chapter and present in the movie is reactance theory (Reeve, 256). Its interesting to see this theory play out in the movie, because one of the main aspects is perceived control over the situation. When Lyle has control over his decisions, he tends to be more reckless and violent. On the other hand, when his control over the situation is taken away in the facility, he still fights for that control. Although you see him holding himself back (in the group meetings against Mike), he still gets into fights with Mike, smokes pot in the bathroom, and does other things against the rules in an attempt to gain his control over his situations.
The main turning point we see with Lyle is during the group meeting when Lyle expresses his emotions towards the boy he beat up. He discloses information about his past with his father, and expresses why he has such violent thoughts and actions. When we see this change in Lyle, we also see a connection between Lyle and Tracy. In a way, hope begins to emerge from Lyle. We then see that Lyle really wants to change because he doesn't want to become like his father. He tells Tracy about a fight with his mother, and he tells her that he doesn't want to be like his father was. The hope has now become part of Lyles motivations to get better.
Its also interesting to look at Lyle's dimensions of psychological well-being. At the begining of the movie, Lyle had very low scores in self-acceptance, relations with others, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. By the end of the movie, however, Lyle has developed all of these dimensions and figured out how he can live a productive and happy life. We see how confused his is durring this process when he is asked "what gives your life meaning" and he has no answer. At the same time, he sees that all of the other teenagers have developed meanings in life. In a way, I think that Lyle realizes that this facility might actually be able to help him find meaning in his life.
This movie was very interesting to me because I could relate the material being that I am taking Abnormal Psychology and learning about disorders such as Manic Disorder so it was all familiar to me and helped me realize just what this disorder entails. It is also a disorder I can very much relate to because my mom has Bipolar/Manic disorder and I have literally lived through real life situations similiar to this movie. This disorder can very quickly lead to violent episodes in real life as it did for Lyle in the beginning of this movie. I feel like individuals in real life, just like in the movie, have more of a social need for acceptance and understanding, which they rarely get. They have no control over their actions or decisions and do not choose to be the way they are. They lack a sense of control over certain situations and look for any way to gain control of their life and their decisions which often leads to some sort of violence, even if they don't want to be this way. We see this violence as Lyle's way of gaining control over his decisions in his everyday life which is what gets him in trouble and committed to treatment.
This has a lot to do with the Reactance Theory, which states that any instruction, favor, advice, no matter the intent has the potentional to interfere with a person's freedom in making up their own mind (Reeve, 2009). We can tell that in the beginning of the movie, Lyle's psychological state of mind is affected and he is very low in his relations with other people and his problem-solving strategies. He has a very low control over his psychological well-being and cannot control his everyday life decisions very well. We also see Lyle struggle with his mastery beliefs which are the extent of perceived control one has over attaining desirable outcomes and preventing aversive ones (Reeves, 2009).
This movie was really good to me, but hit home because I could relate to so much of it. I don't think people understand the effects of Manic disorder or how serious it actually is or can be unless they have experienced it or have known somebody personally with the disorder. It takes so much patience and understanding and usually a medical professional and psychological help to treat these individuals. It is so important to remember when you have an individual with Manic/Bipolar disorder that it is not something they choose for themselves and that they do not have control over their emotions and decisions the way the rest of us do. They have a completely different way of thinking and handling situations, as we see in this movie.
I found this movie very interesting to watch. The style of filming was new to me and somewhat disorienting, but once I got used to it, it was fine. My career goal is to counsel adolescents and young adults, so this movie was really interesting for me. I couple ideas from the text really stood out for me. The first is the idea of "purpose in life." We see this mainly in the scene where the counselor asks the patients in group therapy what is important to them and what keeps them going. While Lyle doesn't know how to answer the question then, I believe he figures it out by the end of the film. A second issue the movie covers is that of positive relations to others. Lyle in particular really struggles with this. At the beginning of the movie, he doesn’t open up and refuses to speak in group. When asked who the most important person was to him, he said they didn’t exist, and if they did, he’d screw it up. As the film progresses, we see him build relationships, first with Chad, then with Tracy. While these relationships have their shaky moments, it’s a good start toward building those positive relationships. Overall, I enjoyed this film and thought it did a good job of helping make sense of the issues in the textbook.