If I’m going to get real with you I’d say I believe most of us, if not all, are not completely sane 100% of the time.
The brain does interesting things when it’s put under duress, deprived of sleep or sustenance, or physically damaged. And who out there hasn’t experienced any of these things?
There is many a cinematic portrayal of mental illness out there, but David and Lisa
If you’ve never stepped foot into a mental health ward you might imagine it as something akin to American Horror Story, when in reality it’s a lot more normal than all that. I know this because I’ve walked inside mental health wards on more than one occasion. And the fact that that might freak you out or make you think less of me would just be a sad reflection of the taboo that mental health is in our society.
I won’t go into detail about my own experiences, as to whether they were for me or for others, because really that doesn’t matter.
I remember before dropping out of nursing school, one of my favorite professors (our psychology professor) discussed mental illness in a way that changed my perspective of it forever. I’ve never heard it spoken about so beautifully. He said that the brain was wired in such a way to protect our hearts when pain becomes too great to bear.
I loved how he painted it in such a different light than the sinister illnesses that Hollywood likes to paint of an unhealthy mind.
David and Lisa is a lovely story that is neither scary, sinister nor without a healthy dose of artistic expression.
If you can relate to everything I’m talking about you might already be interested in this flick, but if not, I encourage you to step outside your comfort zone for an hour and a half and enjoy a little window into this world, learning about the lovely souls of whom are in it.
Image via David and Lisa, directed by Frank Perry