Mental illness on screen - a new world of hopes and aspirations

Abstract

<p>It is a basic tenet of mainstream filmmaking that you want the audience to identify with your protagonist: to go on an emotional journey with them, to empathise with them. What, then, are the particular challenges filmmakers face when the protagonist is living with a mental illness?</p> <p>Given the stigma that is still prevalent towards mental illness, how can filmmakers break down these barriers that inhibit the empathetic relationship between character and viewer? Why would commercially-minded filmmakers want to tackle mental illness at all?</p>