fictional stars, real problems
I just ran across a copy of the Wall Street Journal from 2010 that I clearly kept as comic relief because of this feature: “Fictional Stars, Real Problems – the diagnoses psychiatrists & medical school classes give characters as a way to practice for treating real people.”
And here they are:
Willy Wonka (“Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”/”Charlie & the Chocolate Factory”) – Abused child with schizotypal personality disorder
Tony Soprano (“The Sopranos”) – Panic attacks, depression
Bella Swan (“Twilight”) – Chronic low self-esteem, depression
Edward Cullen (“Twilight”) – Emotionally stunted for a 100-year-old man
Anton Chigurh (“No Country for Old Men”) – Antisocial personality disorder
Scarlett O’Hara (“Gone with the Wind”) – Narcissistic personality disorder
Winnie-the-Pooh – Obsession & cognitive impairment disorder
It’s probably a writer thing, but this amuses me to no end! :smiley4
I’d love to hear the diagnoses for even more fictional characters—if only I had the psychology/medical degree to come up with them on my own. :smiley13
Comments
10 Comments • Comments Feed
Minna says:
Fifty Shades of Grey comes to mind. I would have needed brain bleach after reading it! :smiley7 Christian Grey: the guy is a psychopath. Anastasia Steele: I don’t know what her problem is exactly, but someone who is less than sympathetic towards a sick friend, keeps talking about her “inner goddess”, shrugs off the fact that her boyfriend is stalking her as joke, and thinks dating a guy like Christian is a good idea, well, she definitely has some serious problems. (Some of the reviews I saw on Goodreads were much more fun to read than the book itself.)
On January 22, 2015 at 4:37 am
Heidi says:
LOL Ohmigosh, I can’t believe you brought up 50 Shades. With the movie previews on TV all the time now, it’s in my head a lot—& not in a good way. :smiley18
Words cannot express how much I do not care about that book/movie. And you are so right about how disturbed they would be under true psychological diagnosis. Yep, yep, yep. :smiley10
On January 22, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Minna says:
Well, I did make the mistake of reading it. And eewww! I can’t believe the book has been so popular they have turned it into a movie! But I do recommend Katrina Passick Lumsden’s reviews of Fifty Shades books on Goodreads. They were so much better than the one book I read and I have no intention of torturing myself with the rest of the series. :smiley6
On January 22, 2015 at 1:38 pm
Heidi says:
I don’t get the appeal, that’s for sure. But I was smart enough to avoid them, regardless of the hype. (Which was quite easy, actually, as they don’t appeal to me on any level. :smiley8 )
On January 22, 2015 at 7:33 pm
Mary Kirkland says:
Oh those are too funny.
On January 22, 2015 at 4:22 pm
Heidi says:
Aren’t they, tho? Poor Winnie-the-Pooh. :smiley21
I worry, tho, what they’d say about me if they got a peek inside my noggin. :smiley7
On January 22, 2015 at 7:31 pm
LeeAnn Pratt says:
I think all were spot on diagnosis’s is that a word? Well..it is now..lol
A friend of mine lent me all three of the 50 Shades of Grey/Gray books ..however they spell it. Anywho so I read the first one…read a chapter in the second and gave them back….Can I just say…imo…ewww ick..didn’t care for it but hey…that is just me .
On January 22, 2015 at 6:30 pm
Heidi says:
I’m with you, actually. The entire concept doesn’t appeal to me…& neither does the rash of dom/sub romances coming out ever since. Hot & sexy is good, but that sort of thing just isn’t my cuppa. :smiley18
Happily, I did *not* make the mistake of going anywhere near those books. Wise…I’m so darn wise. :smiley6
On January 22, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Dee says:
I was seriously laughing at the Twilight ones. I have not read the 50 shades books either. I have heard mixed reviews…a few of my friends could not get past the “horrid writing style” and the ones who loved it I wondered if this was their first foray into “romance” or not.
I agree with the whole cup of tea thing, but I like my books to be readable and have an actual plot.
On January 22, 2015 at 7:47 pm
Heidi says:
AMEN, Darling Dee! I couldn’t have said it better myself! :smiley34
I wasn’t going to say anything about the actual writing, but when the books first came out, I read excerpts &…no. :smiley8 And I think the same thing when people say they loved the books…um, you’re not real familiar with actual romance novels or decent writing, are you? :smiley16
On January 23, 2015 at 1:24 am