Assignment 2 PDF

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Second major assignment...

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1. The character Nathaniel Ayers, based on a real person and portrayed by Jamie Foxx, is seen in The Soloist to be suffering from schizophrenia. 2. When Ayers first met Lopez, he talked in a disorganized, disjointed, and pressured, way. Talking really fast and almost incomprehensible with very loose connections from one subject to the next. This is a large departure from what is considered normal speech due to aspects of frequent derailment and incoherence. During their initial meeting, Lopez discovered some names written on a tree near where Ayers was playing and it is revealed that those people were Ayers’ classmates back when he attended Julliard. This can also be seen as strange or abnormal to some people as it shows an inability to let go of the past. Another aspect that can be considered abnormal is Ayers’ odd and eccentric personality which, as we see throughout the movie, is well outside of the norms that society has accepted. In one scene, he is seen dressed up as Uncle Sam and shouting at passing cars. If someone saw this driving by, they would definitely classify him as someone who is mentally ill and in need of treatment. All of these things are causing Ayers dysfunction as he is not a functioning member of society, he is at the fringes of it and is barely scraping by. Lastly, through the film’s usage of sound editing we, the audience, heard firsthand the voices that were in Ayers’ head. These sounds can be accurately assumed that it is what he is genuinely experiencing at the time and that it is debilitating. We saw just how debilitating they can be as they are what caused him to drop out of the nation’s most prestigious music school and become homeless. 3. The main relationship of this movie was the developing friendship between Lopez and Ayers. Many times, people suffering from mental illness are lost in their own thoughts and words just come spilling out of their mouths, as mentioned earlier with the

incomprehensibleness, and it is sometimes difficult to talk to these people that are suffering from mental illness because you literally don’t have a chance to get a word in because they just go on and on. However, in the case of Steve Lopez, you could tell he went above and beyond the call in trying to help his friend. When they talk, you can feel that Lopez is trying to help as much as he can. He gets Ayers a brand new cello and contacts the local homeless shelter to arrange for him to stay there, although to Ayers’ initial disapproval. Ayers ends up staying at the homeless shelter for a while and plays for the other people staying there. The relationship was friendly and helpful even though at times, Ayers did not feel that way due to his delusions and maladaptive schizophrenic thoughts. It was friendly because at every point in the film, Lopez was trying to help Ayers get out of his dire straits and better his situation. 4. a. In my opinion, the presentation seemed very plausible and Foxx’s performance was very convincing based on my limited experience in witnessing actual schizophrenia. The way he talked and acted, as well as how the audience heard Nathaniel’s voices through the movie’s sound editing was very convincing and in line with what we know to be schizophrenia. I know this because I have read pieces and watched videos about what the voices you hear from having schizophrenia supposedly sound like from actual schizophrenics, and the way the movie replicated this was spot on. This also lines up with what we have seen and discussed in class. b. I think that the movie certainly had an impact in raising awareness about schizophrenia and homelessness. I think it also reduced the stigma of

schizophrenia in that it showed that anyone can get it even extraordinarily gifted people, and if they do get it, it can be extremely debilitating and cause them to lose everything (i.e. become homeless). Furthermore, this film served to educate the public, although to a limited degree, to what schizophrenia is, what it’s like, and the experience of one suffering from it. This outcome appears to be auxiliary as the primary function of this film seems to be to entertain rather than to inform, through storytelling. 5. One thing I’ve learned from watching this film is that it’s okay to suffer from

schizophrenia because it can happen to anyone without warning and cause you to lose everything. I also learned that you shouldn’t view people suffering from mental illness like schizophrenia or other disorders as lower class citizens because they are people too and they shouldn’t be looked down upon simply because they have a condition that is out of their control and not their fault, and especially because it can happen to anyone it shouldn’t be viewed any different than a physical ailment. One question I am left with is why Ayers didn’t seek more treatment. It seemed that a lot of people wanted to help him including medical professionals, psychiatrists, therapists, etc. I don’t really know why he chose not to take advantage of these resources at his disposal and instead choose to brave the hardship of debilitating schizophrenia alone. Another question I had was why Lopez didn’t give up on Ayers because at many points in the film Ayers was resisting and refusing Lopez’s efforts to help him. If I was him I feel like I would have probably stopped trying to help him after a certain amount of not wanting to be helped....