Under Construction - MHWA Retreat

Questions to think about:

The trailer deals with the concept of society turning people into villains. Do you think society has the tendency to make villains out of normal people? How so? Why or why not?

I'm not sure. If someone suffered the same thing on numerous occasions it would begin to wear on you. I just don't know that it would turn a person into a villain, but why not? If you already had mental issues the kind of things that happened in the trailer to the Joker would surely turn you into something you wouldn't necessarily want to be.


What are some everyday dystopian elements that are commonplace in society? For example, I think it's a bit dystopian when society applauds crowdfunding for necessary medical treatments because so many people in the US don't have healthcare. Example.

As far as a dystopian society I've kind of pictured it as the last Back to The Future when Marty arrives in a society run by drugs and money. We, however, have people out on the streets suffering from hunger and health problems. I find it ironic when I hear about how our physicians have helped others in different countries when they clearly don't help the people in their own country. I don't know that would be considered a dystopian element or not because I truly don't understand it other than a world full of poverty-stricken people who don't have a chance of getting themselves out of such an environment, but the world continues on with it's advanced technology.


The trailer also shows a lot of bullying. What are some of the effects of long-term bullying on a person’s psyche?

Well, one long-term effect would be the person's self-esteem, self-worth, etc. If it were me, I'd always be asking the "Why" question. Why me and why did they decide to beat me up? Because people are mean and when they're in a group environment they always act out to make themselves look like someone important, the strong one. But in the trailer we see him taking care of his clearly ill mother. That puts a lot of mental stress on someone so that on top of all of the bullying is enough to drive someone off the edge, in my opinion.


How do you feel about mental health representations in movies such as this? Are they exploitative of mental health sufferers or do they draw much-needed attention to those issues? Are they too dark? How would you portray mental illness in a film character?

I have to say that the trailer really affected me. I was thinking that I wouldn't want to see this movie because of the darkness. Plus I don't like clowns, so there's that. But I could see how the events of this person's life could surely drive them to a type of insanity. It makes me sad to see that happening. I liken this to James Eagan Holmes who shot up the movie theater. Clearly, something pushed him over the edge.