by Malynnda Johnson (Editor), Christopher J. Olson (Editor)
This volume examines the shift toward positive and more accurate portrayals of mental illness in entertainment media, asking where these succeed and considering where more needs to be done. With studies that identify and analyze the characters, viewpoints, and experiences of mental illness across film and television, it considers the messages conveyed about mental illness and reflects on how the different texts reflect, reinforce, or challenge sociocultural notions regarding mental illness. Presenting chapters that explore a range of texts from film and television, covering a variety of mental health conditions, including autism, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and more, this book will appeal to scholars of sociology, cultural and media studies, and mental health.
Author Biography
Malynnda Johnson is an assistant professor of Communication at Indiana State University, USA, and the author of HIV on TV: Popular Culture's Epidemic.
Christopher J. Olson is completing his doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. He is the co-author of Possessed Women, Haunted States: Cultural Tensions in Exorcism Cinema and the co-editor of Making Sense of Cinema: Empirical Studies into Film Spectators and Spectatorship; Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children's Entertainment Media; and Convergent Wrestling: Participatory Culture, Transmedia Storytelling, and Intertextuality in the Squared Circle.