There are many striking temporal and cultural parallels in the
development of commercial films and psychiatry. The psychiatrist has been
depicted in widely varying ways--as madman, as a powerful force for
tinkering with the soul, and as a wonder worker who cures patients by
uncovering a single traumatic event. The early years, in which psychiatric
issues were often treated simplistically or sensationally, were followed by
a "latency period". After the war there was a deluge of psychological
films, which also began to deal with emerging social issues. Contemporary
films tend to focus on madness as a metaphor or on the struggle of
seemingly normal, successful people to find fulfillment. Psychiatry and
film are "toys that have grown up together," along with the consumers of
both.Abstract Teaser