Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Melissa Chan
Professor Josef Mogharreban
Honors 392A
October 24, 2016
reflected in The Best Years of Our Lives provide insight into our countrys
Through the portrayal of Air Force veteran Fred Derry, the film characterizes a
dismissive attitude towards PTSD while facilitating stigmas of danger, personal fault,
and shame. Although our understanding of PTSD and veterans today has progressed
popular culture, and extend to affect perceptions of other mental disabilities as well.
The film represents Fred as a two-sided character. During the day and when
interacting with others, we see a charismatic soldier who is all too ready to have a
good time. But then at night and while alone, the development of his PTSD is
revealed through short clips of nightmares and internal brooding. This separation of
the normal versus abnormal Fred facilitates the idea that the real and lovable
him is separate from his PTSD, leading the audience to fear this invisible disability
as an abstract unknown.
Building off of this fear, the film also perpetuates the perspective that PTSD
makes a person scary and dangerous. In the very first nightmare scene at the
Stephensons house, Peggy is awoken by strange cries coming from Fred behind a
closed door (TBYOOL). The dim lighting and eerie music accompanying her
investigation create a tense atmosphere, and feelings of insecurity and danger are
evoked when Fred suddenly sits up in bed, unconscious, but still wide-eyed and
Chan 2
mumbling as the camera zooms in on his face (TBYOOL). Moreover, the next
morning Peggy avoids bringing up the incident until Fred eventually apologizes for it
(TBYOOL). This exchange implies that PTSD is something that is shameful and
illegitimate disability. In one scene, Freds wife, Marie, blatantly confronts him about
why he cant just snap out of it and get a good job (TBYOOL). This mindset relays
the idea that reintegration into society means completely letting go of the military
experiences that have changed him. Throwing away all of this baggage and just
readjustment difficulties are further emphasized by the plot development around his
story. The article, Heroes and Misfits reveals that the film script deliberately
muted the PTSD symptoms described in the original book that it was based on
(Gerber 556). Correspondingly, only hints of Freds PTSD are sprinkled throughout in
short clips, but for the majority of the film, his invisible disability is sidelined in favor
Today, PTSD among our veterans is much more mainstreamed in society. For
the most part, we understand that it is not a fabrication borne from personal
weakness, but really a tangible medical diagnosis that can respond to treatment
progressed since the 1940s, some of the social stereotypes reflected in The Best
Years of Our Lives are still salient today, and have also helped shape our attitudes
For example, the perception that people with mental disabilities are scary or
of Language lecture during the second week of classes (Wheeler). On the news,
used as a scape goat to explain dangerous and erratic behaviors so that society can
avoid the fact that a normal person could be capable of such things. On a more
personal front for me, these stigmas are also evident in everyday patient protocol at
identified as having mental health concerns are given hospital gowns that are a
distinctly different color than those given to other patients. This is meant to signal
to the hospital staff that these patients might require more sensitive handling, but
ultimately serves as a literal glaring colored flag that they are different and should
be treated with caution. Speaking from my own observations, it seems that staff do
approach these patients with more caution and also more readily call the onsite
police unit to handle them, thereby reinforcing the idea that they are a threat and
comparatively unwelcome.
Finally, the attitude that mental disabilities are shameful and should not be
talked about is also still present and particularly evident in military culture, as we
discussed in our Military Culture lecture during the fourth week of classes (N.
veterans from seeking mental health care (N. Mogharreban). This pressure is driven
by our cultural assumption that a person with a mental disability is unable to make
inability to find a good job, or even hold down the one he dislikes at the drugstore.
Chan 4
Developing Skills in Theory and Research lecture during the second week of
classes, our social understanding of the interaction between people living with
mental disabilities and society lags far behind our understanding of the medical
facts behind the conditions (J. Mogharreban). This continues to influence our
insistence that the solution to these blank lie in individuals overcoming their
disabilities and conforming to the dominant idea of normalcy, rather than critically
speaks directly to this by pointing out how Freds happy Hollywood ending only
WORKS CITED
Gerber, David A. Heroes and Misfits: The Troubled Social Reintegration of Disabled
Veterans in The Best Years of Our Lives. American Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 4.
The Best Years of Our Lives (TBYOOL). Directed by William Wyler, Samuel Goldwyn
Company, 1946.