films · 2021. 1. 8. · serial killer ted bundy. directed by joe berlinger with a screenplay from...
TRANSCRIPT
FILMS
Film: Shutter IslandInitially, we think we are watching a well-
intentioned U.S. Marshall named Teddy enter an insane asylum hoping to uncover the
whereabouts of a recently-disappeared patient. Later, our strangeness barometer begins to
beep and we recalibrate our assumptions. Now we think we are witnessing a brave and
bereaved soul searching for damning evidence that will expose Shutter Island as an
expensive, cutting-edge torture chamber. Only during the final act (unless you've connected the foreshadowing dots), when our barometer
falls off the charts, do we realize that the narrative is really about tragic psychosis and
elaborate role play.
Film: Black SwanThe dark drama The Black Swan is built around the psychological illness of its
protagonist, Nina Sayers, beautifully and disturbingly portrayed by Natalie
Portman. Nina is a ballerina whose passion for the dance rules every facet of her
life. When the company's artistic director decides to replace his prima
ballerina for their opening production of "Swan Lake," Nina is his first choice. She
has competition in newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis) however. While Nina is perfect for
the role of the White Swan, Lily personifies the Black Swan. As rivalry
between the two dancers transforms into a twisted friendship, Nina's dark side
begins to emerge.
Film: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
A 2019 American biographical crime film about the life of
serial killer Ted Bundy. Directed by Joe Berlinger with a
screenplay from Michael Werwie, the film is based on Bundy's former girlfriend Elizabeth
Kendall's memoir, The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy.
Film: To The BoneAvailable on Netflix, the film follows
a young woman (Collins) as she battles anorexia. Ellen is a 20-year-old college
dropout dealing with anorexia who returns home to the house of her
stepmother and father after struggling through an in-patient program and failing to make any
progress. With her absentee father unwilling to deal with her, Ellen's
stepmother, Susan, sets her up with a specialist, Dr. William Beckham, who
insists that Ellen join his patient program.
Film: Girl, InterruptedA 1999 American
psychological drama film based on Susanna
Kavsen’s memoir about her stay at a mental institution.
This film sheds light on different psychiatric
disorders that range from sociopaths to bulimia to severe depression and borderline personality
disorder.
Film: Beautiful BoyA 2018 American biographic drama. It is based on the memoirs Beautiful Boy: A
Father's Journey Through His Son’s addiction by David
Sheff. The film deals with a father-son relationship
increasingly strained by the latter's drug addiction.
Film: MementoThe main themes of the film are the
nature of memory, identity, time, disjointed memories, reality,
manipulation and revenge. Leonard suffers a brain trauma that results in
amnesia. He cannot store new memories, but has a few memories
which allow him to perform day to day actions. The story is told from end to beginning, which will make you feel as
confused as the protagonist.
Film: The NotebookA poor young man, Noah Calhoun, falls in love with a young heiress, Allie Hamilton, during the summer of 1940. When Allie’s mother finds out, she bans her from seeing Noah and the family leaves their summer
home on Seabrook Island and returns to Charleston. World War
II intervenes and Allie and Noah go on with their lives but are reunited years later. The film examines how love and relationships change over
time. It is also relevant to developmental psychology because
one of the characters has Alzheimer's disease.
Film: Silver LiningsCooper plays Patrizio "Pat" Solitano
Jr., a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves back in with his parents.
Determined to win back his estranged wife, Pat meets a young widow, Tiffany
Maxwell, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, who offers to help him get
his wife back if he enters a dance competition with her. The two become
closer as they train and Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with each other as they cope with their
problems.
Film: Still AliceBased on Lisa Genova's
bestselling 2007 novel of the same name. The film stars Julianne Moore as
Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed
with familial Alzheimer's disease shortly after her
50th birthday.
Film: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The film imagines a scientific procedure that can obliterate whole fields of memory. The film focuses on a short-lived relationship and the desire to
forget it. It explores the constant human need for love and companionship, and the
compulsion to keep seeking it, despite all odds.
Film: A Beautiful MindA 2001 American biographicaldrama film based on the life
of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate winner. Nash begins
to develop paranoid schizophrenia and
endures delusional episode while watching the burden his condition brings on wife and
friends.
Film: We need to talk about Kevin
An adaptation of a novel of the same title. Kevin's mother
struggles to love her strange child and tolerate the
increasingly vicious things he says and does as he grows up.
Was Kevin born evil or is he only a son trying desperately to get a reaction from a mother who
finds it hard to spark any positive feelings towards him?
SERIES
Series: The Mind Explained
The limited series is narrated by Emma Stone and examines themes such as what happens inside human brains when they dream or use of psychedelic
drugs. The episodes are aimed to answer popular questions on five topics: memory, dreams,
anxiety, mindfulness, and psychedelics.
Series: Conversations with a Killer: The Ted
Bundy Tapes This is an American
documentary on Netflix. It is four 60-minute episodes
were sourced from over 100 hours of interviews and
archival footage of serial killer Ted Bundy, as well as interviews with his family, friends, surviving victims, and the law enforcement
members who worked on his case.
Series: Brain GamesThis interactive series
uses games, illusions and experiments to illustrate how
our brains manufacture our reality and often
play tricks on us.
TV: Louis Theroux Mothers on the EdgeLouis Theroux spends time in
specialist psychiatric units which treat mothers experiencing serious mental illness whilst allowing them
to live alongside their babies. Immersing himself on the wards, he
meets women who have been admitted with a range of serious conditions - including depression,
anxiety and psychosis - often triggered by birth or the strains of
motherhood.
Series: MindhunterIt’s an American crime
thriller television series. revolves around FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench,
along with psychologist Wendy Carr, who operate the
FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit within the Training Division at the FBI Academy in Virginia. They interview imprisoned serial killers to understand how they think, with the hope of applying this knowledge to solve ongoing
cases.
DOCUMENTARIES
Documentary: Three Identical Strangers
New York, 1980: three complete strangers accidentally discover that they are identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-
olds' joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but it also
unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond
their own lives - and could transform our understanding of
human nature forever.
PODCASTS
Podcast: All in the Mind
This weekly program produced by the BBC
explores stories that relate to the potential and boundaries of human
psychology. Past topics include earthquake trauma
treatment, astronauts, conspiracy theories and
social media.
Podcast: InvisibiliaThis podcast explores the hidden forces that shape the way humans think and
act. Past topics vary widely, including
examinations of emotions, the nature of reality,
computers, social norms and personality.
Podcast: PsychCrunchThis podcast is from the British Psychological Society’s Research
Digest. Each episode explores whether the findings from
psychological science can make a difference in real life. Just how
should we live, according to psychology? They speak to psychologists about their
research and whether they apply what they’ve discovered in
their own lives.
Podcast: The Hidden Brain
This podcast helps curious people understand the world –and themselves. Using science
and storytelling, Hidden Brain's host reveals the
unconscious patterns that drive human behaviour, the biases
that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course
of our relationships.
BOOKS
Book: Reaching Down the Rabbit HoleThis is a book about the front line of clinical neurology, and the struggle of trying to heal the body when the mind is under attack.By watching and listening to the patient, he is able to rapidly deduce what the problem is. Much like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, absurdities are a daily occurrence in Dr Ropper’s patients, and he explains some of the more interesting cases he encounters.
Book: Elephants on AcidThis book is an exploration into
the craziest psychological experiments that have
happened across time (but mainly the 1970s) in the name of science. The experiment
referred to in the title is one in which an elephant called Tusko was selected for an
experiment to determine what happens to an elephant given a
massive dose of LSD.
Book: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)This book is written by two
social psychologists, the book deals with cognitive dissonance,
confirmation bias and other cognitive biases, explaining why
it is that when people make mistakes, they convince
themselves they are right to spare themselves the
embarrassment of being wrong.
Book: The Happiness Hypothesis
Award-winning psychologist Jonathan Haidt takes ancient wisdom and ideals
that people thought it was necessary to follow in order to live meaningful lives,
and tests it under the scrutiny of modern science. He then uses the results from these tests to apply these lessons to
everyday life in the 21st century.In his book the author discusses
behavioural biases, beliefs, religions, morality and consciousness, using
published psychological studies and science to dissect them.
Book: The Private Life of the Brain
This one is on the University of Oxford’s psychology course reading list, so you know it’s
worth a read. The Private Life of the Brain explores “the effects
of neurological disorders and injuries, the actions of drugs, the character of thought in dreams,
in schizophrenia, in reverie, and in childhood”.
Book: The Little Book of Psychology
All of the best bits about psychology with none of the
fluff. This is a good book to read if you want a basic overview of
psychology and to learn about the key theories.
The book gives an overview on the famous psychologists,
theories, psychological studies and themes you need to know for
your course.
Book: The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good
People Turn EvilThe book explores why good people
can be convinced to act evil and where the line is really drawn between good
and bad.Zimbardo gives a first-hand account
of his infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, in which a group of college student volunteers were
placed in a mock prison environment and randomly split into either
‘prisoners’ or ‘guards’ (with Zimbardo serving as the superintendent.
Book: The Psychopath Test: A Journey
Through the Madness Industry
Bestselling journalist Jon Ronson learns how to spot a psychopath from an
influential psychologist, who is convinced that many important CEOs are
psychopaths.He is told its possible to do this by looking at a variety of verbal and
nonverbal clues. He then goes to talk to several suspected psychopaths: a death squad leader, a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he isn’t a psychopath and a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about
in the press.
Book: Pressure Myths: Understanding the Psychology
of PerformanceA transformative understanding of high performance. Pressure Myths is sport
psychology turned inside-out; showing why high performance does not have to be a grind. With
lessons to help people thrive on the sports field, in the board room and beyond, Pressure Myths
explains:• How the mind works
• Why confidence & resilience are more accessible than you might think
• How to perform instinctively, with clarity and freedom
• Playing to your potential and deliver your best game in crunch situations
• Regaining the love of the game that you had when you started
• Being resilient and mentally tough whilst still being, and expressing yourself