De La Salle Lipa

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ARTS, AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

MOVIE CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Written Output

In Partial Fulfillment

of the

Requirements in

Abnormal Psychology

1st Semester

SY 2016 - 2017
 By:

Felasol, Mea Veroniza

Grena, Isaiah Nyka

Enriquez, Madelene

Trinidad, Nichole Joyce

Reyes, Chiara Marie

 Table of Contents

Page

Abstract i

I Introduction 1
II Background of the Character 2
III Description of the presenting problem 6
IV Diagnosis of the Problem 6
V Treatment 7
VI Recommendations 7
VII References
Abnormal Psychology Movie Character Analysis: A Group Work

Objective:

1. To apply the theories, principle and concepts of Abnormal Psychology in the

film/movie character analysis.

2. To have clinical presentation that will solicit clinical inquiry and judgment.

I. Introduction:

In the movie entitled “Silver Lining” we can see how bipolar disorder affect the life
of the main character named Pat Solitano. Pat is a history teacher wherein he is
married and later on discovered and beaten the other partner of his wife. One night
when he got home, he saw Nikki’s his wife, clothes on the floor together with their
wedding song playing on the dvd. Pat is searching for Nikki, and he saw his wife on
the shower standing. Pat got excited because he thought that it would be a romantic
time for him Nikki. However he was shocked when he found out that his wife is in the
shower together with a history teacher. He has some issues with his family and does
not spend a lot of time with them. He is not that close with his family especially with his
brother who is living far away from them as well as with his father who is having an
OCD.

The medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Solatano Sr.,
caring Dolores Solatano discharges her adult son, Pat Solatano Jr., from a Maryland
mental health institution after his minimum eight month court ordered stint. The
condition of the release includes Pat Jr. moving back in with his parents in their
Philadelphia home. Although Pat Jr.'s institutionalization was due to him beating up
the lover of his wife Nikki, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Nikki has since left
him and has received a restraining order against him. Although he is on medication
(which he doesn't take because of the way it makes him feel) and has mandatory
therapy sessions, Pat Jr. feels like he can manage on the outside solely by healthy
living and looking for the "silver linings" in his life. His goals are to get his old job back
as a substitute teacher, but more importantly reunite with Nikki. He finds there are

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certain instances where he doesn't cope well, however no less so than some others
who have never been institutionalized, such as his Philadelphia Eagles obsessed
father who has resorted to being a bookie to earn a living, his best friend Ronnie who
quietly seethes over the control wielded by his wife Veronica, and Veronica's widowed
sister, Tiffany Maxwell, a girl with problems of her own. In their fragile mental states,
Pat Jr. and Tiffany embark on a love/hate friendship based primarily on what help the
other can provide in achieving their individual goals. But they may reevaluate their
goals as their relationship progresses.

II. Background of the character:

Pat Solitano

Patrick 'Pat' Solitano is a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a
psychiatric hospital and moves back in with his parents, Pat Sr. and Delores. He is
around thirty years old. He is determined to win back his estranged wife, Nikki. Pat
was sent for 8 months to the psychiatric hospital after finding his wife, Nikki cheating
on him with another man. He almost beat the man to death. Pat moves in with his
parents, and is sent to Dr. Patel, a court-mandated therapist, with whom he creates a
special bond with, since they both share the same interests, and Dr. Patel seems to
understand him better than the other therapists did at the hospital. Both Pat and Dr.
Patel are ruthless fans of the Philadelpha Eagles.

Soon, Pat meets recently-widowed Tiffany Maxwell. She tells Pat that she will
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 disorders. They first meet at dinner with Pat's friend
Ronnie. Ronnie's wife's sister, Tiffany attends too, and she is a recent widow who just
lost her job. They soon develop a very odd relationship, and when he sees an
opportunity to communicate with Nikki through her they become closer. When Tiffany
offers to deliver a letter to Nikki, if in return he will be her partner in an upcoming
dance competition, he reluctantly agrees and the two begin a rigorous practice
regimen over the following weeks. Pat believes the competition will be a good way to
show Nikki he has changed and become a better man. Tiffany gives Pat a typed reply

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from Nikki, in which she cautiously hints there may be a chance for a reconciliation
between them.

Pat then started to hate Nikki because he loves her so much. Somehow he
became depressed due to the circumstances that had put to him. A lot of trigger
causes him to have mood swing such as their wedding song playing in the
background and it got worse when he was given an restraining order from his wife. He
was started to put up in the hospital because Pat exhibits several (hypo)manic and
depressive swings. He started to become irritable as well even with the smallest
things such as the ending of a book which he doesn’t like. It also caused him to have
some difficulty in his job as well with his relationships. Pat is also easily distracted
when his wedding song is playing and he becomes aggressive.

Tiffany Maxwell

Tiffany in this movie Is all about “craziness” society bestows on her, she owns up
to all of it. She is also Pat's best friend and his love interest. Tiffany also adores to
dance, and Pat claims she is a great dancer. They share a very odd relationship,
starting with Tiffany offering Pat to have sexual intercourse with her. Tiffany suffers
from great moodswings, and former depression when her husband, Tommy died in a
car accident. She is also a recovering sex addict. She had the feeling that it was her
fault that Tommy passed away, so she claimed that her guilt turned to need and she
had sexual intercourse with men, anywhere. Tiffany seems to understand Pat, since
they both know how it feels to lose someone who is close to you.

She admits she’s slept with people in her office because she was depressed her
husband died. So, people call her a slut. She reacts with “So what?” We’ve all got
problems. So why do we judge people? She tells Bradley Cooper’s character Pat that
he’s so afraid of accepting the joy he finds in hearing her sleeping with men and
women in her office because people will think of him as a perv. So, why do people
submit to how society sees us? Though she may seem so crazy and unconventional,
there’s a dazzling truth in what she says that we all are so afraid to own up to. She
pushes us to ask ourselves why we have conformed so much to society’s
expectations of us.

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 She is also an artistic soul at the same time. Even though she knows she isn’t a
great dancer, she likes to dance because she purely loves it for how it makes her
feel–it’s her therapy. She finds beauty in feeling and in emotion, and thrives on that.
She only wants Pat to connect with that, because having a feeling or emotion or being
vulnerable is completely okay. Why should we hide how we feel? Own it, she
encourages. There is a lot of engaging dialogue between the two that really makes
their screen-time shine. These characters are so broken and dynamic but so blessed
at the same time; the silver lining really is in the beauty of these seemingly hurt
characters, who are probably like a lot of us at the same time. There’s something
extremely comforting and brilliant about finding a film and character you connect to, in
some way or another. Maybe it be her rashness, her boldness, her dark humor, her
brokenness, her doing things for others and getting nothing but emptiness in return,
her attractiveness that makes her tired of men trying to pursue her, or
what-have-you… It’s all one and the same. This feeling is like seeing yourself in
another person that makes you feel less alone and more connected to someone out
there who may be feeling the same way, or going through the same things.Tiffany is
an emotional intelligence, borderline personality disorder. After a stint in a mental
institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to
reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a
mysterious girl with problems of her own.

Pat Solitano Sr.

Pat, Sr. has a condition called Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. He doesn’t run

around cleaning everything in his home, but his superstitious behavior involving his
favorite football team points conclusively to Obsessive-Compulsive tendencies. It’s
most obvious when he is straightening remote controls and insisting Pat wear certain
apparel during Eagles games. Though it’s possible that Pat, Jr.’s illness developed as
a way to cope with his father’s, Bipolar Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
are not very similar, and mental illness is not contagious (It’s not like the flu, where if
you sneeze on me I’m going to maybe get sick and maybe not. Also, you’re disgusting
if you sneeze on people.)

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 It’s hard to gauge Tiffany’s troubles, although hers stem from grief for her
husband. Since grief in its own way makes people do crazy things, it is not
characterized as a mental illness in the DSM-V. In fact, most mental illnesses –
including Depression – are dismissed in the DSM-V when symptoms have a direct
cause, such as the loss of a family member or loved one. However, Tiffany’s
increased sexual behavior after the passing of her husband is considered one
symptom of Bipolar Disorder, since sexual promiscuity is high-risk behavior. One
symptom is not enough to make a full diagnosis though, so Tiffany’s behavior is
probably a marker of her own, natural grieving process.

Danny

Danny was Pat's friend from the hospital. He has dark skin and an Afro haircut.
Danny greatly enjoys Parcheesi, an indian cross and circle game. He goes under the
nickname 'The Mad Nipper'. He lives with his aunt Jasmine, who was the woman who
had raised him up until he became a man. Danny and Pat become great friends, since
they are both coping with their own problems, and he helps him when Pat needs it the
most.

Jake

Pat's brother. Jake is Pat's good friend too, though they don't seem to have many
things in common. They both share a great interest in the Philadelphia Eagles, also
does the rest of their family. Pat also really likes spending time with Jake's wife,
Caitlin.

Nikki

Nikki is Pat's ex-wife. Their relationship isn't mentioned a lot, though it's revealed
that Pat still has deep feelings for her and misses her a lot, claiming that one day
"apart time" will end and they will live happily forever after and have children and so
forth. Pat writes letter to Nikki through Tiffany, though Tiffany lied to Pat by writing the
letters from Nikki to Pat herself. At the end of the book, it's revealed that Nikki is
happily married again, and that she is now living with the history teacher, the man she
cheated with, and that they have a boy and a girl together. That makes Pat realize that
he and Nikki are never getting back together again.
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III. Description of the presenting problem

As of the movie being choose by the group, Silver Lining wherein Pat the main
character of the movie is said to reasoned to have a Bipolar 1 Disorder, this a
condition wherein, it is said to have mood swings that can cause significant difficulty in
your job, school or relationships to other people. Manic episodes can be severe and
dangerous. For the manic phase, the following symptoms are the following: euphoria,
inflated self-esteem, poor judgment, rapid speech, racing thoughts, aggressive
behavior, agitation or irritation, increased physical activity, risky behavior, spending
sprees or unwise financial choices, increased drive to perform or achieve goals,
increased sex drive, decreased need for sleep, easily distracted, careless or
dangerous use of drugs or alcohol, frequent absences from work or school, delusions
or a break from reality (psychosis), poor performance at work or school. As for the
depressive phase, this symptoms can occur sadness, hopelessness, suicidal
thoughts or behavior, anxiety, guilt, sleep problems, low appetite or increased
appetite, fatigue, loss of interest in activities once considered enjoyable, problems
concentrating, irritability, chronic pain without a known cause, frequent absences from
work or school, poor performance at work or school.

IV. Diagnosis of the problem

A bipolar disorder is known as manic- depressive illness, is a brain disorder that

causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out
day-to-day tasks. In the movie we can see how many things that the main character
have been through. We can also see how depression and how mood swings affects
his daily life and how he treat other people. His world crashed after he loses his wife
and his job. All he wants in life is to rebuild his marriage with his wife and have a job
and have his life back but there are a lot of hindrances in his life. In the movie, we can
depict several scenes wherein the main character shows how bipolar disorder affects
him. During the film, Pat flies into several rages, hits his parents, and gets into a fight
at a football game, in these scenes we can clearly depict that he has a bipolar
disorder. In addition, another reason why bipolar disorder is depicted is because of his
sleeplessness and lack of consideration for others. We cannot blame people in having
these kind of disorder, we should understand them and help them to overcome these
disease because it’s for their sake.

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V. Treatment

The treatment to the disorder that affects the main character of the story, the
Bipolar 1 Disorder can be treated by cognitive behavioural therapy that also requires
treatment with drugs, such as mood stabilizers and antipsychotics, and sometimes
sedative-hypnotics which include benzodiazepines such as clonazepam or lorazepam
together with a prescribed medication said by the therapist. It is also directly related to
the phase of the episode and the severity of that phase. For example, a person who is
extremely depressed and exhibits suicidal behavior requires inpatient treatment. In
contrast, an individual with a moderate depression who still can work would be treated
as an outpatient. Fortunately, most patients recover from the first manic episode, but
their course beyond that is variable.

It is important to determine whether current medications may be causing the

patient’s manic, hypomanic, or mixed manic episode. In such patients, discontinue
antidepressants or other mania-inducing agents. However, antidepressants known to
have associated discontinuation syndromes should be tapered over several weeks.
Evaluate and closely monitor patients with bipolar depression for the risk for mood
destabilization or switching to mania and for the presence of emergent symptoms
following initiation of pharmacotherapy for a depressive episode. Initiate an
antipsychotic agent in patients with bipolar depression with psychotic features, and
consider psychosocial interventions

VI. Recommendations

The doctor/Psychiatrists should use different kinds of treatment depending on the

case of the patient.

VII. References

http://silverlinings.wikia.com/wiki/Pat_Peoples

https://rachelannc.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/silver-linings-playbook-2/

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http://www.dailyactor.com/monologues/silver-linings-playbook-tiffany/