When he’s not hitting the studio with Juicy J, Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos apparently has some pretty strong feelings about mental illness. Earlier this week, Angelakos took to Twitter to share his thoughts about David O’Russell’s Oscar nominated film, Silver Linings Playbook. Angelakos evidently took issue with the film’s depiction of bipolar disorder, calling it a “cheap use of mental health as legs for plot.”
The singer, who famously struggles with mental illness himself, has been holding a pretty extensive dialogue with followers for the past several days about Hollywood’s relationship with depression and the validity of O’Russell’s film. Check out a few highlights below.
Cheap use of mental health as legs for plot. “@lfitzmaurice: To be perfectly clear: did not like Silver Linings Playbook very much at all”
It's very much in right now -- in Hollywood, mind you -- to use mental illness as a way to bring added or almost entirely all drama to piece
Be it TV or film, it's lazy and usually, perhaps inadvertently, regressive. That being said, it has to exist in some capacity for discussion
Lets allow Hollywood to dramatize so there can be backlash/discussion. See, insurance companies barely recognize mental illness as health.
Well, great to see people care about the issue. We still have a long way to go. Have a lovely day and give someone a hug.
Okay, really. The director, cast, and intention all great. Depiction of mental health questionable. That's it.
You know, at first I was really freaked out that people were posting about my rant, but I've read some really interesting discussions.
To be perfectly honest, David O. Russell and the film win in a broader, cultural sense. Regardless of opinion on film, they deserve praise.
