Misery is an American-based thriller film that originated from a book titled ‘Misery’ that was written by the famous Stephen King. It revolves around two major characters, Paul Sheldon, the protagonist and Annie Wilkes, the antagonist. Sheldon, a famous author, gets into a tragic car accident but is saved by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse and supposedly his number one fan. She takes him home, treats and cares for him, and in the process, she exhibits signs and symptoms of having a mental disorder known as bipolar when he does not meet her expectations (Gleiberman). Bipolar disorder, a psychological brain disorder is characterized by sudden changes in moods, behaviour and energy levels. It may cause an individual to either have manic episodes, depressive episodes or both (Goodwin). The film Misery portrays the extent to which mental derangement in humans can reach if not attended to or diagnosed.
Bipolar disorder is mainly marked by drastic shifts in a person’s moods and behaviour at any given moment of time (Goodwin). At the beginning of the film, bed-ridden Paul Sheldon innocently allows Wilkes to go through his unpublished novel since she claims to be a big fan of his. After having read the first forty pages of the book, she later feeds him soup and praises him for his brilliance in writing. However, she feels uneasy with some of the literary profanity within the book and hesitantly but calmly brings up the critical conversation. She tells Sheldon how the use of swearing lacks nobility and when Sheldon tries to justify himself, she bursts out with anger and starts yelling so loudly at him that she even spills some of the soup on his bed and blames him harshly for causing that to happen. In the scene, Annie Wilkes mood changes instantly from that of calmness, hospitality, and normalness to harshness, ruthlessness and she even became frightening. Then a second later, her mood shifts back to being calm, she apologizes and tells him she loves him and his brilliant mind and walks away (Canby).
This particular characteristic of the disorder gets emphasized by the background music and the camera angle and shots. The background music starts immediately after Annie Wilkes begins to yell with anger at Sheldon. The louder she yells, the louder the music plays, and it emphasizes just how much her behaviour and mood has changed for the worst. The music then comes to a sudden end right when she finishes shouting just before she calms down and apologizes. The scene makes use of a close-up camera shot to show Wilkes intense mood shift and frightening emotions. The camera zooms in on her as she dramatically yells at Sheldon and it also briefly zooms in on Sheldon shocked at her reaction. Lastly, the scene uses a high camera angle on Sheldon while she yells at him. He does not say a word throughout her entire outburst. The high angle shows how powerless and defenceless he feels against Wilkes.
An individual suffering from bipolar disorder can solely exhibit symptoms of manic episodes from time to time. This episode is characterized by having lots of energy and becoming hyperactive, feeling extremely jumpy and excited, carrying out a lot of different operations at once and talking very fast about different topics (National Institute of Mental Health). As the film progresses, Sheldon is forced to write his book by what Wilkes wants. His first introductory story causes her to throw tantrums at him as she says that there is no connection at all between the stories in the collection. During his second trial, she sits across him and reads through the script and becomes overly excited about what he has written. She is so happy that she starts narrating to him her favourite different parts of the story fast. She can’t hold her excitement; she is filled with lots of energy and seems to be more active than usual. She can’t wait to know what happens next in the story and even though Sheldon does not let her know, she starts swirling continuously around the room like a little child as she screams with happiness saying, “Misery is alive! Misery is alive! Oh, it’s so romantic; Oh, this whole house is gonna be filled with romance!” (Reiner). In this scene, Ann Wilkes shows most of the signs of manic episodes as she gets overly excited and jumpy over Sheldon’s good writing of the story. She behaves like a happy little girl and has a lot of energy built up out of nowhere. The film portrays her as a very happy and harmless soul.
The manic characteristics of the disorder get emphasized by the camera shots and camera movements. The film uses a mid shot of Annie Wilkes which shows her body from the waist up as she holds onto the scripts. It enables the audience to see her glowing face more clearly as she converses with Sheldon. This mid shot of Wilkes is maintained throughout the scene even as she swirls. In addition to that, the filmmaker uses camera movement briefly as Wilkes swirls around the room and as she runs off too.
Signs of depression from time to time are also common when it comes to a bipolar patient. Depressive episodes are the complete opposite of manic episodes. They are characterized by having little energy and becoming inactive, feeling worried, sad, lonely and hopeless and having suicidal thoughts (National Institute of Mental Health). One rainy night, Annie Wilkes enters Sheldon’s studio room and gives him his pills while looking gloomy. When asked she explains how she loves him and not just his brilliance and how she knows he cannot love someone like her. She then pulls out a gun from her robe pocket and looks at it while saying, “I have this gun. Sometimes I think about using it,” She then pauses for a while before saying, “I better go now. I might put bullets in it.” (Reiner). In the scene, Wilkes speaks and behaves suicidal. Her behaviour in the scene is unusual from her normal moods and tantrums. Her energy level is very low, and even the way she speaks emptily suggests there are serious threats and issues.
In this scene, background music and camera shots are used as well to highlight the depressive episodes further. There is a close-up shot of Wilkes as she talks about her sadness and emptiness. The audience can relate to her emotions and even feel some sought of sympathy for her as a bipolar patient. The close-up shot also extends to the gun she removes from her robe pocket. The background music also emphasizes the depression she is undergoing. The sounds produced are sad and low throughout the scene and make the audience feel empathy and the sadness in the atmosphere as well.
Lastly, a patient suffering from a bipolar disorder that goes undiagnosed is often very unpredictable due to their shifts in moods and behaviour. They act according to what they think is mentally right and stand by what they do. As the film nears its end, Paul Sheldon experiences the horrifying side of a bipolar patient. Wilkes enters the room and lets him know that she knows he has been sneaking out of the room from time to time. She maintains her calm even as she talks about the scrapbook that he found full of the murders she has committed. She tells him he will eventually adjust and get used to staying with her. She then continues to explain to him about the hobbling operation performed on miners back in the days in the Kimberly diamond mines. She talks calmly about the whole situation as she positions his legs well placing a wooden cuboid box in between his feet. Then she picks up a sledgehammer and strongly hits each of his ankles with it while still maintaining her smile. She finishes off by telling him, “God, I love you.” (Reiner). In this terrifying scene, Wilkes behaviour towards Sheldon is hostile, violent and unsympathetic. She shows no remorse even as she hits his legs, but this ruthless reaction is mostly because of her mental disorder. She does not think she is wrong for what she does.
The scene gets accompanied by various film techniques such as background music; close up shots, mid shots and both high and low camera angles. Close up shots are used on both Wilkes and Sheldon to highlight the atmospheric mood at the moment. The close up shows how scared and afraid Sheldon is while it brings out the ruthlessness in Wilkes. The high camera angle also emphasizes how powerless Sheldon is over that situation as he pleads with Wilkes not to do whatever she is about to do to him. The camera angle on Wilkes is set low to show the amount of control she has over him even as she tells him she loves him. There is slow background music that remains constant throughout the entire scene magnifying the unpredictable characteristic of Wilkes disorder.
To conclude, films such as Misery contribute a lot in shaping the perspective and view of mental illnesses by the public. In ‘Media Portrayal of Mental Illness and its Treatments,’ Stuart explains that media often exaggerates mental disorders and makes them look more dangerous and frightening than they are. The media makes the public fearful of mentally ill patients and in turn these patients develop self-esteem issues and self-hatred for themselves (Stuart).
Works Cited
Canby, Vincent. "Review/Film; A Writer Who Really Suffers." The New York Times 1990.
Gleiberman, Owen. "Misery." Entertainment Weekly 30 November 1990.
Goodwin, Frederick K., and Kay Redfield Jamison. Manic-depressive illness: bipolar disorders and recurrent depression. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 2007.
King, Stephen. Misery. Great Britain: Hodder" Stoughton, 1987.
Misery. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. James Caan " Kathy Bates. 1990.
National Institute of Mental Health. Bipolar Disorder. April 2016. .
Stuart, Heather. "Media Portrayal of Mental Illness and its Treatments: What Effect Does it Have on People with Mental Illness?" Springer Link 20.2 (2012): 99– 106.
