I spent the first part of Silver Linings Playbook being angry–not at the film, but at the audience who was laughing at Bradley Cooper’s character’s Pat Solitano’s portrayal of bipolar disorder. It was too familiar, too real. But then I warmed up to it, recognized the messiness of his family, how they hoped to help and fell short, while not even realizing this; how ‘take your meds’ is the only mantra we sometimes know; how we try to protect, and perhaps stifle, those we love who are struggling. It’s a film, of course, and there’s that happy ending, but it reminded me that in spite of sometimes getting things wrong as a family, we’re still there and maybe that’s enough. Maybe.
Reading around the film, I came across a number of quotes from the director David O. Russell that resonated. In particular, speaking on CNN, he made the connection with this film and his own son who suffers from a mood disorder:
“Five years ago I was given the book that I based it on, and I was looking for a story that could make my son, who had struggled with a mood disorder, feel part of the world, and this is just a real story,” he says. "Silver Linings is what I learned from him.”
‘Its real…there are families every day fighting for their lives, with these issues silently, quietly, bravely, and feeling in the shadows and not able to talk about it. You must do things. Life goes on…’
And finally this on how the film affected him and his family:
‘It made everyone feel more relaxed and part of the world so we weren’t living in our own stigmatized corner of the world; it was more public and more embraced. Silver Linings is what I learned from him. Everything I learned from him applies to me and everybody else. I can’t afford a negative attitude.’
Inspired by Silver Linings, Salon recently ran an article that this was the year of "Coming out of the Crazy Closet". I hope so.