The movie Awakenings - 4852 Words

Meagan McGee Psychology 1300 Awakenings The movie Awakenings starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro portrays the true story of a doctor named Dr. Malcolm Sayer, and the events of the summer of 1969 at a psychiatric hospital in New York. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who is a research physician, is confronted with a number of patients who had each been afflicted with a devastating disease called Encephalitis Lethargica. The illness killed most of the people who contracted it, but some were left living statues; speechless, motionless, and helpless. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, when introduced to these patients and their prospective cases, took on what was considered an extremely unpredictable and radical experimental treatment. Being a primarily†¦show more content†¦This movie expresses both important sides of medicine and of psychology. Although the patients depicted in this movie slipped back into their comatose like state, Dr. Malcolm Sayer and the drug L-DOPA changed their lives forever. Reference Page - http://www.curatormagazine.com/rebeccatalbot/what- ghosts-teach-oliver-sackss-awakenings-part-i/ (Quote) - http://www.amazon.com/Awakenings-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0375704051 (Book Review) -Lilienfeld, Woolf, Namy, and Lynn. Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding. Boston: Allyn Bacon, 2008. (Psychology Text Book) The Awakenings Recently I watched a fascinating movie which related psychology and experimental drug usage. The movie was quite long, and had a variety of high points and low points. A few main aspects were touched on and could be related directly to my class and the information we have covered over the past few weeks. It would crucial to summarize the movie first and then compare and contrast it to the information I have been presented with in my psychology class. Imagine your life being seemingly normal one day, and the next day changed forever. Dr. Sayer was a research psychologist who studied the cause or result of behaviors based on experimental data. He applied at an institute to work as a neurologist. He was told that his professionalShow MoreRelatedCritical Review On The Movie Awakenings 1964 Words   |  8 Pagesno less meaning to their viewers than the more popular ones. Penny Marshalls’ Awakenings is one such film. Released January 11, 1991, the drama biography grossed $52 million with an original budget of roughly $31 million. Despite the fact that the pg-13 Columbia Pictures Corporation and Parkes/Lasker Productions movie did not gross even double the original budget, viewers reacted extremely well to the film, Awakenings was nominated for 11 awards, including 3 Oscars, and won an additional 6. ThisRead MoreComparison Between Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon and Awakenings641 Words   |  3 PagesComparison Between Danie l Keyes Flowers for Algernon and Awakenings There were many similarities between the short story â€Å"Flowers for Algernon† and the movie Awakenings. â€Å"Flowers for Algernon†, by Daniel Keyes, is about a man named Charlie, who has a very low IQ. Charlie gets an operation to make him smarter. It is a story about what happens to him during that period of time. The movie, Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, is about how some peopleRead MoreThe Awakening Of The Dark Corridor984 Words   |  4 Pagesactual confrontation, The Awakening takes viewers into a spaceous, eerie boarding school that used to be a private mansion. This ghost movie derives from typical characteristics of the subgenre haunted houses. Unexpected sounds, intense music, and a ghostly monster scare the viewer as this movie plays out, but the twist is finding out the monster is not the ghost. The Awakening’s twist in plot allows the movie to surpass the layout of a haunted house movie by maki ng the movie more interesting, suprisingRead More A Comparison of Kate Chopins The Awakening and Grand Isle Essay1492 Words   |  6 PagesA Comparison of Kate Chopins The Awakening and Grand Isle      Ã‚  Ã‚   Grand Isle is the movie adaptation of Kate Chopins 1889 novel, The Awakening. Turner Network Television (TNT) made the movie in 1991, and it stars Kelly McGillis as Edna Pontellier and Adrian Pasdar as Robert Lebrun. To say that this movie is based, even loosely, on The Awakening is an insult to Kate Chopins colorful literary work. A reviewer from People Weekly calls it a tedious melodrama and sees it as Kelly McGilliss vanityRead MoreAwakenings Essay1018 Words   |  5 PagesFrom beginning to end the movie The Awakening, Robin Williams demonstrates his knowledge of the scientific method. The scientific method is a procedure of steps that is used to prove something. In the movie it is used to show that patients suffering from an un-named disorder do have a slight opportunity to return to their normal state of being. The scientific method is a list of steps to prove something and make into a law or theory based on your final product andThe Awakening findings. It is composedRead More The Awakening Essay1091 Words   |  5 Pagesis due to the fact that an author is able to convey his/her message clearer and include things in the book that cannot be exhibited in a movie. For this reason, the reader of the book is much more effected than the viewer of the film. In the novella, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, there is much more evidence of symbolism as well as deeper meaning than in the movie version of the book, Grand Isle. Chopin conveys her symbolic messages through the main character’s newly acquired ability to swim, throughRead MoreEssay about Literary Comparison Flowers for Algernon vs Awakenings777 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Comparison Essay Flowers for Algernon VS Awakenings Most of us feel that were â€Å"different† in one way or another at some point in our lives. Being different, however, is not always the â€Å"bad† thing that we sometimes imagine it to be. In fact, Charles Evans Hughes once said, â€Å"When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.† Literature often portrays differences as a good thing, too. In Flowers for Algernon, for example, vary from others, that personRead MoreWho Killed the Electric Car vs. A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash1298 Words   |  6 PagesCrude Awakening: The Oil Crash Who Killed the Electric Car directed by Chris Paine and A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash directed by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack are similar documentary films in several aspects including their target audiences and viewpoints. Both documentaries choose to approach their messages differently concerning their use(s) of pathos, logos, and ethos. Who Killed the Electric Car relies much more on the use of pathos to relay its argument, while A Crude Awakening: TheRead MoreDr. Malcolm Sayer ( Robin Williams )889 Words   |  4 PagesAwakenings In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a new physician at a local hospital in the Bronx area of New York City. Dr. Sayer is caring and dedicated physician who works with catatonic patients who survived the encephalitis lethargica epidemic. Despite these patients not moving in over decades, Dr. Sayer is determined to help these patients and sees them as their families do as individuals. Dr. Sayer first discovers, there are certain stimuli such as catching a ball, hearing familiarRead MoreThe Awakenings : Flowers For Algernon And Awakenings710 Words   |  3 PagesRecently I (and many others) have read the story â€Å"Flowers for Algernon, and the movie â€Å"Awakenings†. â€Å"Flower for Algernon† is an outstanding story about a Man named Charlie Gordon with an I.Q. of 68, and a small white mouse named Algernon who can beat Charlie in any maze. The story begins when Charlies Support teacher, Miss Kinnian, advise Charlie to do an experiment that Dr.Nemur and Dr.Strauss believe that a surgical operation could possibly have Charlies I.Q. raise up triple the amount it was