Free Sample Essays > Film and TV
A Beautiful Mind
A Beautiful Mind begins almost like your typical love story except that the
main character, John Nash, is a little strange because he’s a genius. He is a
mathematical wizard and exhibits the characteristics you often see in someone so
brilliant. For example, he frequently loses track of time at work because he is so
involved in solving an equation that no one has ever solved before. The little
details of life kind of get away from him because his mind appears to be
occupied with thoughts about his work. After all, it is not unusual for a genius to
be a little eccentric. John seems to see the world differently than the average
person.
John’s life goes on in a seemingly normal way with the exception of the spy
work that he is involved in for the government. During college, this guy that
looks like he works for the government comes along and gets him involved in
what seems to be secret government activities. Also during college, he is very
close to his roommate who becomes his lifelong best friend. He and this best
friend get into trouble when they throw a huge desk out a window with the best
friend egging him on all the way. But at the time you don’t realize that the best
friend doesn’t exist. John falls in love with a beautiful woman who seems to love
him very much as well. They get married and still, even she doesn’t notice that
he is having a problem. He is portrayed to be a little odd but you wouldn’t think
that he is really crazy. His career continues to flourish but soon you see things
starting to get out of hand. The audience doesn’t realize at first that this is his
illness progressing. John begins to have problems at work and even has a
breakdown there. His co-workers send him to the hospital and call his wife who
is very shocked. She then puts two and two together and figures out that
something is very wrong.
While hospitalized, John is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and treated
with medication. It shows him almost like a vegetable in the hospital. But he’s no
longer hearing the voices. Once back home, John is unable to work because the
medication dopes him up. Watching this part gives you a real sense of how badly
the early medications used to treat this disease could affect the person. John just
sort of shuffles around not really doing much of anything. This part is especially
sad because he is so brilliant and had such a good life and now it is all gone. It is
clear though that this isn’t because of the actual disease but more because of the
medication.
John realizes what is happening and decides he doesn’t want to continue
taking his medication. When it’s time to take it, he waits for his wife to leave the
room and then puts the pills in his desk. After he’s off the medication for a
while, the delusions start coming back but he manages to hide them at first. He
truly believes the delusions and sets up this elaborate lab in his garage that
really shows how crazy he is. His [next page]