Character Under Discussion:
In the film Roy is the main character. He is a Caucasian, late middle aged man with few social connections and even fewer meaningful ones out of those. He has not been romantically involved in almost 15 years and the only true social contact that he continually maintains is a business part whom he seems to go out of his way not to call a friend. He is obsessed with symmetry and cleanliness which often interfere with his life and his lively hood. He would generally be considered straight forward as he often speaks what his on his mind as opposed to following social norms. He seems primarily motivated at first by money and then by who he thinks is his estranged daughter.
Diagnosis (with specific reference to and discussion of DSM-IV criteria) :
Roy’s appearance is neat and clean. He is a heavy smoker whose behavior often appears aggravated. He speaks quickly and often pauses and has a near stutter but the content is often of normal intelligence or above. He often seems anxious and agitated. He is oriented times 3. On Axis- I Roy has the anxiety disorder OCD. On top of tics and opening and closing the door in sets of three, Roy expresses a need for symmetry and cleanliness. He eats only tuna from cans which he then washes, bags and throws away, is greatly bothered by a leaf floating in his pool and carpet strands out of place, he uses a cloth to open doors and he excessively washes and cleans his house while neglecting the rest of his life. He has an abundance of cleaning products which are organized and neatly in place as well as the contents of his fridge. On this axis he also has agoraphobia which causes panic attacks that distort his reality. On Axis- II Roy has a mild case of schizoid personality disorder seen by his lack of social connections and wants for them, minimal to no pleasure in activities, opting for solitary activities and cold and detached emotional state. There is nothing on Axis- III. On axis IV he has a few environmental problems that we see in his relationship with his estranged daughter and also some work related issues due to the nature of his profession.
Positive Changes:
There are a few positive changes that could improve Roy’s condition and diminish his suffering. These changes actually occur in the movie and can be attributed to the diminished appearance of his symptoms at the end of the movie. These changes were a pick up in his social interactions which included getting into a healthy marriage and expecting a child. Another is the change in his profession from a con artist who needs to be socially detached, manipulative and isolated into a member of the working class with an “honest” job. Another is getting use to the idea of disorder and unseemliness from being exposed to it a little at a time for reasons perceived as being positive which he was by his pseudo daughter.
Insights:
I’ve learned a great deal about abnormal psychology and the affect it as on a person and their life through out this assignment and by watching this film. Psychological disorders such as OCD, schizoid personality disorder and agoraphobia has profound and impairing impacts on an individual affecting many aspects of themselves and there lives. It often interferes with their concepts of themselves, others and the outside world, severely impairs their social interactions and skills, can prohibit them occupationally, has a tendency to interfere with the things that they need to get done and accomplish and can lead to feelings of depression and thoughts of wanting to die. Although certain disorders cannot be cured indefinitely there are ways to alleviate the severity of the symptoms and find ways to pursue meaningful lives. These ways often take time to be effective and may cause elevated stress and suffering before the results can be seen. men is a movie about a con artist named Roy. In the movie Roy has a partner whom he is training in his knowledge of conning. Although multiple cons occur, the main focus is on a con with a higher pay off than they normally pursue. Part way through t he movie Roy is reunited with someone he thinks is his estranged daughter from a failed marriage almost 15 years prior. After pulling the girl into his greatest con and putting her like in danger, he decided to give up being in the con businesses to be more wholesome and a better father figure to his daughter. This plan falls short however after the con goes bad and the guy that they were cheating, the mark, tracks the three of them down. In a tense moment the daughter shoots the mark and Roy sends her away with Frank. He returns to take the shot mark to the hospital only to find him not in the same spot and after being hit on the head wakes up in a hospital room with two FBI agents threatening his daughter’s quality of life. Roy insists on speaking to his psychiatrist and gives him the pass code for the safety deposit box with all of his money to give to his daughter. After being ignored and leaving his room sometime later we find that he is not actually in a hospital but instead is in an abandoned building. We also find out that the psychiatrist, the mark, the pseudo daughter and the FBI agents are all part of an elaborate con set up by Frank in order to take Roy for all of his money, which he succeeds in doing. The movie closes with Frank married to a store clerk that he had previously ignored the flirting of and working as an honest man selling carpets and displaying none of the apparent OCD traits which had been prevalent throughout the rest of the film.
