Split Stereotype

 

“Split Stereotype” 

A Review of Words on the Bathroom Walls by Nick Olszyk

 

Streaming Service: Theatrical

Year: 2020

MPAA Rating, PG-13

USCCB Rating, NR

Reel Rating, Three Reels

 

            Words on the Bathroom Wall is rare in that it features a schizophrenic person as the protagonist who is not psychopathic murder but a suffering victim of a debilitating mental illness. That alone is worth celebrating, but a film must have more than a good hook to cut past the dearth of cinema available nowadays. Words does well with a competent albeit predictable narrative, but unfortunately its portrayal of Catholicism is mixed at best, falling into the usual Hollywood cliques that have been advanced a thousand times over.

            Adam (Charlie Plummer) is an above average teenager in many ways. He is smart, polite, driven, and respectful. He aspires to become a chef and, rather than pay tens of thousands on a useless bachelor’s degree, plans on attending a culinary school, which only requires a high school diploma. Yet these plans are put on sudden hold when a psychotic episode occurs during chemistry class and a subsequent injury lead to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Things continue to spiral from there. His father leaves, and his mother remarries. He leaves public education to avoid bullying and begins attending the local Catholic high school. Fortunately, a new experimental medicine begins to show signs of hope, but a new baby sister and potential girlfriend threaten to complicate his life even further.

            Schizophrenia is a terrifying illness, and Words does a good job illustrating it for the uneducated, including myself. Visual hallucinations are rare, but necessary for the cinematic medium. Adam experiences three distinct individuals who represent different aspects of his psyche: his sexual drive, his desire to protect himself, and his hope for a better life. While Adam understands these individuals are not real, they are still incredibly distracting. What is more dangerous are the misunderstood emotions of fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. All humans have these feelings, but to Adam they are overwhelming. A little spider in the corner of the bathroom turns into a ravenous monster bent on your destruction. While the medication helps eliminate some of the distractions, they also interfere with his ability to smell and affect his dexterity, which are essential to his future profession. This provides a terrible dilemma for Adam. Because the problem is in his mind, any medication that helps will could also hinder other aspects of his existence.

            Negative Catholic stereotypes in American cinema is by now an established troupe, but Words has the infamous distinction of holding not one but two contradictory stereotypes simultaneously. Sad but impressive. The principal of Adam’s new school is crusty old nun who is reluctant to accept him but will if he is “on his medication.” When Adam inevitability has an episode, she is quick to condemn and expel him as “unfit” for the school. Like many other Hollywood nuns, she is a hypocrite who claims to be godly but rejects those who need her most. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Fr. Patrick (Andy Garcia), a kind and understanding priest who, despite Adam’s unbelief, listens patiently and offers advice. This seems like a positive portrayal, but on closer examination is only positive because he does not act like a priest. Adam visits Fr. Patrick in the confessional, but there is no confession. “We are all broken,” Fr. Patrick tells Adam, “and that’s okay.” Yes, that is true, but it is the same kind of wisdom that could come from a Buddhist monk. There is no mention of Christ or redemption, just compassion and acceptance.

            As mentioned before, Adam does have an evitable breakdown where he temporarily allows his delusions to consume him. Fortunately, he is brought back through his ability to understand reality apart from his psychological state, which comes through the love his mother and girlfriend. He accepts that he will never be rid of his illness but can have a “diet of the mind” where he simply refrains from engaging in certain hallucinations and thought patterns. This is clever ending, but it is also the exact same ending of A Beautiful Mind, another much, much better film about a schizophrenic struggling with his illness. The only advantage Words has over Ron Howard’s Best Picture Oscar winner is its accessibility for teens.

            Words on the Bathroom Walls is a positive step in righting an unjust perception of people with mental illness; even better, it does this through art rather than tearing down statues or firing people. Yet it is hard to celebrate the breaking of one stereotype while reinforcing another. In 2020, it seems like the only films that take religion seriously like Silence or First Reformed view it in a nihilistic fashion. I miss films like Going My Way and Monsieur Vincent that gave entertaining, sober, and uplifting portrayals of clergy. The only picture of recent memory to do this was The Passion of the Christ, which was enormously successful. Unfortunately, the lesson that seemed to come out of that film was that religious films can be profitable, with no concern for their artistic quality.

            There was one moment, however, that makes the whole film with it. The final scene occurs at Adam’s high school graduation. Adam, who was expelled, nonetheless comes onstage and demands his diploma. Adam’s girlfriend and Fr. Patrick convince the principal to acquiesce, and the film ends with a big “congratulations to the Class of 2020!” Then hundreds of students, all indoors, throw up their caps and hug each other, mask free. It made me laugh harder than anything this year, then cry and cry and cry.

This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on August 19th, 2020.