The Chronicle, Spring 2019

29 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

A Funny Story? By Head of School, Annabel MacDonald-Smith

received criticism was the graphic portrayal of Hannah’s suicide. In the novel, this is only briefly mentioned whereas the series features a graphic scene showing Hannah taking her own life. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is a novel about a 15-year-old boy who checks himself into a psychiatric hospital after feeling depressed and suicidal. Immediately this novel is in complete contrast to Thirteen Reasons Why as instead of taking his own life, he seeks help. I chose this novel as I had previously seen the film and found it to be an interesting insight into the mind of a clinically depressed character. It’s Kind of a Funny Story received much less media coverage than Thirteen Reasons Why , possibly because there was not much criticism from experts. Ned Vizzini himself was diagnosed with depression and spent time in a psychiatric facility. Many of the characters described in the book are based on people he met during his time in the hospital. This seemed to allow Vizzini to write a much more accurate portrayal of mental illness due to his first-hand experiences. One of the main symptoms of the protagonist’s mental illness is vomiting. The inclusion of this symptom immediately emphasises the undesirability of the illness as it highlights the physical effect that mental illness can have. Unfortunately, in the film adaptation, Craig’s vomiting is made more comical as he is shown to projectile vomit in a restaurant. This comedic portrayal can lessen the true severity of the symptom as it makes the audience laugh instead of sympathising with the character who is unable to eat without vomiting. The inclusion of the character Muqtada in both the novel and the film balances out the comedy as he shows how severe and debilitating a mental illness can be. In both the book and the film, Muqtada has the same accurate symptoms and so the representation of his mental illness is honest and effective. Throughout the novel, Muqtada is mainly in bed due to the severity of his depression. The reader and viewer are first introduced to Muqtada ‘burrowed into bed’. He seems to not leave the room even for meals. Later in the novel, Craig describes him as possibly

being ‘paralysed by life’, which shows the reader the difficulty of living with a mental illness. The contrast between Craig’s ability to interact with others and Muqtada’s inability to even get out of bed demonstrates to the reader and viewer that mental illnesses come in varying severities and that even though someone may appear fine, they may be struggling. This helps to reduce the stigma around mental illness as people become more aware of symptoms and the fact that people may not always look visibly ill. This inclusion of a variety of symptoms with different severities helps to portray an accurate and non- glamorised view of mental illness as viewers and readers are shown how debilitating a mental illness can be. Overall, throughout my research I found that the way that literature and the media present mental illness is incredibly important. Presenting an accurate, non-glamorised picture of mental illness is vital. Thirteen Reasons Why presents a very glamorised view of suicide, whereas the novel It’s Kind of a Funny Story overall presents a relatively accurate depiction of mental illness, whilst encouraging readers to seek help. The depiction is not glamorised as Craig is a relatable character who seeks help and the reader is very aware of the struggle that he is going through, unlike with Hannah in Thirteen Reasons Why . However, although the book is very accurate, parts of the film may be seen as glamorising mental illness owing to the producers’ attempt to make the film more light-hearted and comic. Despite this, I believe that both the novel and the subsequent film of It’s Kind of a Funny Story present a non- glamorised view of mental illness.

At Teddies, all Lower Sixth A Level pupils take the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), a 5,000-word research project and extended essay or artefact in a field of your choice. I decided to write my EPQ on the topic of ‘Do the novels Thirteen Reasons Why and It’s Kind of a Funny Story and their subsequent screen adaptations glamorise mental illness and suicide in teens?’. Simply by reading the news or looking on the internet it is clear that mental illness is being talked about more than ever before. It is important, therefore, that literature and the media represent mental illness correctly as it is an issue that many teens face. Thirteen Reasons Why , by Jay Asher, is a fictional novel about a teenager called Hannah Baker who dies by suicide and leaves behind 13 tapes, each blaming a different person for her death. These tapes could be seen as immediately distorting the true impact of a suicide as they do not fully show the finality of death: they allow Hannah Baker to live on through the narration of the tapes. The screen adaptation of Thirteen Reasons Why received much criticism after its release on Netflix in 2017 for its glamorisation of suicide. Some people believed that because Hannah narrated the series, it gave a sense that ending her own life had solved Hannah’s problems and allowed her to seek revenge on people who had mistreated her, which is a dangerous idea to present to vulnerable teen viewers. Another aspect of the adaptation that