PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS FOR THE MOVIE

‘AS GOOD AS IT GETS’

- HANSIN KAPOOR
(23013225)

Melvin Udall is a dysfunctional, acid-tongued romance novelist, who suffers from an

obsessive-compulsive disorder which paired with his misanthropy, alienates nearly
everyone with whom he interacts. He works at home as a best-selling novelist in New York
City. He eats breakfast at the same table in the same restaurant every day using disposable
plastic utensils he brings with him due to his pathological mysophobia. He takes an interest
in his waitress, Carol Connelly, the only server at the restaurant who can tolerate his
behavior. Melvin's neighbor, a gay artist named Simon Bishop, is assaulted, and nearly
killed. When Simon goes into the hospital, Melvin must take care of Verdell, and the dog
warms Melvin’s cold heart. He simultaneously receives more attention from Carol. When
Bishop is released from the hospital, Melvin is unable to cope emotionally with returning
the dog. Melvin's life is further altered when Carol decides to work closer to her home in
Brooklyn so she can care for her acutely asthmatic son Jesse James. Unable to adjust to
another waitress, Melvin arranges to pay for her son's medical expenses if Carol agrees to
continue working at her previous restaurant in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Simon's assault
and rehabilitation, coupled with Verdell's preference for Melvin, cause Simon to lose his
creative muse. Simon is approaching bankruptcy due to his medical bills. Simon's agent,
Frank Sachs, convinces Simon to go to Baltimore and ask his estranged parents for money.
Frank offers Melvin the use of his car for the trip. Melvin invites Carol to accompany them
on the trip to lessen the awkwardness. She reluctantly accepts the invitation, relationships
among the three develop and during a hotel stopover, Melvin confesses to Carol, "You
make me want to be a better man. "Once in Baltimore, Carol persuades Melvin to take her
out to have dinner. Melvin's comments during the dinner greatly upset Carol, and she
abruptly leaves. Upon seeing the frustrated Carol, Simon begins to sketch her and
rekindles his creativity, once more feeling a desire to paint. He briefly reconnects with his
parents but can tell them that he'll be fine. After returning to New York City, Carol tells
Melvin that she does not want him in her life anymore. She later regrets her statement and
calls him to apologize. The relationship between Melvin and Carol remains complicated
until Simon, who Melvin has allowed to move in with him until he can get a new apartment,
convinces Melvin to declare his love for her. The film ends with Melvin and Carol walking
together. Portrayals of mental illness are prevalent in the media, and studies show that they
influence public perception. Majorly, representations in the entertainment media and news
media interact to shape community attitudes around mental disorders. Therefore, it
becomes more essential to study the light in which psychological disorders are depicted. For
this purpose, the movie that was chosen to be “As Good as It Gets.” It is a movie about
Melvin Udall who is an obsessive-compulsive writer of romantic fiction and is rude to
everyone he meets, including his gay neighbor Simon. However, as life has it, after Simon’s
accident when he must look after Simon's dog, he begins to soften. After a lot of difficulties,
if still not completely over his problems, he finds love in the only waitress at the local diner
whom he would let wait on him. The disorder shown in this movie was obsessive-
compulsive disorder. OCD is characterized by the presence of both obsessive thoughts and
compulsive behaviors carried out to neutralize such recurrent thoughts. Throughout the
movie, one could witness the prevalence of these signs and symptoms while studying the
character’s demeaner. One saw an instance of obsessions, compulsions, and impaired social
skills (which aren’t part of the OCD prognosis but were present in addition to it). One
interesting thing about this movie is that one also sees him getting better with his symptoms
with a significant level of improvement at the end of the movie. Starting with obsessions, as
per DSM-5, they are recurrent and persistent thoughts urges, or images that are
experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and unwanted, and that in
most individuals cause marked anxiety or distress. Melvin had obsessions with cleanliness,
routine, orderliness and organization, and control. Most of these obsessions came in
conjugation with compulsions, which according to DSM-5 are, Repetitive behaviors e.g.,
hand washing, ordering, checking or mental acts e.g., praying, counting, repeating words
silently that the individual feels driven to perform in response to an obsession or according.
to rules that must be applied rigidly in addition to the obsessions, Melvin also had some
superstitious compulsions. Firstly, instances of his obsessions with cleanliness are very
subtly incorporated in the movie, the audience knows that Melvin has a fear of germ
contamination when he is seen shouting, don’t shout! at the people on the street, or when he
is seen bringing his cutlery to a restaurant, or when even after being so fond of Vernell he
touches him after wearing a set of gloves. Melvin is hardly ever seen without gloves, and he
also discarded them after a single use. This is probably the most prominent obsession
shown in the movie. Even the tiniest decision he took was affected by this obsession, for
example, while on a date with Carol when he was asked to change into black tie formals, he
found it easier to buy a new suit than to touch the spare presented to him for use by the
restaurant. Secondly, one recounts Melvin to be driven strongly by his obsessions with
routine and being on schedule. He ate his breakfast at the same restaurant, at the same
time sitting in the same booth and served by the same waitress. Two instances when this
chain was broken, he appeared to be visibly agitated. Once when Carol is not at work,
because of which he creates havoc in the restaurant and later tracks her down and shows
them to her door unexpectantly. This scene, in fact, also shows his impulsive decision
making, the other was when he exclaims to his psychiatrist, “I don’t have a mountain of
available time, I must get to my restaurant on time, do you know how hard it was for me to
get here? Both situations render him anxious and agitated about seeing a change in his
schedule. Thirdly, Melvin had a strong need for perfection and therefore, an obsession with
orderliness and organization. One of the first scenes where this is portrayed is in the shot of
his house. In addition to everything being neatly placed, the candies near his desk were
segregated color-wise and kept equidistant alongside a neatly stacked pile of numerous
water bottles. Another instance was the scene of him preparing his suitcase for the trip.
Every commodity he planned on taking along was categorized and collected, and if that
wasn’t all, he was also shown trying to place the products in a perfect position while sorting
them out. A few more instances of this obsession with orderliness are seen, like in the way
he arranged Simon’s room, etc. Lastly, he also performed superstitious compulsions. For
instance, he had a unique way of putting on his slippers – first making a pattern touching
the floor on all four sides of the slipper and then putting it on, for both feet separately. He
also touched his soap to the mirror first before using it. What is interesting to note is that
these obsessions did not just occur alone? Often, they were seen in conjugation with one
another. For example, in one of the most peculiar or to say, a typical scene depicting OCD,
Melvin is seen entering his house, locking his door, and counting a couple of times,
flickering the light switch, and counting a couple of times, throwing his leather gloves away
after one use, then washing his hands with scorching hot water and a new soap after every
wash. Behind the bathroom mirror, he had a stack of soaps from which every time he took
one, he touched it to the mirror once before using it. Personally, one saw this as a great
opportunity to study a disorder effectively with a case study in the form of AV media. It
was an insightful experience as one could see the actual or almost resembling depiction of
compulsive behavior. As at an undergraduate level, it is very difficult to get an in-depth
insight into the complexities of a disorder, this practicum study posed as an activity or more
so, a practice to be more observant about the cues and symptoms for higher studies should
one take up this field of study. It was also an innovative and engaging way of learning
during the pandemic when many other resources were unavailable. OCD is obsessive-
compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disorder in which people have recurring, unwanted
thoughts, ideas, or sensations that can be referred to as obsessions that make them feel
driven to do something repetitively or in simple words compulsions. Repetitive behaviors,
such as hand washing, checking on things, or cleaning, can significantly interfere with a
person ‘s daily activities and social interactions. The movie “As Good as It Gets” does a
fabulous job of showcasing many aspects of it. It portrays a range of obsessions over
cleanliness, orderliness, control, routine, etc., and corresponding compulsive behavior with
an additional aspect of superstition. The beauty of the production lines in the trajectory of
the movie leads from a person with severe symptoms to a motivated and recovering
individual. The title “As Good as It Gets” is indicative of this trajectory.