The movie “A Beautiful Mind” is based on real-life events of someone who faced a mental disease called Schizophrenia. John Nash was schizophrenic, but he was also a mathematician who invented an equation referred to as Nash equilibrium or game theory that changed the world despite all his life struggles. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects someone’s behavior, and how they feel and think. This mental illness also interferes with how they interact with people around them. The film illustrates the struggles of what someone with schizophrenia has to face every day and how that mental disease affects them from not being sure of what is real and not real.
John Nash won the Nobel Prize because of the game theory, or Nash equilibrium, that he invented that has impacted the world now. It is now used in the criminal system, in stock markets, and how war and economics are waged today. At the beginning of the film, John came up with his equation which describes an equilibrium system where things respond in equal elegant ways. His three friends and he were in a bar. Then, five women walked in, four of them were brunets and one was blonde. All four men are looking for a date and they all believe that the blonde woman was more attractive than the brunet woman.
However, if all four men go ahead and ask the blonde woman out on a date, they will all probably get rejected or will be stuck without a date. If they went to ask out the four brunet women out on a date after they have gotten rejected by the blonde woman, they will most likely get turned down because they will not like to be the second choice. If all four men pursue their desirable option, they will not get anything, but if they choose their second option first then they will be more likely to succeed. Nash’s equilibrium or game theory is basically saying that when two opposing sides have the same equation the best outcome for the individual is the action that works best for everyone not just for themselves.
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Despite that John Nash was an intelligent man who came up with the equilibrium, he had delusions which made him believe that he was living those moments in his life. His schizophrenia made him believe that a government agent, named William Parcher, was a real person and that he was working for him in which they worked together with a Pentagon. John believed that he was doing soviet code breaking and that he was delivering his research in envelopes to a secret mailbox. Later in the film, John saw men in suits, which he thought were Soviet spies who were after him. Due to his delusion, when he saw these men, he ran away. The men chased after him and when they caught him, it was revealed that they were sent from a psychiatric hospital to take him there so that he can get help with his mental disability. John also had hallucinated two other people. There was Charles, who John believed was his best friend and roommate at Harvard University. Also, a little girl named Marcee, who was Charles niece.
Schizophrenia interferes with people being able to socialize with other people around them. It seems that John had a difficult time socializing with other students while he was in graduate school. Whenever he came across his classmates, he did not speak much nor showed much emotion, which can be caused by his mental disorder. He also acted different and awkward. His social skills lacked that it made him had a hallucination that Charles was his best friend so that he did not feel lonely. As the film went forward John’s problem with interacting with others started to become worse. His disorder also got worse, to the point where he had to take insulin shock treatment to try to help him from not hallucinating.
As time passed by John tried to live a normal life when he returned to work at Princeton. He shows the viewer how someone with schizophrenia functions in real life and how he tried to keep his disorder under control. Even though John still hallucinated of seeing Charles, Marcee, and William, he tried his best to ignore them. This part of the scene seemed to be difficult for John, but it was possible.
The actors in the movie played a great role in how someone with schizophrenia behaves and how those around that person react or behave with them. It also conveyed an accurate meaning of what schizophrenia is. The fact, that John’s wife stuck with him throughout his struggles was important. Even though, John’s wife lived with the fear that he might hurt her or their son she refused to leave him. The love and support that she gave him is something that can help and motivate someone suffering from schizophrenia.
Overall, John was able to live without having to take medication, but his disorder did not completely go away. He still saw people who were not real, but they were not seen as often. Even though he had schizophrenia he was still able to come up with a game theory which won him the Nobel Prize. Living with a disorder like this is very overwhelming and tough, but it is impossible for someone like John to be able to achieve important things in life. He had to face tough battles in his everyday life, from not being sure of what was real and not real. The film was enlightening because it has made me realize that us people who are healthy should not take life for granted but be grateful because not everyone can say that they live a normal and healthy life.
