On The Literature Of The 20th Century To The Early 21st Century The United States Mental Illness Themed Movies

With the ideological trends of modernism at the beginning of the 20th century, various forms of literature and art focused on reflecting human's inner world and caring for people's living situation. Also, Technological advances promote rapid development of medicine. More and more people have the desire to pay attention to mental illness-one of the oldest diseases, no matter from medical or humanistic perspective. Mentally ill people are complete in physical sense. However, they are in non-human status in the spiritual level and in the periphery of human society. As human beings in physical sense, they have normal mental mechanism and physiological basis. But, as non-human beings, they have parts of physical or psychological barriers that different from ordinary people. It likes a broken hole outside the gauze covering the truth makes it possible to glimpse the truth. In other words, the external behavior of the mentally ill can reflect the real situation and mental status of the human being from a different perspective. Mental illness or mentally ill people-oriented film literature can highlight the humane care from all kinds of perspective and demonstrate the existence circumstances and psychological dissimilation of the human.This paper is divided into three parts:introduction, main body and epilogue. The introduction part mainly gave an introduction on the significance of the topic and research status at home and abroad of this paper; the main body is totally divided into three chapters:the chapter one mainly introduces the development of mental illness pathology in the 20th century is a gradual process which is turned from medicine and clinical medicine into psychology. It focuses on the development of the films themed on mental illness. A large number of mental illness people and mental disabilities enter into the text creation and their images have gone through three periods of changes that from an intruder changed into a anger expresser, in the final, become a marginal man in the society and the age. The second chapter analyzes the deep implication of the film literature themed on mental illness from three perspectives. First, it begins from the human characteristics and embodies the humanistic care containing in the works of art, such as the humanity of the characters, the concept of humanistic tradition embodied in the play. Then, it analyzes the deep meaning of the plot and characters under the context words of psychological analysis. Finally, the chapter pointed out the work also explores the theme of human existence from the point of view of existentialism. It is not an overgeneralization but a new path through the individual of the mentally ill interpreting the dilemma of the modern people facing. The final chapter mainly discusses the stories in the main aesthetic features commonly used in the works. Most of this kinds of works indicate similar features that is thriller feeling and mysterious effect. The works usually shape thriller atmosphere using the ways of free association and the plot of dream interpretation. The use of narrative space-time distortions and symbols increase the mystery of the works. Horror film plays a role in releasing pressure. Facing burden and pressure the society brings, more and more people need self-releasing. Thereof, aesthetic effect of the film becomes key character to attract audience. Finally, the remainder is on the theme of mental illness film market effects of literature and social functions were briefly analyzed and prospected.