Reflection on “A Beautiful Mind” Full Movie Essay Example
Reflection on “A Beautiful Mind” Full Movie Essay Example

Reflection on “A Beautiful Mind” Full Movie Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (817 words)
  • Published: April 26, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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In the poignant movie A Beautiful Mind, I was taken through John Nash’s experiences, a mathematical genius whose schizophrenia slowly begins to take over his life. Even after suffering the humiliation of being detained during one of his lectures and sent to a mental hospital to be deemed as crazy, John Nash refuses to take his medication because it interferes with the top secret mission Parcher, one of his hallucinations, forces him to undertake throughout the movie.

Just when Alicia, John’s wife, lets herself believe that John is beginning to overcome his schizophrenia, his refusal to take his medication causes him to lapse even deeper into his illness than he had before. In one scene, Alicia lets John alone with their child, trusting him to give their son a bath, and runs outside to collect the laundry before th

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e onset of an incoming storm.

When Alicia then stumbles upon the shed John has been working in which has been covered with newspapers he had been “decoding,” she runs back to the house to find her child who almost drowns, and then gets physically abused by John in her desperate attempt to call Dr. Rosen for help. I find this scene particularly moving, because it shows the full extent of how John’s schizophrenia interferes with his ability to live a normal life.

I cannot bring myself to fully imagine what John, the once revered mathematical genius must feel after realizing that he cannot even control his own actions. His hallucinations cause him to lose sight of reality, making him incapable of properly fathering his own child and being the responsible husband he desires to be. When John physically hurts

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Alicia and comes close to causing his son’s death, he realizes that his schizophrenia has caused him to transform into someone else.

I found the scene incredibly depressing because it showed how truly out of hand John’s hallucinations had become, and how they took over his life. I find it ironic and devastating how the same brilliant mind that leads him to find proof in game theory then causes him to suffer and lose the respect he had from others when he first attended Princeton. However, John learns to overcome this mental instability and manages to become alarmingly successful which leads to another memorable and touching scene in the movie.

Close to the beginning of the movie, the head of the department tells John that although he may be gifted with a brilliant mind, he will not be able to accomplish anything unless he learns to assert himself and his talents properly. In the end of the movie, when John is approached by a man considering him for the Nobel Prize, the faculty at Princeton places their pens on the table, awarding him the highest honor that the members can give to each other.

I think this scene was both sentimental and essential to the plot of the movie, because it shows that despite the oppression John endures, he learns to overcome it all which is the overall theme the movie was trying to portray. John is ridiculed and doubted by the other professors and students at Princeton, yet he learns to prove to himself that his schizophrenia and hallucinations are not reason enough to give up the things he enjoys most in life such as teaching and

tending to his family.

He even endures the insulin coma therapy Dr. Rosen subscribes to him five times a week in an effort to get rid of his schizophrenia which emotionally hurts both he and his wife. It is a rewarding sensation to know that a man who previously had no control over his life and had difficulty in determining something as simple as what is real and not real, ultimately wins the respect of the other faculty and then the Nobel Prize. Although neither John nor the medication can completely get rid of the hallucinations, John manages to ignore their existence and continue on with his life.

He tells Martin that although they may haunt him, everyone is haunted by their past, and that he only refers to his hallucinations as a thing of his past. I think this is an incredible accomplishment for John. He learns to ignore what bothers him most, and I find that the scene when he finally gains respect of his faculty and world recognition through the Nobel Prize is very well deserved. In contrast to the earlier scene in which John could barely recognize himself when he harms Alicia, I think this scene shows an incredible marked improvement.

A Beautiful Mind Full Movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgfZ7db0e6I

Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Ed Harris, Adam Goldberg, Judd Hirsch, Josh Lucas, Anthony

Winner of 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind is directed by Academy Award winner Ron Howard and produced by his long time partner, Academy Award winner Brian Grazer.

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