Films & Docs / Feature films
Ordinary People
A 1980 American drama about a family after a son's death, in which a teenager begins sessions with a psychiatrist.
Viewing note
This feature film is a dramatisation. Its portrayal is shaped by the needs of a story and is not representative of therapy in general.
Details
Title: Ordinary People
Year: 1980
Director: Robert Redford
Format: feature
Country: United States
Running time: 124 minutes
What the work shows
The film, directed by Robert Redford in his first film as director, is based on Judith Guest's 1976 novel, with a screenplay by Alvin Sargent. A teenager, Conrad Jarrett, is trying to cope after a boating accident in which his brother died. He starts seeing a psychiatrist, Dr Berger, played by Judd Hirsch.
The film follows their conversations and the strain on Conrad's family.
How closely it reflects practice
In a 1998 Psychiatric Times article, psychiatrist Glen Gabbard included Ordinary People among films that he considered sympathetic in their portrayal of a therapist. This is one person’s assessment, not a survey of the profession or evidence that the therapy shown is typical.
Questions for discussion include how the young person comes to therapy, who decides and what is said about privacy. Practice with young people differs between services and jurisdictions.
Limits of this entry
The American Film Institute catalogue supplies the credits and running time. Gabbard’s view is reported by Psychiatric Times. The film has not been viewed for this draft, and the entry does not assess it as evidence about any therapy.
Sources and inspection notes
Wikipedia contributors. Ordinary People (film).
Supports: The film’s story, therapist character and release information as described in a general reference article.
American Film Institute. AFI Catalog: Ordinary People (1980).
Supports: Year, director, screenwriter, source novel and 124-minute running time as recorded by AFI.
Psychiatric Times. (1998). Psychiatry and mental illness: Are they mass media targets?
Supports: Reports psychiatrist Glen Gabbard’s 1998 comments on sympathetic therapist portrayals in Ordinary People and Good Will Hunting, and his criticism of the therapy shown in the latter. This is an individual assessment, not a consensus or empirical study.