Im really wary of looking opportunistic about connecting my work to the recent sad news about Robin Williams, but after watching a debate this morning on BBCs Sunday Morning Live, I thought hey why not? So here goes. As a lot of you know, I tend to get a bit hissy about outpouring of grief for celebrities, to me a tragic death is tragic whether theyre famous or not, but in this case it has at least prompted a lot of coverage (some useful, some not) of the sad reality of the rates of suicide and depression in men. The fact that male suicide outnumbers female suicide 3 to 1 is one of the most illuminating statistics. The stigma still associated with men who suffer with depression is sickening. So many people still maintain the archaic belief that men should be strong and that mental health is for the weak. I recently delivered a lecture to student nurses at Salford University about mens mental health and used my films Fallout and Civvy Street as examples to prompt discussion. The fact that my films are based on veterans doesnt (in my opinion) restrict the subject to just ex forces personnel. In many peoples eyes, military men are the definition of masculinity, particularly in the way they are expected to be strong and reliable, so in a way these stories are a distillation of the barriers faced in helping all men with mental health problems. The reaction from the students was fantastic, with all the feedback saying that the films really made them think about what it would be like to be those men, to empathise with their situations. This is exactly the reason I make these films, and to be honest its the reason I quit my engineering job 8 years ago to become an actor and writer. Im so passionate abut the power of film to help people (if not force them!) to get into the heads of the more unfortunate members of our society, who are made to feel ostracised because they dont fit the agreed version of normal that we are all expected to follow. I dont want to make films about veterans forever, but in another way I dont think they are just about veterans, they are about all of us, in the way we experience life and the way we view others. I hope this little ramble helps people understand why I do what I do. Please feel free to let me know if you agree/disagree. I love a good debate on a Sunday!
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 10:26:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015