The "madness" of market logic: mental illness and late capitalism in The Double and Nightcrawler. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brayton, Sean
• Is Part Of: Communication and critical/cultural studies. Volume 14:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 66
• Page End: 82
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Mental illness -- popular culture -- late capitalism -- The Double -- Nightcrawler; Communication and culture -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; 302.205
• DOI: 10.1080/14791420.2016.1216576
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1479-1420

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper examines representations of mental illness in popular film, particularly Richard Ayoade's The Double and Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler . As I argue, both films trouble typical Hollywood narratives of mental illness by situating schizophrenia and psychopathy, for instance, within a socioeconomic context, specifically relations of production under late capitalism and the unfettered self-interest of neoliberalism. If mental illness is a product of the postindustrial workplace in The Double, it becomes a prerequisite for success in Nightcrawler, providing a cinematic depiction of mental illness at odds with the "personal pathology" paradigm that dominates the current neoliberal landscape.