For my first media analysis article, I chose to watch the film As Good as It Gets, written by Mark Andrus and James Brooks and directed by James Brooks. The film is set in New York City and focuses on the protagonist Melvin Udall, a rich and intelligent writer who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). From the beginning of the film, it is evident that Udall suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), OCD involves repeatedly performing certain thoughts, rituals, and routines to the point where it causes distress and gets in the way of daily life. An example they give of this might be that if a person with OCD had an obsession with dirt, they might develop a compulsion to wash their hands over and over again. Some other examples given by the NIH involve repeatedly checking or counting things. NIH points out that although even healthy people have rituals such as checking to make sure you've unplugged the coffee pot before leaving the house, the difference is that people with OCD perform their rituals even when it interferes with their daily lives and puts them in difficulty. . About 4 minutes into the film, the first obvious sign that Udall may have OCD appears when he enters his apartment and has to lock and unlock both locks on his door multiple times. This accurately portrays OCD because it involves repeated checking that often characterizes the disorder and illustrates a nervous ritual that can also be a telltale sign of OCD. After locking the door, he proceeds to turn the light on and off several times, which demonstrates another ritual. Next, he demonstrates a possible obsession with germs. He walks into the bathroom and throws away a pair of leather gloves, perhaps because he just…half of paper…thought the film's depiction of OCD was respectful for the most part. The film never made fun of OCD, nor did it ever act as if every case of OCD was the same. While the film doesn't stigmatize OCD or mental illness in general, I think it could have done a better job by clearly stating that Udall had previously been diagnosed with the disorder. By almost never stating this, viewers find themselves in the difficult situation of not wanting to assume or diagnose the character with a mental illness. Furthermore, since Udall is portrayed as a negative and mean person throughout the beginning of the move, one could interpret this as "people with OCD are negative, harsh, and rude", which is certainly not a rational conclusion . Overall, in my opinion the film was respectful in their portrayal, they could have just gone further to specify. Works Cited As Good as it Gets, nih.com