Interview: NAMI Executive Director Mike Fitzpatrick

By Terrell Chambers / Sunday, 18 November 2007

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a non-profit, American organization that advocates for the rights and wellness of people affected by mental illness. Founded in 1979, NAMI has over 200,000 members. Members include people living with mental illness, the family and friends of those affected by mental illness, other allies and educators. NAMI has offices in all 50 United States, as well as an office in Puerto Rico. The Wiire had a chance to speak with Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI's executive director, last week. Mr. Fitzpatrick has asked Rockstar Games, the development studio behind Manhunt 2, to recall or further modify the game, "due to its irresponsible, stereotyped portrayal of mental illness." Manhunt 2 players control Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper, two escapees from the fictional Diximor Aslyum for the Criminally Insane. During the game, Lamb and Kasper murder aslyum staff in an attempt to recover from amnesia. NAMI maintains that the portrayal of the mentally ill as murderous is inaccurate. "The overall contribution of mental illnesses to violence in society is exceptionally small. In fact, people living with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violence," Fitzpatrick said. Manhunt 2's development cycle was widely reported within the games industry. Originally slated to be released on July 10, 2007, Manhunt 2 received an "Adults Only" (AO) rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Representatives from Sony and Nintendo both released statements saying that the playback of AO-rated content was not permitted on their company's respective consoles. A modified version of Manhunt 2, where some scenes had been removed (and the Wii game's interactive execution sequences blurred by a psychedelic lens filter), was released in America on Halloween 2007 with an M for "Mature" rating. The game, currently available for the PlayStation 2, PlaySation Portable, and Wii consoles, is still forbidden in many regions of the world - including the United Kingdom, where the British Board of Film Classification has cited Manhunt 2's "unremitting bleakness" and "casual sadism." Its response to Manhunt 2 is not the first time that NAMI has challenged the media to be more sensitive when portraying issues related to health and well-being. Mr. Fitzpatrick told me about an article from the July 10, 2002 edition of the Trentonian (Trenton, N.J.) newspaper that reported on a fire at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. The article headline was "Roasted Nuts." What follows is a portion of the interview with Mr. Fitzpatrick. We discussed Manhunt 2, the media's portrayal of issues relating to mental illness, video games' potential as a medium for reflecting social issues, and more. Next: Horror films, haunted houses, and teddy bears in strait jackets. {page} Eric Wright: NAMI has asked Rockstar Games to recall or further modify Manhunt 2. Why? Mike Fitzpatrick: The degree of controversy, I think, around Manhunt 2, provides a really exceptional opportunity - really, a teaching moment, to help us raise awareness around stigma. EW: The 'insane asylum' and the 'psycho killer' seem to be tropes that have bled over from the horror genre, and are not unique to Manhunt or video games. Should Manhunt, as a video game, be held to a different standard than, say, a horror movie? Fitzpatrick: Not particularly. Let me just give you a very quick example. EW: Sure. Fitzpatrick: A few years ago, the Vermont Teddy Bear company - perfect company, you know, cute, cuddly teady bears - actually produced on Valentine's Day a teddy bear with a strait jacket. And the strait jacket was something you could buy as an accessory for all the bears to use. And, you know, it was very controversial in Vermont. I don't know if you remember. EW: Yeah, I do. Fitzpatrick: The issue was that strait jackets aren't funny. Putting straight jackets on people is not funny. You don't make fun of cancer, you don't make fun of heart disease, and you don't make fun of mental illness. Mental illness is an illness like any other. It is treated by physicians with medication, with therapy, with rehabilitation programs. People get better and go on to contribute in the community. One in four Americans, at some point in their lives, will experience mental illness. It's not something to make fun of in this day and age. It's really part of our job to call out companies when they put out products that fall over the line. We really look at accuracy, sensitivity, and compassion. Within our stigma work, we really look for red flags, inaccuracies, stereotypes - where people with mental illness are portrayed only as villains, antagonists, linked to violence [or] where there is a disparity in language around mental illness, where there's a real devaluation of mental illness - where somehow mental illnesses are used as a, you know, some sort of a joke. It takes awhile for a culture to get beyond that. For years, mental illness has been the butt of jokes and we're hoping that the next generation - and we really see that with people in their teens and in their twenties - will have a different level of sensitivity to issues surrounding mental illnesses. So I think we're making progress. EW: Do you see any of that progress in video games? Are there any out there that do a commendable job of portraying people who are coping with, or otherwise affected by, mental health issues? Fitzpatrick: I think it's difficult to do a theme that is around treatment and recovery in video games. There is progress in really every other form of media. Our issue is, if you're going to put up something that's edgy, there's no problem with that. Our issue is, really, do no harm. Why would you put out something...? For example, around Halloween, we see around the country, particularly in rural areas, Halloween mazes. You know, haunted houses. EW: Sure. Fitzpatrick: Someone who looks like they are in an old, turn-of-the-century mental institution dresses up and jumps out at people swinging a knife. When we see something like that, we talk to the people who run those mazes and it's really an effort on our part to really sensitize people - you know, it's not something you make fun of. There are examples in the media. You look at A Beautiful Mind, The Hours, As Good As it Gets... EW: Good examples? Fitzpatrick: Yes. They got NAMI outstanding media awards from us. I think every movie, every video game has some impact on peoples' perceptions of mental illness and other issues. Frankly, we like it better when we can praise companies instead of push them. So what we're looking for is really a dialogue - whether it's CBS, or the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, or a company putting out a video game, we just want to have a dialogue with them. It's really a teaching moment. Maybe we don't change their mind this time. Maybe they don't pull their product from the market - and that was the case with the Teddy Bear Company. They refused to pull their product, but they promised they would never do it again. Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you get sort of what you want, and in [the case of Manhunt] we just want to raise the consciousness of having a game that has people being chased or threatened by someone who is being portrayed as having a serious mental illness - you know, it's not funny, it's not a joke. There are other ways to be edgy. Next: What can video games do to influence the portrayal of people affected by mental illness in a positive way? {page} EW: Some of those praiseworthy works you mentioned like A Beautiful Mind, like The Hours, what do they do well in changing positively the stereotypes and dialogues surrounding mental health issues? Fitzpatrick: Well, you know, a lot of those companies - we're in a dialogue right now with the House television program. We've had ongoing conversations over the years with CBS on some of their productions. We'll work with filmmakers who have had their films on Cinemax and HBO. We're hopeful now that when people do films that have something to do with mental illness, they reach out to our organization - not for script approval, but just to get a sense of "are we getting it right?" There's a predominant number of people in this country that have depression. It's not uncommon to be at a gathering and say you're working in mental health, have people come up to you, and say, "my brother, my sister, my father, my neighbor..." EW: Sure. Fitzpatrick: There's a large public dialogue going on now and its largely positive. We understand, frankly - to be blunt - that [Rockstar] makes millions of dollars of profit on [Manhunt 2]. And to stigmatize in the way [that Manhunt 2 does] comes at, really, a social cost. Non-profit groups like NAMI and state governments, the federal government, end up spending millions of dollars and a lot of time to try and offset the stigma for public education. So what we're saying to the video game industry is, 'we'd like to be a positive partner in the video game industry, and we'd be impressed if you'd consider financing education programs about mental illness." We have used 70 walks all over the country in major cities - small cities to large cities - we have thousands and thousands of people come out Saturday mornings and walk for mental illness and we have a lot of official companies. Small companies and large companies sponsor those walks. If [Rockstar] could do some socially appropriate things to support public education ... we would say to this company, and the video game industry, that you do have a responsibility to your community. We're not against video games. EW: Mhmm. Fitzpatrick: Again, one in four Americans experience mental illness at some point in their lives. I can assure you that many of our members play video games. EW: Sure. Do video games have any unique capacity - is there anything they can do that you wouldn't find in a film or a novel, for example - to raise awareness? Fitzpatrick: The demographic for video games is relatively young. In other words, the group of people that play them is relatively young. For example, in our partnership with the House television program (which also attracts a relatively young audience) they ran an add in Seventeen magazine last month. EW: Oh? Fitzpatrick: They talked about their support of NAMI to fight the stigmas around mental illness. I think the video game industry, they are reaching out to a younger [demographic]. There really is an opportunity to educate - and I know that's not really their responsibility, again, they're in it to make money... EW: Hmmm. Fitzpatrick: ...But there is a fine line between, um - back to that whole issue of not doing harm - there are ways to be edgy. There are ways to create products that sell well to the demographic that [the industry] is trying to reach out to without being insulting, without being so damaging to - you know, a fairly large group of people in America. Next: Do video games need a "Rain Man?" {page} EW: Do video games need a Rain Man moment? Something that brings those issues to the forefront without doing so much harm...? Fitzpatrick: It's not easy to do in a video game. It's easier to do in a movie, it's easier to do in a television program, it's easier to do it in a book. It would be a great achievement, and again, some television producers and filmmakers have approached us with ideas. We'd be open to a video game producer approaching us if they're producing a product where they are talking about mental illness, we'd be open to really having that dialogue. We're inundated by a number of very creative people, and a lot of these artists are very, very well known. EW: Why is it easier in other forms of media? What are some of those things that other artists do about "getting it right," where video games are typically missing the mark? Fitzpatrick: I think that video games that end up, um, being... you know, end up with that "Mature" audience tag put on them are looking to create something that's out of a late-night horror movie. You know, edgy, violent, war - and again, that's just - our only concern is that a certain demographic buys those and, in many cases, for us, it's really the next generation. Many of those people in their own families and lives will experience mental illness, and we just feel that companies have a social responsibility not to do harm. [Video games] are edgy and problematic, they have responsibility also, on the other side, to educate the public - really, participate with other companies to assist in educating the public - [that] things like mental illness are not... The reality is, mental illness is an illness like any other. You don't create video games that make fun of people with cancer, or heart attacks, or what have you. That's our issue. Our job is to really open up a dialogue - we're simply not there to throw stones - we'd like to have a conversation with manufacturers and filmmakers and - we do on a regular basis. EW: What happens to these dialogues when they're brought into pop culture through video games. Is something lost...? Fitzpatrick: Again, it's what I said earlier Eric, companies are in the business to make money. Certainly the issues around Manhunt 2 - [Rockstar] will get a lot of publicity, they will sell a lot of copies of this game. [Rockstar] will meet their end - to sell a lot of copies and make a lot of money. The point is, the depictions of mental illness in this game are destructive. They're problematic. It puts us in a position working with state governments, federal government... we all spend a lot of time, a lot of money, in the media - in the public, talking about what mental illness is and what it isn't. It is treatable. People recover. It's like a broken arm or a heart attack or what have you. In fact, the recovery rates for beating mental illnesses are actually higher than recovery rates from a number of heart procedures. To have a video game using that as part of a vehicle to [make] money is problematic. EW: Is there anything else you'd like our audience to know? Fitzpatrick: What we're looking for is a dialogue and we're asking companies that produce products like this to do, really, two things: don't produce them in the future; in the meantime, work with us to provide education to the general public around mental health and mental illness. What we really see now is an open dialogue. You go to Hollywood, you talk to people who are writing books, you talk to people in the media, and many of them get it. We see less companies sort of crossing the line. More that are not involved in gratuitous violence in depictions of mental illness - and we are making progress. We are upbeat about this. Thankfully, we don't have many situations like this as we did, you know, five years ago even. EW: Thank you very much, Mike, for your time and for the insight.