Story of Chris G Vision Statement

Plot Summary: The Story of Chris G is a modern realistic story about a man that grows up with mental issues and grows up on a downward spiral, until he receives the help he really needed his whole life. As Chris is a young boy, he grew up in a troubled household that was filled with arguments between his parents, already setting him off to a bad start, as the toxicity within his household became his view on the outside world. These issues escalated as he grew older, as in his early teenage years, Chris began to abuse alcohol and marijuana, which is a common effect of mental illness, stemming from his life during his childhood and teenage years. While in school, Chris was constantly bullied throughout the years, and without a stable environment to grow up in, it resulted in him failing grades during high school. Chris had reached an all time low, and as he was in college with no friends, he contemplated committing suicide. Chris had no where to turn, as he had no support for his illnesses, however, while in college, he made a female friend that would end up comforting him and giving him the help he needed. This turned out to be the catapult that Chris needed to get back to a normal life, and this led to him getting his first job, seeking therapy, and eventually getting married to that same friend that helped him get through his problems earlier in his life.

Research Elements: The Story of Chris G is a movie directly centered on mental illness and its effects on a person. Moreover, the movie provides a method to dealing with the effects of poor mental health and treating them at the same time. First, the movie showed a potential cause of mental illness, which is usually tied to a toxic household, and what environment a child grows up in. In the article, “Effects of Family Structure on Mental Health of Children: A Preliminary Study”, a group of Indian psychologists found that 89% of children in a group of 154 had a broken household, and that 71% had a member in their immediate family that had a psychological disorder. Additionally, further in the movie, the main character suffers with substance abuse that is directly attributed to his mental illness and isolation. In HelpGuide’s article, “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues”, it is stated that “Roughly 50 percent of individuals with severe mental disorders are affected by substance abuse”. This is further evident that the main character, as well as half of those affected by mental illness, also suffer from substance abuse in drugs or alcohol as a result of their mental state, and also seems to form as some sort of a coping method for those suffering. At the end of the film, the conclusion was reached through finding someone for help, and the majority of the struggles throughout were due to not being able to look for someone to confide in, and when the character finally finds a friend, that is when their life begins to turn around for the better. According to the Child Mind Institute in their article “How to Support a Friend With Mental Health Challenges”, “Rather than going to a parent who they think might get upset or scared,” she explains, “they turn to their friend instead.” . This is shown during the film as Chris did not have an adult figure to go to, but when Chris had finally found a friend, he was able to develop a bond that would later help him in his road to recovery.

Creative Intentions: The Story of Chris G draws inspiration from many different forms of media in movies and music videos. I wanted to implement the clear signs of someone displaying a mental illness as shown in Eminem’s Stan. However, I wanted the film to have a positive ending as opposed to Stan, where the main character in that killed themselves, whereas the main character in my film finds someone that turns his life around. I drew inspiration from a lot of different sources, and although they were not directly the same topics generally, I found some relationships that are similar to that of Chris and his unnamed wife in my story. For example, I used a broad example of in Dragon Ball Z, a character named Vegeta had no friends when he landed on Earth from a distant planet, and was bent on seeking destruction and constantly pushed away many people in his life. However, when a girl named Bulma met him, he slowly began to accept people into his life, and eventually marrying her and becoming a good person. For the video aspect of the project, I showed a contrast in the theme of the story from the first half to the second. For the first part, the main character was showing signs of mental illness, which I showed by adding a darker filter and sad music to each of the images. However, at the turning point of the video, I switched the song to “Rise Up” by Andra Day to show a sign of reform, and how the main character’s life is “rising up” as he becomes more and more happy. Lastly, I changed the images to a brighter tone when the song switched, showing the growth and development of his life, as he grows into a more positive lifestyle.

Target Audience: The Story of Chris G is mainly targeted towards teenagers that feel like they are struggling in life, and feel isolated from the rest of their peers. I wanted to target teenagers more because of their vulnerability towards mental illness, as according to a national survey conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, it showed that the age group most common to be affected by mental illness is between 18-25. I also included many aspects of the story to be targeted towards teenagers, such as when I showed the main characters’ struggles with drugs and alcohol, I stated that he began to smoke and drink when he was 13 and 15 respectively. I used a lot of what I saw when I was in high school, and some of my peers as early as eighth grade began to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol. Lastly, I wanted to add the turning point in the story to be set when the character was in college, due to myself being in college, and the fact that many young adults choose to go to college. The turning point being set in college was set to aim at college students that are suffering with mental illness, and showing that they’re not too old or too young to receive help.

Bibliography

Prakash Behere, Aniruddh, et al. “Effects of Family Structure on Mental Health of Children: A Preliminary Study.” PubMed Central (PMC), US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, July 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5559994.

Saisan, Joanna, et al. “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues – HelpGuide.Org.” HelpGuide.Org, Oct. 2019, www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/substance-abuse-and-mental-health.htm#:%7E:text=Roughly%2050%20percent%20of%20individuals,abuse%20either%20alcohol%20or%20drugs.

Martellini, Katherine. “How to Support a Friend With Mental Health Challenges.” Childmind.Org, Child Mind Institute, childmind.org/article/support-friend-with-mental-health-challenges.

“NIMH » Mental Illness.” National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml.