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View Poll Results: Is Jean’s portrayal of bipolar disorder accurate? | ||||||
She comes across more as someone with learning difficulties than a mental illness | 0 | 0% | ||||
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She’s written perfectly (or near-enough) accurately | 1 | 25.00% | ||||
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Her portrayal is fine but the lines are often blurred between her illness and natural ditziness | 3 | 75.00% | ||||
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Other | 0 | 0% | ||||
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Voters: 4. You may not vote on this poll |
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09-09-2021, 03:38 PM | #1 | |||
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How do you feel about the way Jean tends to come across in the show? Do you feel like her illness is written realistically or does she come across as someone with another condition most of the time?
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09-09-2021, 03:47 PM | #2 | |||
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As far as I can tell Jean’s representation of bipolar disorder was most accurate during her initial recurring appearances (those special episodes in 2005 in particular were perfectly-written). Ever since she became a full-time character I feel like the lines have become increasingly blurred between her bipolar and natural ditziness to the point where she actually does come across as someone with learning difficulties sometimes. Kirkwood exaggerated that trend and did her the most dirty overall but the buck started with Santer IMO. The only time I liked Jean during his era was during her involvement with Stacey’s bipolar storyline (when she genuinely was written as a more faithful representation of someone with bipolar for the first time in a good two or three years).
She’s somewhat more tolerable now than she was during her ditziest times (Kirkwood’s Jean was the most excruciating) but until recently she still had a tendency to be written as someone with special needs. Mo in particular seemed to have a very limited understanding of her condition but that’s probably because Jean genuinely came across as more slow than anything after her first few years on the show.
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Don’t let your regret be stronger than your gratitude. And don’t hang on to negativity. That’s all. Last edited by Redway; 20-09-2021 at 04:55 AM. |
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09-09-2021, 03:53 PM | #3 | ||
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I think if you analyse ALL of Jean's behaviour under "is this accurate to someone with bipolar" then you're on the road to nowhere. She is and has been more three dimensional than that.
Some of her behaviour can be attributed to bipolar and some of her behaviour can be attributed to Jean being Jean. The show has never said the explanation for everything she does is her bipolar. Last edited by Marsh.; 09-09-2021 at 03:56 PM. |
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09-09-2021, 03:54 PM | #4 | ||
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Well every one different you can't just put a lable on them
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09-09-2021, 03:58 PM | #5 | |||
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You sort of can put a label on them if it’s been expressly stated more than several times that said character has a diagnosable (and severe) illness.
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09-09-2021, 04:03 PM | #6 | ||
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But not everyone with said illness is the same.
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09-09-2021, 04:05 PM | #7 | |||
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Quote:
I agree that not everything she does is because of her mental health regardless.
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Don’t let your regret be stronger than your gratitude. And don’t hang on to negativity. That’s all. |
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09-09-2021, 04:39 PM | #8 | |||
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Sometimes the lines can be blurred but Jean is just Jean. The show isn’t consistent enough from era to era to continually just try and present her as someone with bipolar disorder.
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12-09-2021, 10:25 AM | #9 | ||
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She's written with a misunderstanding of what the "up" phases of bipolar actually look like, her lows (depressions) are fairly accurate from what I've seen.
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12-09-2021, 03:26 PM | #10 | ||
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I know someone with bipolar disorder whose highs are exactly like how Jean acts, I think it depends on the person but I think the representation is important even if the condition doesn't present the same in everyone who has it.
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19-10-2021, 07:47 AM | #11 | |||
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I’m not saying that 2005 Jean would work full-time (since it obviously wasn’t intended to be her normal state) but I feel like those earlier episodes of hers should serve as a yardstick for when they do want to tap into her illness. It would be a lot more realistic that way than her token childish comedy routine that we’ve been accustomed to since she moved into the Square (that was the point at which the grit really started to slip from her character barring a few good moments).
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Don’t let your regret be stronger than your gratitude. And don’t hang on to negativity. That’s all. Last edited by Redway; 19-10-2021 at 07:49 AM. |
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