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?
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