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Essay / A study of the theme of alienation in Tom Shadyac's book, Patch Adams preconceived about the meaning of life. These intersections embody what sociological critics have for centuries called alienation and reification. They consider the twin theories to be the essence of our individual universes. They interpret the abyss that humans view from their legitimate sense of self. Every human being, at some point in their life, has lost the path they were meant to take, thus becoming alienated. Indeed, society unduly influences humanity to assume materialism, which is the primary necessity of striving to thereby experience reification. Sociological critics view alienation and reification as important concepts for understanding literature and films. A great way to illustrate the importance of these theories is to apply them to the story of a man who faced and overcame them. The man I'm referring to is Hunter Adams, and the movie based on his life is Patch Adam. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay At the beginning of the film, Hunter interprets his feelings of alienation when he states, the storm was on my mind, or like the poet Dante In other words, in the middle of my life's journey, I found myself in the dark woods because I had lost the right path. Eventually, I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place (Patch). Hunter committed himself to a mental institution for suicidal tendencies. Ashley Montagu would say that Patch was trying to understand how, by avoiding the demands of evolution, he had gone astray, and then he would abandon his current course and rejoin the general mass of humanity (80). During his institutionalization, Hunter found himself coming out of solitude, doing to the particular characters around him. Arthur Mendleson, another patient, enlightened Hunter on this subject; if you focus on the problem, you don't see the solution. You have to look beyond the problem, and see what everyone refuses to see, the fear, the conformism, the laziness, and see a new one every day (Patch). Thanks to what Arthur told him, Patch was able to help his roommate Rudy, who couldn't go to the bathroom due to a squirrel-related infirmity. The rush Patch experienced in creating a war environment with imaginary guns and bazookas against the squirrels was incredible. In helping Rudy overcome this infirmity, Hunter realized that he was able, as Freud would put it, to use a defense mechanism (Barry, p. 98). Hunter avoids his painful problems by striving to help others. It was this incredible feeling of relief from his own problems that made Hunter realize he wanted to connect and comfort as many people as possible. Following this revelation, Hunter, now known as Patch, left the institution in search of his life. A few years later, Patch was accepted into medical school. When Patch met his roommate Mitch, he was amused. Mitch wasn't personal enough to converse, but presented his summary of his accomplishments with tunes. Patch realized that Mitch was, as Ashley Montagu would say, developed in competition rather than cooperation, in narrow selfish interests rather than altruism, in atomism rather than universalism, in value of money rather than in the value of man (100). Patch realized during Dean Wilcox's first conference that he was not going to be able to comply withthe logic of capitalism, which is the pursuit of individual economic interest that would bring economic and social benefits to society as a whole (Barry, p. 157). Patch did not view conformity as beneficial to society as a whole, but rather as apathy toward quality of life. It was a challenge for Patch, and he was willing to take on the ego of the medical professions. Patch intentionally goes out of his way to compare his theories to the ideologies of his peers and superiors. His theories are that laughter, compassion and simply interacting with another person can improve the quality of life around them. Patch sees the dean's intended teaching as what Louis Althusser would call interpellation (Barry, p. 165). So you can treat the disease, but you cannot treat the patient because the transfer was not permitted. Patch used to his advantage what the German philosopher Hegel called dialectics, using opposing forces or ideas (existing medical ideologies) to create new situations. or ideas (his ideologies) (Barry, p. 157). Patch begins testing his theories by visiting patients before his first year. Patch's crazy experiments included dressing up in costumes, responding to patients' unusual aspirations, and showing compassion towards them. He wanted to prove that if doctors treated the patient as well as the disease, everyone's quality of life could be improved (Patch). Patch encountered great opposition from the dean and was warned not to come to the hospital to see patients again. Once Patch saw the difference he was able to make with patients, he ignored the dean and his friends' advice and continued to interact with patients. It was through this interaction that Patch visualized doctors and patients working together without any barriers. This visualization would become the first fun hospital with slides, waterfalls, and the treatment would be done with laughter and compassion. Patch, along with his two trusted companions, Corrine and Truman, opened the doors to the Gesundheit Institute during their first year. Things seemed to be going well, but Corrine still had doubts about the safety of the transfer. She believed, like Freud, that transference takes place when the patient develops a dependence and emotions towards the doctor, which were actually felt towards the parent (Montagu, p. 78). Corrine felt this way because she had distanced herself from others since childhood. One night, she revealed her feelings of alienation and objectification towards Patch and explained that abuse by men throughout her life had castrated her. She wanted nothing to do with men until she met Patch. It was during this meeting that the ice she had built around her heart began to melt. Patch ultimately thought his life was whole and nothing could ever threaten the fullness he feels, but he was wrong. While helping a patient they had treated in the past, Corrine was killed. This devastation caused Patch to discover the feelings he had been repressing. Freud once declared that there was always a return of repression (Barry, p. 100). Freud believed that repression hides at the unconscious level and that a similar feeling triggers it. Patch felt like he had taught her the medicine that killed her and he wasn't going to be responsible for anyone else. As Ashley Montagu says, for no man can ever be anything other than involved in humanity. Human beings, by their very nature, are involved and dependent on other human beings throughout their lives (78). Patch realized.
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