Working with the Jed Foundation, a mental health nonprofit geared toward young people, the executive and his team have begun crafting a guide specifically aimed at Hollywood storytellers on the most sensitive ways to portray mental health. If a script doesn’t pass muster on the mental health front, McCarthy says he will ask executives not to buy it. One question with reality TV, though, is existential: Can you cut back on dysfunction and still be worthy of the genre? Too much packaging of mental health stories could also seem heavy-handed or preachy. (Reidenberg has consulted for many entertainment companies on their mental health portrayals and also worked with ViacomCBS on its initiative.)

Source: Washington Post April 01, 2021 18:20 UTC