It's Depression Mode. I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here. I love being entertained. I like watching the TV shows. I enjoy the movies. And I know that these things are more than diversions, more than a relaxing way to fill a couple

hours in the evening. Cultures are driven by stories, and these are our stories, movies, TV,

books, music, theater, epic poems told a round of fire. This is how we understand each other

and ourselves as communities of people.

An artist, and let's use that term for the makers of all these things, we'll call them artists,

an artist sees life and reflects it back, or refracts it back, through the stories presented.

We as the audience then see our world.

We interpret the behavior of the characters as to how we would handle the same situations if we were in their shoes, how similar or different we are to those characters. We get comfort

from lives we can relate to, and we stretch, we expand when we see choices and behaviors that are strange and foreign to us.

This is what makes us human, these stories. You ever see a movie made by a spider? No. I mean, even if they could operate a camera, they have no good original ideas.

Spiders are hacks. So then, when it comes to mental health, portrayals matter. Portrails of mental illness matter a lot because they frame how we see mental health in real life.

If those stories, those portrayals are good and honest, they can be helpful. And if they're dishonest, they can warp a lot of perspectives

on exactly what mental illness is and what it does to someone. This stuff is important.

We wanted to make a little guide to healthy viewing here,

some tips on movies and TV that, to put it simply, get it right.

And also some cautionary warnings about movies and TV that get it wrong.

A little later in the show, tips from you, the listeners, gathered from our

Facebook discussion group, Preshies. But first, some expert opinion. Treval Anderson is the co-host

of Fantai here on the Maximum Fun Network. It's a podcast that talks about things that are great

and the not-so-great side of things that are great,

some ambivalence regarding pop culture entertainment.

Hello, Trevelle.

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