Raising Awareness

Tackling the Stigma from the Stage, by Nancy Tobin, is an article that explains the impact Next to Normal had on society. At first the authors of the play didn’t know the type of reaction the musical would receive because it was introducing the topic of a mental illness. The author wanted, Diana Goodman, to be an average person because they didn’t want that audience to think you had to be an extraordinary person to have a mental illness. The actress that plays Diana, Alice Ripley, can relate to what the authors were trying to show. She explains how the role of Diana has influenced her physical and emotional life. After she finishes the role of Diana, Diana is still underneath trying to come out whenever she can. And she does come out because one day Diana was in the subway and she said something out loud. She said she didn’t mean too and she’s not diagnosed as bipolar but this incident was something that just happens in our everyday life. The reason so many people are able to relate to Next to Normal is because its talks about an average mother and Ripley says, “I need the audience to believe it.” In the end of the article, Tobin talks about an 18 year old boy who was diagnosed as bipolar and he was able to relate to the musical, and the purpose of the musical is to “expose the stigma of mental illness.”

I agree with what Tobin argues in her article. Not many people write about day to day situations, let alone mental illnesses. When people do write about mental illnesses, they make the characters crazy when in reality these people don’t act like that in real life. I also believe that when things seem realistic you are able to relate to them more because you understand what is going on. In the article, Tobin explains how a boy was diagnosed as bipolar and he was able to relate to Diana because he knew what how it felt to be in Diana’s situation.  I also agree with Tobin because in the media many people who are diagnosed with a mental illness are extremely talented people but because they can’t control their illness they become crazy and their talent goes to waste.  That’s not true because in the musical Diana is a stay at home mom who does things just like everybody else. She doesn’t go around killing people instead she leaves because she feels it’s time to let her family live normally without having to worry about her. This is why I believe people should be more aware of mental illnesses so that the media doesn’t show people with a mental disability in a negative light. Instead causing awareness can help others  with what they are going through by showing them that there are a lot of people dealing with the same situation, just like Diana and the 18 year old boy.  (word count 494)