Being Frank About Mental Illness.

What must now be a few years ago, I wrote a blog entitled "Mediocrities of the World, I Absolve You." It was about the often seen stereotype of people with mental illness also being brilliant or talented in some way - in essence, about the cliché concerning where genius ends and madness begins, or vice versa. My conclusion in that blog was that it was a stereotype like any other, having little to do with the reality of what the majority of people with mental ill health experience. I suggested that such representations of mental illness could then be just as damaging as other stereotypes, as they don't leave much room for those who aren't some kind of genius.
However, having recently watched the film, "Frank", director Lenny Abrahamson's examination of a rock band headed by a guru-like and enigmatic front man, I think I've changed my mind somewhat.
The film is narrated from the perspective of Jon Burroughs, a young wannabe pop star who really isn't that good a musician. However, he gets the chance to play keyboards for the unpronounceable Soronprfbs when their own keyboard player attempts to kill himself, and through this meets the band's lead singer, Frank. Jon becomes intrigued by Frank and his seemingly innate musical ability. But this isn't the only reason for his interest, because Frank also happens to wear a giant, papier-mache head which obscures his real face. At one point Jon and Frank take to communicating by describing their facial expressions to each other.
From this you might have guessed that the character of Frank was in part inspired by the comedian and musician Frank Sidebottom, who wore a similar "mask". It must be remembered that this isn't the Frank Sidebottom story, though, and when the band is shown making their album, an often hilarious portrayal of the creative process, it becomes clear that other inspirations were at work in creating Frank's character. Among those mentioned by reviewers are Captain Beefheart, specifically during the making of "Trout Mask Replica", and also the musician Daniel Johnston who himself had experience of mental ill health.
Indeed, when Jon begins to push the band to become more popular by posting things about them on social media, their musical integrity begins to suffer, other members of the band leave, and during a tour in America, Frank begins to show signs of the strain of it all, withdraws into himself, and eventually appears to have some kind of mental breakdown and runs away. It's a testament to the performance of Michael Fassbender, who plays Frank, that he manages to get all this across while wearing the papier-mâché head, which, to my mind at least, becomes oddly expressive when Frank begins to succumb to the stresses of popularity.
Jon eventually finds Frank back at his parents house where he learns that he does in fact have a mental illness. He says to his parents that this must be where his musical genius comes from, that all the suffering has led him to produce great art. In a dispelling of the usual stereotype, though, Frank's parents simply say that, no, he had always been musically gifted, and that, if anything, his illness had slowed him down. At the end of the film, Frank is reunited with the rest of the band, this time without Jon, who realises the part he played in all that went wrong, and they sing one final song, the oddly affecting "I Love You All", which you can hear by simply clicking on the link.
In conclusion, the film is at times hilarious, at times poignant in its portrayal of mental illness and its possible links to creativity, with the issues being so deftly handled that one can't complain. So, while I may want to absolve the mediocrities of the world, perhaps, after all, the world is just more interesting and beautiful with characters like Frank in it.