Mental and Psychological Illness in Selected Egyptian Films

Film as a genre of entertainment media is a popular and appealing discourse (Bateman, 2018). It features both positive and imprecise information and stereotypes that invite the audience to judge the patients and the nature of mental and psychological illness and instills an ideological understanding in the minds of the viewers. This publication is a multidisciplinary study which aims at revealing the different representations of mental and psychological patients via some delivery meaning devices in three Egyptian films. These representations can either carry an erroneous image about mental illness and the patients or shed light on their struggle with their illness and the social rejection they are often exposed to the significance of this study lies in the linguistic approach of analysis to film discourse. A multimodal critical discourse analysis is applied to highlight the use of the verbal and visual elements in film-making which contribute to meaning construction.