Disney Plus Dream Job: The Incredibles

Introduction

Faculty, residents, and students at my university are participating in the Disney Plus Dream Job and watching 30 Disney films in 30 days. Welcome to our Day #15 blog post! Course directors successfully incorporated the 30 films (and shows) into our preexisting curriculum that teaches psychiatry to future physicians through film and other aspects of popular culture. Check out the conversation about our "Addicted to Disney" course with Reviews.org here. Views Through the Psychiatrist’s Lens will publish daily blogs throughout the 30-day Disney Plus Dream Job. Our fifteenth blog is on the 2004 film, The Incredibles.

Synopsis

The Incredibles is a 2004 computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures that follows the Parrs family, a group of superheroes who hide their powers in accordance with a government mandate “in their attempt to live a quiet suburban life” (1).

At the time of this posting, the film holds a rating of 8 out of 10 on IMDb and a tomatometer rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

How it relates to the field of psychiatry

At the beginning of the film, Mr. Incredible “saved someone who didn’t want to be saved,” resulting in a lawsuit and subsequent litigation that results in the superhero relocation program. While the film goes on to focus on the Parrs family, the origin of their new suburban life deserves closer inspection.

While it departs from the details of the film (e.g. Mr. Sansweet’s suicide attempt), the general impetus parallels the medicolegal issue of civil commitment. Civil commitment involves the involuntary hospitalization of an individual in a psychiatric facility against their will. It is an overt paternalistic action plan that imposes on the individual’s civil liberties so as to insure their safety. Civil commitment laws differ from state to state but there are three general principles that are generally consistent. For full disclosure, this blog was written consistent with NJ state law.

First, the psychiatric assessment for commitment must determine that the individual is an imminent danger themselves or others. Here, ‘imminent’ is operationally defined as the reasonable foreseeable future. ‘Danger’ includes a) suicidality, b) homicidality, c) and/or the inability to provide self-care (essential medical care, maintain proper nutrition, or shelter).

Second, for individuals who meet the first criterion for commitment, the imminent danger must be determined to be due to a mental disorder.

Third, for an individual to be placed in a psychiatric facility against their will, lest restrictive alternatives must be deemed to be inappropriate or unavailable. One example would be offering the individual a voluntary psychiatric hospitalization (e.g. they can sign-in) and the individual provided informed refusal.

When an individual is placed in a psychiatric facility against their will and believes that criteria for commitment had not been adequately met, a civil suit may be filed for false imprisonment. About 22% of psychiatrists are sued for malpractice at some point in their careers (2). Of these, one study found that 13% of cases were for false imprisonment (3).

The Incredibles is a film that captures complex human behaviors among family members who interact in a “superhero relocation program.” While the number of interpretations through the psychiatrist’s lens is numerous, it is the origin of their behaviors I find most interesting. Specifically, Mr. Sansweet sued Mr. Incredible for false imprisonment; saving hospitalizing him when he didn’t want to be saved provided informed refusal. This seminal scene allows for the film to be discussed as a case study of civil commitment and its related issue, false imprisonment.