I recently became acquainted with the CBC series, “Cracked.” Here is the official summary of the show.
“CRACKED is a unique blend of a police and medical drama inspired by the real-life experiences of police officers and mental-health professionals. The hour-long series is a bold depiction of the psychological side of policing and the emotional impact on front-line workers. It's a fascinating yet affectionate exploration of all dimensions of human behavior.”
One of the few times I can agree with something written by the CBC. Cracked portrays a police department that has a unit trained to intervene in cases that might involve someone with mental illness. In other words, the assumption, based on behaviour, is that this person might be mentally ill rather than shooting first and asking questions, later.
Leave out the the facts on teh ground and you still have a show that teaches a little bit about mental illness. And that’s a good thing. And the writers portray the people with mental illness with empathy. And teach the viewer a little bit more about the mind of someone going through a crisis.
This show reminds me of Dick Wolf’s extraordinary show on NBC, now in rerun, Law and Order, Criminal Intent. The lead character, Goren, has a history of mental illness in his family. He is well-educated in all facets of mental illness from depression to psychotic breaks and the truly psychotic. The scripts are excellent. The information you can glean about mental illness is top quality. And I miss the show.
If you want to learn about mental illness from a story, these two shows are a good place to begin. And then there’s Homeland. Another great character living life with a difficult mental illness.
