- Date posted
- 1y
Turtles all the way down movie critism from someone with OCD
Hello everyone, so I just finished the movie "turtles all the way down" which is based on the book by John Green. The movie is about a 16 year old girl with OCD who tries to solve a mystery involving her love interests fathers disappearance. The movie definitely covers OCD better than what is the stereotype of just someone who is organized but in other ways it really misses the mark. First off it only covers one form of OCD in detail, contamination OCD. The main character Aza is constantly afraid of contracting a virus called C diff that she has to do compulsions like change a bandaid or eat hand sanitizer. While that might be a representation of Contamination OCD, it is not the only form of OCD out there. I felt like the movie should of covered other forms of OCD such as relationship OCD, Harm OCD and especially Pure O, but none of that was covered at all. If someone with OCD was using this movie to help a loved one understand them, it would only make them think OCD is just related to germs. Another part of the movie that really jerked me the wrong way was the pushing of medication as a cure for OCD. I was personally on many medications for OCD as a kid and only made my condition worse. The therapist in the movie literally guilt trips Aza into taking her medication to make her OCD go away. Her therapist does mention exposure response therapy but does not explain to the audience what it is. So if someone wanted to learn about ERP they would have to seek it out after the movie. Overall I'd say the movie still misses the mark in a fully accurate portrayal of OCD.