Background of the Research

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Research

Communication is important to keep humans in touch with their society. The conventional concept of communication is that we use communication to express our inner purposes, attitudes, and feelings; to describe events and objects of the external world; and to produce sharing between the speaker and the audience addressed Narula, 2006: 3. Further, Narula explains that modes of communication have evolved overtime from oral traditions to electronics and wireless and have expanded from local to regional, national, and global, crossing all the physical barriers. According to Narula 2006: 4-5, there are three main divisions of communication modes: non-verbal communication, e.g. silence, gestures, tactile, olfactory, and space-time cues; verbal communication comprising of spoken word through both personal and electronic channels; and written communication through print media, electronic media, and wireless and online channels. Therefore, mass media such as television, radio, and newspaper as well as social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can be categorized as the examples of communication instrument. Both types of media play a significant role in daily life of modern society. It is not only useful to inform people about the world happenings and to serve a way to connect with people, but also to affect our thinking patterns as well. Above all, media can shape the way people think and perceive various issues about the world. Modern society can also share entertainment and business matter through media. Movie has almost the same functions as mass media. By watching movie, audience can get entertainment and access certain knowledge. They can also learn moral, social, cultural, andor historical value from watching movies. In deeper analysis, some movies give factual while some others give fictional portrayal towards many aspects of life such as education, relationship, health, work, etc. Even language and its disorders have become the topic of some movies over decades. One of the examples of the movie is The Uninvited movie which portrays the phenomena of schizophrenia to audience, especially the thought and communication problem suffered by a schizophrenic a person with schizophrenia character of the movie. This movie shows audience that schizophrenia is not fictional but it really exists in society. In The Uninvited movie, Anna is the main character who is depicted as a young girl suffering from schizophrenia. She experiences hallucination, delusion, and formal thought disorder which are often reflected in her speech and thought. These disturbances make people around her confused to what she is talking about. Even when they understand the reason why she talks such a way, they still cannot accept it as a truth. The condition becomes worse when Anna believes that other people think that she is insane for her false beliefs. It makes her feel sad and bad. Schizophrenics have some characteristics which can be differentiated from normal people. In verbal communication, schizophrenics may say strange things or say things in strange ways. For example, they may use a particular word repeatedly in the whole process of speaking Andreasen, 1986: 479. This abnormality is one example of formal thought disorder. Schizophrenics are also confused to distinguish what is real from what is unreal. They may perceive seeing things or hearing voices which actually do not exist. In the other words, they make perceptions in the absence of an observable stimulus. This condition is called hallucination Gendelman and Ikezu: 2008 504. Schizophrenics may also believe in something that cannot be explained by their culture or social environment Veague, 2007: 18. They may believe that they come from far-off planet. This condition is called delusion. Hallucination, delusion, and formal thought disorder are regarded as peculiar behavior in society. It is very often, even common, that a person with such peculiarity is labelled as insane. Since considered as people with mental illness, schizophrenics tend to be ignored, avoided, or underestimated by society. The condition becomes worse when they have to struggle against discrimination and stigmatization toward them. In fact, schizophrenics need serious and appropriate care and support, especially from their family, so their condition will not get worse. Finally, public awareness of schizophrenia has a significant effect towards schizophrenics’ and their families’ acceptance in society.

B. Identification of the Problems