Abstract
Chris McCarthy, the president of MTV Entertainment Group and overseer of numerous ViacomCBS cable networks, has a plan to turn all negative portrayals of mental health challenges on his networks' shows into positive ones, and then double the number of those instances, The Washington Post reported April 1. Instead of characters slinging around clinical terms in an argument, for example, they'd acknowledge a person is struggling and want to know more. Such portrayals would make viewers feel more comfortable with their own conditions, McCarthy says, and do more to combat them. McCarthy commissioned a study of many ViacomCBS programs. Researchers' findings reveal many shows feature mental health disparagements. On nine occasions, for instance, a character called another such terms as “psychopath” or said they were “out of [their] mind.” In 10 instances, meanwhile, someone tossed off a reference to mental illness such as “I moved into a house with crazy people” with no response or acknowledgment of the seriousness of the issue from another character. ViacomCBS also has started to hold internal workshops with writers and producers on how to address these issues in the writing and editing rooms. A summit with other networks and companies will be convened later this spring to discuss the guide and broader issues.
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