On October 29th, the BIG Read coordinators will hold the BIG Reel: a film viewing with discussion to follow. Joe Duda, Instructor of Philosophy, will lead the live discussion; Jodi Gore, Instructor of Social Work, will lead the online discussion. The in-person viewing will take place from 12:30-3:30 p.m. in College Hall 100.
This is Professor Duda’s second year hosting & selecting the film for the physical event, and he finds the BIG Reel to be an opportunity for impactful viewership. He shares that his “favorite part of the BIG Reel is taking a movie you may or may not have seen and talking about it in a more critical way than we normally do, so we can extract all sorts of new ways people interpreted and interacted with the film just moments before.”
The film comes as part of the ongoing 2025-2026 BIG Read events, which surround neurodiversity and promote a better understanding of how variably people’s minds can function. The main piece of media being followed is 2024 novel A Little Less Broken by Marian Schembari—which covers the author’s experience having had an autism diagnosis in adulthood.
Because of how widely misunderstood neurodivergence is in society, media that properly represents neurodivergent experiences can be scarce. This film was selected for its nuanced portrayal of the neurodivergent spectrum as a wide array of behaviors and ideas. Silver Linings Playbook highlights these complexities of neurodivergence while simultaneously navigating growth, interpersonal relationships, and success.
When it comes to viewing this film and engaging in the conversation that follows, it is important to remember that every part of a film is intentional.
Professor Duda resonates with this idea. He remarks, “I think that movies can be really fun, especially ones like this, when you think about the fact that nothing that occurs in a movie is by accident. Everything is meticulously crafted to be in a movie exactly as it is, and that leads to these wonderful questions at the forefront of all philosophical reasoning: why? Why are the characters using certain inflections, why are they making a big deal out of this scenario but not this other one, why did the director shoot the scene like this, and so on.”
He continues, “I think starting with ‘why?’ can lead to some good inferences and critiques, as well as uncovering something that you may not have noticed if you did not ask.”
And there is plenty to ask and uncover. The film surrounds Pat Solitano (played by Bradley Cooper), who has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder following an incident he had with his wife. He ends up fired from his job as a teacher, and spends some time in a mental health institution. As the story progresses, Pat figures himself out with the help of his parents, friends, and new acquaintance—Tiffany Maxwell (played by Jennifer Lawrence)—who, arguably, all have their own unique neurodivergencies.
“I really wanted a movie that gave some room to discuss how common conceptions of being neurodivergent are often misleading,” Professor Duda says.
“I also wanted a film that made the audience think about why there are some behaviors and rituals we do that seem totally normal until you spend some time thinking about it and discover how bizarre these ‘normal’ rituals are or would be to someone who was looking in from the outside.”
“And that actually made me think about Robert De Niro’s character in Silver Linings Playbook,” he adds.
Robert De Niro’s character is Pat Solitano Sr. He attempts to distance himself from his son’s mental disorder, but is far more similar to him than he will acknowledge. This is a fairly common occurrence—for most forms of neurodivergence, genetics is a heavily contributing factor. Often, older generations are able to fly under the radar when it comes to neurodivergence, because it has not been studied to the extent it is today.
This threads back into the late diagnosis experience, like the one detailed in Marian Schembari’s novel. Existence under the public belief that only severe cases are truly neurodivergent leads to confusion and insecurity–trying to convince yourself and others that you are someone you are not.
According to Professor Duda, “what makes this meaningful as a film is this idea, a reminder, that we are largely not how we would choose to be.”
Duda emphasizes this theme, citing that “Pat says at one point that he hates his illness and wants nothing more than to control it. But his therapist, Dr. Patel, reminds him that this is not a strategy for dealing with overwhelming feelings or his illness. Hating our most undesirable parts hurts us, or in Pat’s words, it ‘poisons’ us. We have to learn to be good people with the parts of us we wish we could change but can’t.”
He concludes, “It’s the only way to our ‘shot at a silver lining’.”
For the online link, please visit the BIG Read website.
