Me, Myself, Irene
The problem
An advertisement for Fox Film Distribution was published in Girlfriend magazine. It promoted an upcoming cinema attraction called Me, Myself & Irene and starred Jim Carrey. It included a photograph of the actor with a cleft through the middle of his face, illustrating the different personalities of the character. It was also accompanied by the words 'From Gentle To Mental'.
Action taken
The complainant wrote to the Advertising Standards Authority:
"This is to complain under sections 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the Advertising Code for People in Advertising regarding the attached advertisement for the film Me, Myself and Irene.
Our reasons for complaining are as follows:
1. The advertisement promotes a film about a person suffering from schizophrenia. Although the advertisement does not explicitly state this, it portrays the head of a person in two halves - one with a friendly smile, the other with a menacing leer. This is accompanied by the strapline "From Gentle to Mental"
2. The image and strapline exploit inaccurate, out-dated stereotypes of people who
suffer from any form of mental illness, and in particular, schizophrenia.
These stereotypes are:
- schizophrenia as "split personality"; and
- the "normal" personality as "gentle" and the "mental" personality as violent.
The outcome
Office of Film & Literature Classification decision
Office of Film & Literature Classification newsletter
Advertising Standards Authority decision
You too can respond to media coverage that you believe is stigmatising or discriminatory. Visit our Media Watch section for a step-by-step guide on how to make a complaint.
