This post is an Open letter to author Blake Snyder.
Mr. Snyder,
I recently purchased your book, Save the Cat. I read it and found
it very useful. But I was totally taken aback by something you wrote on page
144. The sentence reads:
“Nothing happens or happens so slowly you can’t believe a
human being wrote it and not some mental patient.”
“…a human being…and not some mental patient.”
“…a human being…and not some mental patient.”
Two days ago, I devoted my blog post to remembering my mom.
She was a warm, kind, loving person and a wonderful mother who devoted herself
to her family.
She also suffered from schizophrenia.
Long before Alzheimer’s stole most of her memories, my mother had
to deal with the irrational fears and hallucinations—never able to fully trust
what she saw or what she heard—that are part of this horrible illness.
She was a “mental patient.”
How dare you, Mr. Snyder, imply that her illness made her
less than human?
How dare you imply that the 2.4 million Americans suffering
from schizophrenia, the 5.7 million affected by Bipolar Disorder and the 14.8
million dealing with major depression—all “mental patients”—are no longer “human
beings”?
Can you imagine how hurtful flippant comments like that are
to the victims of mental illness, and to their families? Sure, we hear them all the time. I grew up
listening to them. But I told myself they were the words of the ignorant.
You, sir, are not ignorant. You should have known better.
You should be ashamed.
Sincerely,
Linda Masterson Leszczuk
Quote of the Day:
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
~ Plato
