Journal 2 Emi Oge

What was the name of the piece you saw?

The piece I saw was The Celebrity Guide to Mental Health and Wellness. 

Describe the final moment of the piece? What happened? 

In the final moment of the piece David shares his own experience battling depression. It was surprising to me hearing him talk personally about it because he seems like such a strong person throughout the piece teaching others how  to handle their mental health issues. He brings up a time in college where he remembers the first time he has thoughts of suicide and how he has pushed throug and gotten better. He shares that he might not be okay right now but he knows he will be which is very inspiring to people watching. 

If you had to ascribe a moral to this piece, what would it be? Why do you think that? 

The moral of this piece is to bring awareness to the subjects of anxiety and depression. It is also to help people who may be struggling and show them that they are not alone. Many people go through these issues and it is a scary place to be. David teaches people from his own experience which makes this piece very relatable.

What was an element you enjoyed about the piece? Why did you enjoy it? 

An element of this piece I especially enjoyed was the parts where David brought in people to do exercises with him. The exercise that really caught my attention was when he brought in Jake to do the anti self and real self exercise. They wrote down negative self talk that they experience on a day to day basis. In this role play Jake repeated David's negative self talk to him, which was “you're going to end up alone”, over and over again. This actually triggered something in David's mind because you could tell right away how his mannerism changed and he became very upset. Throughout this piece David teaches everyone how to overcome these issues but we don't see that he experiences them as well until this point of the performance. 

What was an element that confused you? Why did it confuse you? What could have been done differently to make it clearer to you?

An element that confused me was the part where David is almost acting as a comedian. I just don't really understand how this fits into the piece as a whole. I was thinking this maybe came from the point that David made in the beginning where he says, “all comedy comes from tragedy”. Also, in the middle of certains parts it just cuts out to a different screen where David teaches us facts about the brain. It just seems very discombobulated when he goes from funny to serious. Maybe this was just to lighten the mood which I could definitely understand. 

What did the character WANT?

David wanted to bring awareness to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and help people through these issues. 

What tactics or actions did they use to get what they wanted.

Teach

Explain

Relate

Did you enjoy their performance? Why or why not?

I did really enjoy this performance. I think it could especially be very helpful to someone who has experienced these problems and needs advice from someone who can actually relate to what they are feeling and going through. It was very inspirational and worth the watch. 

What moment in the piece did you feel the most connected to the performance? Describe it.

I think at the end of the piece I felt most connected.This is because it was very sentimental and you almost feel like he's talking to you at the end. He's talking about his own experience and it is actually very sad and heartfelt. I know people who have struggled with depression and it's heartbreaking to see anyone feel like they don't want to be alive anymore. It is also very inspiring that David would take the time to try to help others through their problems while he is still struggling. Suicide is a very touchy subject. Many people have these horrible thoughts in their mind and it is not their fault. It is very nice to hear someone talk about it and let people know they are loved and worth a lot more than they think.