Paul Veisman - Journal Entry 2

1. I saw The Celebrity Guide to Mental Health and Wellness.

2. The ending is of a man talking about his personal experiences with mental health issues. He expresses thoughts of suicide and feeling inferior. He talks about the dangers and how he realized he needed to reach out for help. He ends it off by singing, I'm not exactly sure why.

3. If I had to ascribe a moral to this piece it would be how important it is to take care of and be educated on mental health. The piece constantly refers to the importance of mental health and provides satirical examples of mental health issues. Along with that, in between scenes they provided tips on what to do in the case of somebody having a panic attack. The message of the piece was obviously to advertise how important it is to be aware of preventative measures that could be taken for mental health issues.

4. An element of this piece that I enjoyed was the humor. The added layer of humor to the serious issue of mental health made the piece easier to watch. I believe that the use of jokes, sarcasm, anecdotes, etc. provided more grounds for understanding. However, I also believe that it could have a negative effect on the message of the piece. Individuals could take it as an offensive joke rather than realizing that this is a form of spreading awareness. I personally would not have been able to keep focused on this video and understand its meaning if it was not funny.

5. One element that caused me to be confused was the lack of plot. The piece was all over the place and each individual scene was easy to understand, however, certain different scenes seemed completely unrelated. I did not like the structure of this piece. I was able to get the message from the multiple scenes individually. If I could do anything differently I would have made maybe multiple anecdotal scenes and a few explanatory ones, all related. I was not able to see the play as one whole, rather I saw it as multiple mini-plays.

Select one of the performers and answer the following questions:

1. David in the beginning of the piece wants to get to know the group and make sure they are comprehending what he is presenting to them.

2. Ask, Present, teach

3. I did not enjoy the performance. I believe that it was all over the place and very difficult to keep track of. However, I do believe that the piece had a good message.

4. I felt the most connected to the play when he was talking about the suicide rates and stories on the Golden Gate Bridge. I had felt connected to this because I lost a friend to suicide when I was younger. He was a friend from camp and I remember them making us watch a video to be aware of suicide and how to prevent it. They talked to us about mental health and introduced what suicide is. In one of the videos they showed there was a Golden Gate Bridge survivor who explains how he regretted trying to kill himself almost instantly. Suicide is a serious issue and I am glad they shined light on that.