MovieChat Forums > Dirty Filthy Love (2004) Discussion > what this film meant to me

what this film meant to me

posted 16 years ago by cricket_loving_girl
4 replies | jump to latest

i remember seeing this on tv a couple of years ago. i was a student, and secretly suffering from OCD. i'd had it for as long as i could remember, and intended to take it to my grave. one of the strange 'conditions' to the false safety OCD promised me was that i cold never tell anyone. besides, i was ashamed.

so there i was, watching it with friends, and while i didnt have the tourettes etc it really spoke to me, and rang so many bells. i loved how they made it clear that every case of OCD is different, and how impossible it is to completely understand and sympathise unless you have been through it. the despair, as was effectively portrayed by michael sheen etc, really is as immense as that.

it played on my mind for days afterwards, and then shortly afterwards another OCD themed programme - House of Obsessive Compulsives - showed on the same channel, and again i sat there, watching it with family, urging myself to speak up...but remaining silent, stifled by the OCD.

A couple of months after that it got too much to bear, and i finally spoke up, got the therapy i needed and beat OCD in four months, thanks to my lovely therapist and a lot of determination. It was not easy. That was 2 years ago, and i have been living an OCD free life since then.

I credit this film with starting theball rolling n my road to recovery. To all sufferers out there - it is possible to get past it. i intended to stay silent and live with it for the rest of my life. but i beat i. and if i could, you can. best of luck.

[–] Kinematico 16 years ago

I really hope you are totally cured by now, cricket loving girl. I am not sure if this disease can be cured totally or just controlled. Anyway I hope you are doing fine.

I am just learning from this disorder thanks to this movie. My very first impression was that Michael Sheen could be overacting. But after reading a couple of articles about that disease and after reading your testimony, I have to praise even more Mr. Sheen performance.

I am very glad I've rented this movie. I picked it from the videostore just because I liked Michael Sheen performances in "The Queen" and "Blood Diamond" so I wanted to see more from him. I wasn't disappointed at all. I really learnt a lot.

[–] danielclarson72 15 years ago

while i don't know if i'd have an official diagnosis for ocd, i certainly suffer from many of its manifestations. i too have been embarrassed by my repetitive and sometimes strange behaviors.

i'm glad this film had, from what it sounds like, such a profound impact on you. i too have been very much impacted by this movie. while i recognize the fact that it's still something that was created for primarily entertainment puproses, it allowed me to take some amount of solace in the fact that here were others out there who dealt with the same things i did on a daily basis.

i can't imagine a day without counting my steps, checking and re-checking certain things, having the racing thoughts, etc. etc. however, as with other such afflictions, we get by.

i think this is a brilliant movie -- easily on my top five list -- and am so glad it was created. i love the scene in the bar after the initial group session, with mark and charlotte, where she is describing the physiological aspects of the condition. she talks about all of the crazy thoughts being converted into "white noise", essentially blocking out the ever-invasive thoughts associated with ocd. while i'm not fortunate enough to have the option of therapy at this point, i take charlotte's words to heart and work on "blocking out" these thoughts the best i can, not letting them control me, but rather me being somewhat in control of them.

anyway, to touch again on your entry, i can relate to what you went through. everyone has something going on, and to have the proverbial balls to recognize what one's particular challenges are is admirable.

cheers, to you and to an incredible movie. the soundtrack, the acting, the plot: all brilliant.

daniel

(wow, i got through this entire message without unnecissarily deleting and re-writing several words and lines -- ha ha).

ps i would very much enjoying discussing this movie and ocd in general in more detail if anyone is interested.

[–] condemned_until_rebirth82 15 years ago

I'm so glad to see this movie having such a positive effect on people. Daniel, thanks for sharing with us how this movie meant to you. My older bro has OCD and watching this movie last night has helped me understand his condition more. He isn't that extreme like Michael Sheen's character, but he sure does some irregular things on a daily basis. He's not under any medication cos he's scared it might mess up his brain. So yeah, if you're still around and would like to discuss OCD, it'd be most appreciated.

~ nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it ~

[–] macro50 13 years ago

This film meant I finally knew what was up with me! The mannerisms Michael Sheen portrayed really brought it home to me!

Until seeing it Dirty Filthy Love, I never realised such a thing existed and that I had suffered with all it's manifestations over the years! And after it finished I just sat there crying for hours. My parents just thought I was weird and my had put it down to me having "habits"!

Hope everyone else found help from it