Since the 1940s Hollywood has produced an increasing number of films dealing with characters suffering from any number of psychological issues. These narratives range from the extreme end of the antisocial spectrum such as The Godfather (1972), the most notorious example of a Mafia crime family, The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) about a highly intelligent serial killer, to a writer plagued by extreme alcoholism in The Lost Weekend (1945).
These titles and numerous others have become critical darlings, scooped up an impressive collection of Academy Awards over the past eight decades, and many have been substantial box office successes as well. Over the years, though, equal attention has not been given to the less showy, and less less severe psychological disorders related to antisocial behaviors such as social anxiety. Of course, social anxiety is a serious condition when people feel overly self-conscious in social situations or feel ill at ease, or outright dread at participating in social events.
Another area of social interaction that is either ignored or mischaracterized would be social avoidance. This is immediately characterized as negative, being a leading component of social anxiety. While this is oftentimes the case with many people it is certainly not a given. For some people “social avoidance” is a protection, a safeguard against toxic people and the negative situations they create. People who practice social avoidance make a conscious decision to do so. They are not necessarily introverted, shy or have low self-esteem. They are not paralyzed by fear of social interactions.
Although this is hard for so many attention seeking people in our overwhelming social media era to grasp – not everyone needs to be the center of attention all the time, not everyone is sidelined by loneliness or needs to have constant rounds of activities with others, nor do they have to be classified as shut-ins. Then again, with the Covid pandemic largely over (supposedly) many people still choose to work from home if they are still allowed to do so, eliminating close contact with others for at least forty hours per week. There’s a lot to be said for avoiding corporate office environments, which themselves are often toxic – but that is another discussion in itself.
In any case, it should be kept in mind that some of the finest and most memorable films are about characters on the social sidelines, who could even be considered loners – but in a largely positive sense. It’s not surprising that many characters of this type appear in Westerns since this genre is ideal for portraying rugged individualists who have to be self-reliant and usually travel and live alone. One of these notable classics is Shane (1953) in which Alan Ladd as the title character is a reformed gunslinger, who becomes the positive role model for a young boy and his homesteading family in 19th century Wyoming when he defends them against greedy cattle barons who try to steal their land.
For those of us who grew up in the 80s, how could we ever forget Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) of the Karate Kid series fame? Not only does Miyagi diligently and patiently teach karate to Daniel (Ralph Macchio) so he can defend himself against high school bullies, but also teaches him other life lessons and becomes the much needed father figure in Daniel’s life. Aside from his involvement in Daniel’s life, however, the narrative makes clear that Miyagi lives an orderly, sedate and largely solitary lifestyle.
In more recent times we have films such as Drive (2011) in which Ryan Gosling portrays a stunt driver who also has a side gig as a getaway driver for the seedier denizens of this neo-noir set in L.A. His involvement with others is usually limited strictly to business, but he does become a protector for a young mother, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son who live in his apartment building. He also tries to assist her husband with a dangerous mission to pay off a large debt when he’s released from prison.
These are but a few outstanding examples of films where social avoiders, solitary figures, and loners turn out to be some of our best heroes – if initially misunderstood and under appreciated.
