It’s late, my kids are finally asleep, my husband is working on restoring an old Triumph TR6 and I am at last able to do what I love to do every Sunday night: read my newest Chicago Tribune Magazine.
Today’s draw (“Ascent Into Madness,” April 30) is an article on a stage actress who seems vaguely familiar to me. I am drawn into the article finding myself liking this woman who declares acting to be “sick, sick, sick!” She reminds me of another actor who, if I am correct in memory, declared acting to be similar to schizophrenia. I believe his name is Nicolas Cage. Then it occurs to me, this actress is familiar because she portrayed a grieving mother of a long-lost daughter in the Cage movie “8mm.”
Amy Morton’s portrayal of the mother who just wants to know what happened to her daughter was unflinchingly painful and real to watch. The movie itself was very dark, yet truthful in its portrayal of the ugliness that exists in our world. And Ms. Morton made a deeply disturbing film, one that touches you in a very real and human way. I sincerely hope that Ms. Morton makes more forays into the film industry. Her talent is one that should not be muffled.
Bonnie Nelson, Orland Park
Amy Morton exemplifies everything great about Chicago theater: hardworking actors who are well grounded and never forget their roots. As a Steppenwolf subscriber, I’m always thrilled to see Amy’s talents on stage. You can always count on Amy to deliver great performances. I was particularly touched by her Midwestern “un-Hollywood” humility in the interview. Don’t go Hollywood, Amy. Stay here where you’re appreciated.
Barbara Carlson, Evanston
Amy Morton, in the opinion of this 20-year-old, is the best actress around. Her portrayal of Dr. Bernadette Jump Cannon in “Space” was so amazing that I actually flew to New York for the day to see her in it there. Rick Kogan’s article was wonderful and John Lee’s photos were some of the best I have ever seen of Ms. Morton. Thank you for featuring a true actress of the American stage.
Sara Potapenko, Highland, Ind.
The cover photo for Rick Kogan’s interview with Amy Morton is a dull cliche. Certainly during his discussions with her there was some remark that suggested a more original situation to enhance the article. Instead, a designer, editor or photographer unimaginatively seized on Morton’s remark that acting is in a way sick because one pretends to be someone else, and threw together old, hackneyed visuals associated with sickness of the mind: the actress tightly wrapped in a sheet, wearing a wild stare, her fingers stretched out helplessly, and a bare light bulb suspended from somewhere above the frame of the photo. Because the blank background isolates the actress from any social or historical context, readers are left to fill in the scene and conclude that people who have a brain disorder are isolated and restrained in stark, bare places.
The photograph of Morton is harmful and offensive because it perpetuates outmoded concepts about brain disorders and people who suffer from them. For example, the National Institutes of Mental Health reports that, contrary to popular belief, people who have a brain disorder are less likely to behave violently than other groups of people. In particular, people with blue eyes are a more dangerous group than people with a brain disorder. As a 1995 study found, brain disorders so impair functioning that a person is typically unable to plan or carry out violent acts.
People actually suffer more from misinformation about brain disorders than from the illnesses themselves because disorders of the brain are among the most treatable of illnesses. In 60 to 85 percent of cases, the persons improve with treatment, but only about 50 percent of persons treated for heart disease improve. People who have been treated for a brain disorder overwhelmingly agree that “the disease is bad, but the stigma is worse.”
Ellen Credille, Chicago
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