Like anything else, our understanding of how the mind works is constantly changing.  Because we live in a fallen world, we do not always handle people with special needs correctly.  The Catholic Church teaches that every person, no matter their state in life, is worthy of the dignity with which God imbues them at the moment of their creation.  Sadly, we have mostly failed as a society to follow through on this truth.  For centuries, we treated those society has deemed as “different,” no matter what that means, as something other than human.  At times, we lock them away to be studied through glass windows by men in white lab coats.  There is also the other extreme, when we parade them to the public as objects of curiosity or worse.  There are elements of all this in today’s film, Welcome to Me (2014), which is meant to be a comedy but ends up giving an honest look at mental health issues.  It is over-the-top at times, but as I started this review, there is still much to discover when it comes to the mind.

For example, you can immediately tell that there is likely something wrong with Alice Klieg’s (Kristen Wiig) mind as we get our Welcome to Me.  It is evident that few have been welcomed into her tiny studio apartment for some time, her walls lined with video home system (VHS) tapes of past episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show (1986-2011), which she watches constantly.  It is part of her routine, which starts at getting out of bed at 12:15 in the afternoon, walking to a nearby convenience store, and buying a lottery ticket.  The only time she watches regular television is to see the drawing for the sweepstakes.  Incredibly, on this night she wins, $86 million to be precise.  Her family and friends soon hear about her windfall, the first of which is her best friend, Gina Selway (Linda Cardellini), who accompanies her as she decides to move into a casino hotel indefinitely with the winnings.  This is not the only worrying change Alice makes.  In talking to her therapist, Dr. Daryl Moffat (Tim Robbins), she informs him that now that she is rich, she no longer needs to take the medication for her borderline personality disorder.  From here, her choices become increasingly unhinged.  While on a tour of a television network, Alice and Gina stay for a live taping of one of their shows.  During it, without waiting to be called, Alice boldly walks onto the stage when the host, Gabe Ruskin (Wes Bentley), asks for a volunteer from the audience.  Then, without listening to any instruction, she launches into a lewd soliloquy she had tried to get on the air when she won her millions.  Her affinity for the camera, at least in her opinion, leads her to meeting with Gabe’s brother, Rich Ruskin (James Marsden), who is also co-chairman of their network.  Alice wants to have her own television show like Oprah, but with more Alice . . . and swans.  Though everyone thinks this is a terrible idea, the $15 million check she writes for the struggling company for 100 episodes leads Rich to say yes to all of her demands.  Hence, they begin filming within a week, something that none of the people behind the camera are proud of, but becomes somewhat of a hit because of its sheer oddity.  For instance, the first show features her making a meatloaf cake with mashed sweet potato frosting, and then eating it for the remaining minutes.  Still, she is not entirely happy with the end product and begins tinkering with the format.  It becomes an excuse for her to broadcast whatever is on her mind, which makes sense since it has the eponymous title.  Not only is it narcissistic, but she begins alienating all her friends.  This happens when one of the “reenactments” of events in her life has Gina being portrayed as fat, which hurts Gina’s feelings.  Further, while she had begun somewhat of a relationship with Gabe, she sleeps with a graduate student, Rainer Ybarra (Thomas Mann), who interviews her for a paper.   On the next show, she callously discusses the affair to Gabe’s shock.  Alice’s behavior also concerns Dr. Moffat.  At one point, he tells her that he is considering having her forcefully committed for continuing to not take her medication.  Later, she tapes one of their sessions over the phone without his consent for one of the episodes.  With that, he ends his time as her therapist.  From there, the show gets progressively worse, with her showcasing her castrating her three pet dogs.  The real tipping point, though, is when she accidentally spills a simmering concoction in a crockpot onto her chest, landing her in the hospital.  The only one who visits is Gina, but it is brief and to say that she can no longer be friends with Alice because the new television star only cares about herself.  Upon getting out, Alice cancels a week’s worth of shows, staying in her hotel room with her dogs and spiraling out of control as she is gripped in her mania.  Finally, she is tackled while walking nude through the casino and institutionalized.  Once more on her medication, Alice is clear-headed enough to understand that she has hurt a lot of people.  Thus, she decides to make one last episode where she apologizes to the people filing lawsuits against the network for her shenanigans and makes amends with her family and friends.  The centerpiece of this effort is Gina, who eventually comes on stage where Alice presents a check, the remainder of her lottery money.  After the show, Gabe takes her back to her old apartment, where she finally turns off the television and goes to bed.

The fact that Alice is able to shut off the television at the end of Welcome to Me is an indication that she has changed.  The television is a key aspect of the story.  Because of her illness, she leads a lonely existence, and this machine is her one constant companion.  Gina is a friend to be sure, but she has a job and responsibilities beyond Alice.  Hence, Alice always has the television on, even when she is not at home.  This is not to downgrade the relationship between Alice and Gina.  Indeed, the most powerful moment in the movie comes after Gina comes to Alice while the latter is institutionalized.  Immediately, Alice launches into how she is back on the “happy pills,” but Gina is distant.  When Alice asks, Gina unloads about how she had lost her job and the lack of concern Alice showed.  Alice begins to cry, to which Gina angrily says that Alice is not allowed to show such emotion.  To be more specific, Gina says something along the lines that just because Alice is hurting does not give her the right to hurt others.  There is a lot of truth in this thought that aligns with Church teaching.  God calls us to love one another unconditionally, but that does not mean we have to settle for abuse.  By allowing it to go on, you can harm yourself, making you unable to function in society.  In other words, you will not be able to love one another as God desires because this kind of abuse robs you of your ability to love yourself.  This much is clear from Alice’s actions.  Narcissists behave as they do because they need others to make up for their lack of liking themselves.  They also forget the overwhelming love that God has for them.  I get that this last bit can be esoteric, and the film has nothing to say about spiritual matters.  It would also not be accurate of me to say that the Church is full of well-adjusted people, or that pursuing a relationship with God will automatically make life easier.  What I can say with complete confidence is that God loves you, and you should cling to that when others fail you regarding the care you deserve.

Thus, does Welcome to Me deserve a recommendation?  It does deserve some praise for giving Wiig a different vehicle for her brand of humor.  Put differently, it leans into the odd-ball nature of her comedy.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it is cringey.  As such, I would be careful with this one.