Media for Mental Health: How Samurai Jack Overcame Suicide

“I didn’t come this far to sink so low” – Slipknot

Image courtesy of Adult Swim

Mad years ago, in another life, I was talking with my friend Connor. Connor mentioned something and I instantly asked him if he’d seen a particular movie (Be Kind Rewind) because there’s a scene that correlated with what he was talking about. He hadn’t seen the movie so I began to describe the scene to him. I’ll never forget how playfully fed up Connor was as he threw his hands up and asked, “why do you always do this? Whenever we’re talking about something, you always think of a movie or a comic book (that you know I haven’t read) to compare it to!” I thought about it but didn’t have an answer – I wasn’t even aware I was doing it. Finding a piece of media to juxtapose with real topics or events is just something I did naturally. If I had to answer the question now (sixteen years later, in this life), I’d say that media, or pop culture specifically, provides a compass to help navigate life. There’s no road map for life; we all doing this shit raw. Lifehacker editor-in-chief and BNP staff member Jordan Calhoun wrote a whole memoir (Piccolo is Black) talking about how key moments in pop culture from tv shows and movies helped him navigate through his teen years. Much like someone looking through a Bible for a verse to find inspiration, advice, solace or comfort – it’s the same thing for me but instead of a verse, it might be a comic book panel, or a scene from a movie, maybe a line from a tv show….