Stanley Kubrick - a classic case of OCD

[Arch Stanton]

There was a recent TV prog on Stanley Kubricks private life. There were huge gaps between is later films as he was increasingly affect by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He had a huge house in St Albans full of 100s of boxes of research material. For example if he wanted a 2 second shot of a gate in his film he would send a researcher out for days to photograph 100s of gates around the country so he could select the right one. He would then spend weeks deciding.

[Jonone]

Joey Ramone too.

[Sam Slater]

Oh Olay....

You don't know how much I repent my criticisms of your perpetual OCD/Bipolar posts of the past. Now I comprehend that my scornful manner was erroneous?? now: I see!

Your posts, when perceived against a backdrop of babecast-mania, remind me of the first shoots of daffodils' before spring; adding a little colour to the bleak landscape; showing a hint of the bloom to come. Alas! If only your posts could be the start of bloomtime in reality! Instead I fear this bangbabe season will be the start of a toilsome winter; a winter where the brambles will survive the frosts and darkness, and thus block out the life-giving rays that are essential if the beautiful daffodil is to blossom again.

Will the brambles be left to monopolise the landscape, or will some kind gardener cut them asunder, guaranteeing a colourful spring for passers-by to admire and court loved-ones?

Keep taking a stand, Archy, and I'll never rebuke you again. I swear to it!

[colonel]

A famous case of his perfectionism was when he spent THREE DAYS filming one scene of Scatman Crothers showing the little kid around the hotel stores in The Shining. The shot lasts less than 2 minutes on film- Crothers did not intone the words 'baked beans' to Kubrick's liking and after 3 days of 14 hours each working on what was essentially one line, nearly had a nervous breakdown.

[Arch Stanton]

I think Leonard Rossiter had some OCD as ell.

I tink Gordon Brown has OCPD - a complexity freak obsessed with detail and losing track of the big picture. ref for example the tax credit system - so complicated only Gordon Brown understands it and very flawed.

[Guilbert]

If you read about how Charlie Chaplin made his films he was also a compulsive perfectionist.

I am not talking about his early shorts, but later films like City Lights.

He totally immersed himself in his films and was the producer, writer, director, actor, and often wrote the music as well.

He would take weeks over one scene and often shoot it 60 or 70 times before he was happy with it.

There is one famous scene in City Lights where he is the tramp and there is a blind lady flower seller at the side of the road that he fancies.

Somehow he wanted this blind girl to think he was a mllionaire, but how could he get a blind girl to think that ?

He shot the scene over and over again until he was happy with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Lights

[Guilbert]

It has to be said thought that much great "ART" (painting, writing, sculpture, music, poetry etc) has been produced by people with "problems".

The world is populated by millions of "ordinairy" people who just go about their daily life, and make very little impact on the world as a whole.

But those people a little "out of the ordinairy" are the ones that produce things or invent things that change the world.

Albert Einstein was not thought of as that bright, and was working as a clerk at a patents office, but he spent his days thinking about the universe. He then wrote the papers about the theory of relativity and became one of the most famous people in the world.

John Harrison was an English clockmaker who solved the Latitude problem. He make a few "clocks" (called H1, H2, H3, H4 etc). Some of the clocks took 5 YEARS or more to build. He totally immersed himself in the problem.



These clocks are held in Greenwich and are masterpieces.



These are just two examples of people who were probably thought of as a little "strange" by their contemporaries.

[JonnyHungwell]

Everyone's got OCD in some form.

[Arch Stanton]

Yes personality disorders can be constructivefor example narcissism in moderation is essential as if you had no narcissism people would treat you like a doormat. But extreme narcissism causes damage to other people. Hitlers ego was so big that he equated himself to the German nation.

[leobloom]

yes I obsesively and compulsivly drink a large quinty of cheap wine everyday! do I have ocd? or am I an alcholic? maybe both?