Chess and mental health - Why the stigma?

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All movies nowadays require suspension of disbelief, don't they? Only if a film is particularly bad does the lack of realism become glaring. Good films typically allow you to overlook the lack of realism.

You could easily pick apart a Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan film's lack of realism but you'd be missing out on the enjoyment of the film. You don't seem much fun to watch a movie with.

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You could say the same about any such movie.

You could mock Rocky's laughable defense and taking an absurd number of punches to the face; or complain that a slacker who drinks and smokes can't really get into shape for a pro match in just a few weeks. By why would you want to? Why miss the enjoyment of one if the greatest films of all time to focus on such details?

Do you really criticize action films because the hero can't realistically take out scores of bad guys without reloading his gun?

The list goes on: love scenes in movies aren't realistic, nor are the relationships; they're idealistic, stylized depictions. Sports movies with their improbable last-second comebacks and unrealistic plays; war movies, biopics like Braveheart and it's depiction of William Wallace, Gladiator's depiction of battles in Roman Colosseums, etc.

It's a waste of time and enjoyment to trip over the lack of realism in movies; you'll never enjoy any film.

That said, I'm fine with pointing out flaws in movies so facts don't get confused with fantasy; but fictional movies meant to entertain shouldn't be dismissed because of them.

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I'm not trying to convert anyone. It's just a fictional TV show and not a topic of any real importance.

However, your gripes embody the stereotypes of chess players: oddballs who obsess over things normal people don't.

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He was quite the maths genius.
And anyone who’s a genius is mad as a hatter (or at least somewhere on the autistic scale).

@mchill said
Like most of you, I've seen my share of TV shows and movies with chess players and/or tournaments. The majority of these showcase chess players as eccentric, socially isolated, oddballs, with psychological "issues" My first experience of this as a kid was an watching an early James Bond film - From Russia with Love, the tournament winner was an unsmiling guy with overly large ...[text shortened]... tique? Does it make things more entertaining? Do these folks know they are perpetuating a falsehood?

Okay. Here’s my serious answer:

If you make a movie about an average Joe moving pieces of wood around a board, people will fall asleep.

A story arc has a premise and a goal, struggle, mishaps and then some form of conclusion.
Characters have to be interesting. Heroes have a flaw.

Just watching someone play chess, get married, have kids who do well and then die at 80 is not going to draw anything but die-hard chess addicts to the tables.

@shavixmir said
Okay. Here’s my serious answer:

If you make a movie about an average Joe moving pieces of wood around a board, people will fall asleep.

A story arc has a premise and a goal, struggle, mishaps and then some form of conclusion.
Characters have to be interesting. Heroes have a flaw.

Just watching someone play chess, get married, have kids who do well and then die at 80 is not going to draw anything but die-hard chess addicts to the tables.

Very true; but he's referring to a flaw that's specifically attributed to chess players: the anti-social weirdo.

@shavixmir said
Totally agree.

The people on this board would fit right into a chess movie, filmed in an asylum by Johnny Depp on acid.

Johnny Depp would be a great choice to play a chess player.
Maybe even a movie on the life of Bobby Fischer.
Only question....how do you move chess pieces with scissors ? 😛