ABSTRACT
Visual cultures have been instrumental in popularizing an understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Often these portrayals are presented as traditional “triumph over adversity” narratives, following well-documented screenplay formulas, while in other stories there is a deliberate way in which characters become almost superhuman. In others still, the wider postwar political landscape takes precedence. In this chapter, the author examines the films Taxi Driver and You Were Never Really Here to argue that popular culture texts have moved toward a more positive depiction of PTSD. According to the author, PTSD is a moving diagnosis that often encapsulates unprocessed traumas that impact people on an individual level. Films that include honest depictions of this type of experiential experience, such as You Were Never Really Here, provide viewers with a cinematic reflection of their own lived trauma, one that could help them learn to understand and cope with this pervasive wound.
