Show notes
Welcome back to Analyze Scripts, where a psychiatrist and a therapist analyze what Hollywood gets right and wrong about mental health. Today, we are happily joined once again by Dr. Zheala Qayyum, child & adolescent psychiatrist extraordinaire and medical director of Emergency Psychiatry Services at Boston Children's Hospital, to analyze the second "Harry Potter" movie. In this film, we begin meeting some extra special supporting characters like Dobby, Moaning Myrtle, Tom Riddle, and the Malfoy family. In this episode, we explore the themes of tween development and self-identity, specifically as it relates to Harry grappling with the "good" (Gryffindor) and "bad" (Slytherin) parts of himself. We also discuss narcissism as it relates to Gilderoy Lockhart, parental expectations as it relates to the Malfoys, and bullying as it relates to Moaning Myrtle, and classism and racism as they relate to Dobby and mudbloods. We also reflect on one of our favorite Dumbledore quotes - "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” We hope you enjoy!Watch this episode on YouTube!!InstagramTikTokWebsiteDr. Katrina Furey: Hi, I'm Dr. Katrina Fury, a psychiatrist.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And I'm Portia Pendleton, a licensed clinical social worker. And this is analyze Scripts, a podcast.Dr. Katrina Furey: Where two shrinks analyze the depiction of mental health in movies and tv shows.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Our hope is that you learn some legit info about mental health while feeling like you're chatting with your girlfriends.Dr. Katrina Furey: There is so much misinformation out there.Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And it drives us nuts.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And if someday we pay off our student loans or land a sponsorship, like with a lay flat airline or a.Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Major beauty brand, even better.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn.Dr. Katrina Furey: And your DSM five, and enjoy.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Hi.Dr. Katrina Furey: Welcome back to another very special episode of analyze scripts, because one of my favorite attendings and teachers from residency, Gila Kayum, is joining us once again to discuss the second Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets. If you haven't listened to our last episode with please, you know, go back in your feed a little bit to find our first episode about Harry Potter and the sorcerer's Stone, because we're going to rebuild on that. And just to remind you. So Gila is the attending psychiatrist at Harvard. Basically, she's the medical director of the emergency Psychiatry Service and the director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship program. She also remains on staff at Yale University, which is where I met her as my inpatient attending on the child and adolescent unit. So we love her because she's awesome and because she's so good at using fairy tales like Harry Potter to talk about development and themes about child and adolescent psychiatry. So we're just thrilled to have you back.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: No, thank you for having me. And I'm so excited that I get to do something that's dear to my heart and has fascinated me since I was in medical school, so that I'm kind of giving my age away. That's when I read Harry Potter. But to do it with some of my favorite people, so I think there's nothing better.Dr. Katrina Furey: Awesome. Well, so where do we get started, Portia?Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I don't know. I mean, they're back for year two, right? So I think the shock to Harry maybe isn't entirely over because there's, like, new monsters and people that he's meeting every year, but the fact that there is magic out there, I guess I would start with him returning home to the Dursleys, which I have never been happy about. I think we learn later kind of why, but now seeing him being so mistreated and kind of brought all back with the trauma, like, here we are. Know, you don't know Dudley is so amazing. Your parents were bad. It's like all these messages kind of return. So I think we should start there.Dr. Katrina Furey: I do think it's so realistic, though, unfortunately, right, that know Harry finally finds his place in Hogwarts and these people where he feels safe and loved and special. And what's awesome about Harry is the specialness isn't really what he loves, the know, like, seeking that part out. He just likes feeling secure and loved. And now he's to go back for the summer to this abusive environment. And I just think, unfortunately, that does mirror a lot of kids who are growing up in abusive households that you hope they have a place to go where they can see, like, the world won't always be like this, but he does have to go back, and it totally sucks.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, it's like school, I guess.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, exactly. And I think similarly we see what happens in many abusive relationships, although this was not intentional and Dobby had a role to play in it, is that you get cut off from your supportive relationships, right. That we're going to bolt your window. You're not going to do the things that bring you joy or magic is not allowed. Your friends don't even care about you to write to you. And all those things that he felt like he got in the first year were just suddenly taken away. And he sort of started believing it when he was like, maybe my friends won't come back, or I'm my own.Dr. Katrina Furey: Why haven't they written to me?Dr. Zheala Qayyum: A lot of self doubt, a lot of like, he's still growing in confidence, still thinking about what is real and what's not. And I think the other thing, which sort of contrasts is you go to the jerseys and everything is so proper and everything has to be done this way. I will come and greet them. And then I think one of the stark contrasts is we get introduced to the boroughs, which is a whole different world, and it's still a family. And then it gives you a contrast of the sort of the orderliness, the rigidness, the regimentedness at private drive. And then you go to the chaos of boroughs that is full of love and caring, and yet it has room for the unexpected. Each kid is different and accepted for being dragon trainers and whatever else that they're doing. I think we talked a little about this in the last one, where in such a big family, Ron is a little lost that his attachment style we talked about is a little like, anxious. He doesn't know if he'll get looked over in all of this chaos. But there is just so much curiosity. I think that was one thing that is so starkly different between those two households where the adults in boroughs are fostering curiosity and modeling curiosity for their kids. Like, what is this function of this rubber duck? Yeah, we're so fascinated, and yet there is no room for curiosity or thought in private drive.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And I think different types of torture.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: For a young child.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Totally.Dr. Katrina Furey: And I think even in maybe a more stable, non abusive home, we see that, right, in kids who maybe their parents have high expectations for them or want them to turn into x, y or z and don't leave room for the child's unique personality or individuality or interests. That can happen even if you're not being abused or neglected. Right. Like Harry. So I thought that was also just a beautiful addition to the story that I think matching kids watching it, even adults watching it, it'll resonate with them.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I think it's funny and a little like, well, what else is Mr. Dursley supposed to say when Harry has the cake and it looks like he's doing it and then it goes over his client's wife and then he's, you know, that's my nephew.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: He's very disturbed.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: We didn't want him coming down to non magical people, Muggles. I think sometimes what we don't know is scary or disturbing. But I just thought it was, like, an interesting word choice, disturbed. I guess it fits from a Muggle's perspective of what's going on. And then also just like, they think he's disturbed and they think he's unwell and weird and crazy and bad, too. But I felt bad for Hedwig. We talk usually about people, but being stuck in her little cage, not being allowed to be let out. But, yes, we are introduced to Dobby, and he doesn't seem so great at first, right? He's like all this mischievous stuff. He's this new creature and he's starting to. Right? Like every time he says something not nice about his master or the family he works for, he kind of like self harms, right? So he's like hitting him up on the head with a lamp, banging his hand down. And Harry's like, what are you. Stop. Stop. And I think it's so telling to. Harry's so kind and nurturing, just spirit that we see again through the rest of the movies, especially with Dobby, that he's like, please stop. What are you doing? Please don't do this.Dr. Katrina Furey: Makes him uncomfortable.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah.Dr. Katrina Furey: I'm dying to hear what you think of Dobby, Dr. Q. I think Dobby.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And I think it evolves more over the next book movies is. I think it's a bigger question of representation of race and otherness in the books because there's not a lot of focus on race per se. And yet there is in the pure bloods and the Muggles. And then there's even the people who sort of are very thoughtful about how Hagrid and the Weasleys support Muggleborn wizards and witches. There is in wizarding families. There's this neglect and oversight of these elves like nonexistent and invisible. And I think we see in the future books, too that there are characters who really take a lot of issue with sort of this thought about pure bloodedness and yet they're perfectly fine with elves working in their homes. So I just think it's interesting that there is even despite a lot of awareness there's sort of blind spot that Hermione picks up on later in the later books about these elves are being mistreated. But then also you see someone being restricted in what they can do and genuinely care about someone and just how their methods are.Dr. Katrina Furey: Right, but that's such a great point. And I thought of that too, in rewatching the movie again and perhaps especially now that I'm older and the times we're living in. It was such an interesting commentary on race and identity. That's like the whole plot of this movie, right? That, you know, Salazar Slytherin left this chamber of secrets with the basilisk that's meant to wipe out all the mudbloods, right? It's basically like the goal is genocide here, right? And we start to see what characters are for this, which ones are against it, who is a Mudblood, but even within that, exactly like what you're saying there's this blind spot to the elves and it's almost like, could be a parallel to what we might call these days, like microaggressions. Like, even if you mean well, the stuff you've grown up with could still be deeply rooted and you got to open your eyes to it. And it's a really interesting way to start introducing that concept to little kids or anyone.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: But I think it's really fascinating in terms of storytelling and fairy tales how this big, sometimes difficult topic is presented.Dr. Katrina Furey: So well in this movie.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And it's so clear. And then you see, we see Draco seeing Harry getting all this attention when he. Lockhart. Right. We'll talk about him. Oh, my God. And Draco's so angry that. How dare Harry be getting all this attention, like, I'm a pure blood. I've been taught that I should be. Right. Like on stage with Lockhart. Why aren't then? You know, then he's terrible to the Dursleys. And then you see his dad walk in, you're like, oh, well, this is why. But you see. And good acting, I guess, with Tom Felton, like as a child, but the rage, he's so angry.Dr. Katrina Furey: Yeah, right. And we really get to meet. Or we start to meet the Malfoy family, right? We don't meet the mom yet whose name is Narcissa, which I always think is interesting. But again, Giela, I'm dying to hear what you think about the depiction of the Malfoys in this.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It is, actually, I'm really intrigued by that sort of dynamic because I also think, interestingly, I think given my own south asian background, the whole colonialism and the british aristocracy and this sort of eliteness and classism that comes in and sort of, if that's the norm, how awful not to feel special.Dr. Katrina Furey: For Draco.Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yes, right. If this is part of your identity and this is what you've been brought up with, and then suddenly someone comes and challenges what you know. I think one of the most interesting things I was told about child development was if parents do it right, every little child should have a little bit of narcissism going into school, knowing that they're special and that they're the kings and queens of their own little kingdoms. Then they come to school, and now you have to navigate other kings and queens. And I kind of see that happening a little later. For Draco, we would expect that happening earlier in school age, but now he's sort of met someone who can actually, he can find threatening.Dr. Katrina Furey: And so it sounds like what you're saying, too, is that hopefully, if you have good enough parents, they've instilled that healthy degree of narcissism in you, right, where you are confident, you do feel special, you feel unconditionally loved. And they're not the ones challenging it. Maybe at first, but then hopefully they can help you wrap your head around it and say, like, you are the best to us and there's other people around and their needs matter too. Right? You have to balance that with some empathy, altruism, integrity. And it's when those things are out of balance that I think we start to see personality pathology either way, whether it's more the narcissistic way or it's more of the know avoidant kind of way.Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, no, that's true, because we see it again later in the movie with Hermione and Draco when she's challenging him a. She challenges him academically and know a mudbud, but we also see her directly challenge him about his father buying the team all brooms and like, well, that's how you got on the team. And harry didn't need know, like, how dare you call me out and take my crown off my head? And you're right. Like, someone who I consider lesser. And I think then we see them really kind of throughout the movies, which we will cover go head to head a lot. But I think she really grinds his gears.Dr. Katrina Furey: That scene was hard to watch, even now. And just, you could tell, like, the word mudblood is like a racial slur. And they were all just really shocked he would even say it. It's one of those things where it's, know, maybe they all kind of sense. He thinks that. But then to be so. Just willing to say it so aggressively and in such a mean way. And then you see Harry not really understand, which, again, what a thoughtful way to introduce that concept, right. For him as a real outsider, not to get it. And now they're having to explain it to him again, really, I think mirrors trying to start to explain hard facts about the reality of the world to small children as they start to see thin…
Full show notes at the publisher 
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
