Line #16 Film/PatchAdams


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14	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wzjlualusi4.jpg]]
15	[[caption-width-right:300:Laughter truly is the best medicine.]]
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17	''Patch Adams'' (1998) is a VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Creator/RobinWilliams as Hunter "Patch" Adams, a medical student who wants to treat people, not just diseases. To do this, he bucks authority, dresses up as a clown, and acts silly and (on occasion) unprofessionally. Also features Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman in a smaller role as Patch's roommate.
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19	The movie centres largely around Adams's clashing with the old guard of medicine over how to treat patients, specifically their cold and detached bedside manner. Patch argues they need to be more involved with the patients and not treat them as another statistic, whilst his superiors point out that getting emotionally involved helps neither doctor nor patient.
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21	Notably, the film received a fair bit of criticism from the ''real'' Dr. Adams, among many, over the film's representation of his views and philosophies. He believed [[TheThemeParkVersion it simplified all his work into "laughter is the best medicine."]] Furthermore it fabricates entire events, such as [[GenderFlip making his best friend into a woman]] [[TokenRomance to create a love interest]], and having Patch commit several felonies which, naturally, his real life counterpart never did. To make matters worse, the money promised to Adams out of the film's profits by the studio were never paid to him--this massively delayed construction of the hospital he wished to build.
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23	----
24	!!This film contains examples of:
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26	* AgeLift: While the real Hunter Adams went to medical school at the usual age, in the film he doesn't start until much later in his life.
27	* AloneWithThePsycho:
28	** In the beginning of the film, Patch is forced to room with a man who goes apeshit on a regular basis in reaction to imaginary squirrels on the ground. Patch is, to say the least, uncomfortable with the arrangement, but helping his roommate "fight off" the squirrels long enough to reach the restroom inspires him to devote his life to helping people.
29	** [[spoiler:Carin's visit to Larry Silver's house. It doesn't end well for either of them.]]
30	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: During his SmiteMeOMightySmiter moment, Patch tells Truman that [[ApeShallNeverKillApe man is the only animal who kills its own kind]]. The praying mantis[[note]]Though not to the same extent you probably think.[[/note]], black widow spider[[note]]Also not to the extent you probably think[[/note]], betta fish, chimpanzee, dolphin, lion, rabbit, deer, and the vast majority of the animal kingdom would all like a word with you, Mr. Adams. As pointed out in the ApeShallNeverKillApe page, humans are far from unique among animals at killing their own kind. They are, however, unique in being the only ones who even sometimes feel bad about it, at least as far as we know.
31	* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1sYjDc8i4I "Where My Heart Will Take Me"]] by Music/RodStewart, which infamously became the theme song of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.
32	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The antagonist seems to have no motivation other than to enforce cruel traditions, while the charming rebel is always portrayed in good light.
33	* BrokenAesop: The movie makes the cases that doctors should care for their patients emotionally as well as physically, but midway through the movie [[spoiler:getting too close to a patient causes Carin to be killed]]. This is made worse because [[spoiler:Patch treats his deadly mistake as merely something to overcome, rather than learning from it to evolve his craft.]]
34	* BunnyEarsLawyer: Patch does numerous "funny" things at the hospital, annoying Dean Walcott, but Patch's grades are among the highest in the class. Which is even stranger considering that [[InformedAttribute he never studies or is shown on-camera utilizing medical knowledge]].
35	* CharacterTitle: Dr. Hunter ''"Patch" Adams''.
36	* CloudCuckoolander: Patch, because certainly a doctor that dresses like a clown is a weirdo.
37	* CollateralAngst: [[spoiler:Carin was Patch's love interest, and then is killed in a way that serves to pile angst onto Patch and make him question his decisions.]]
38	* ComedyAsAWeapon: Patch believes in helping patients through humor and laughter.
39	* DeanBitterman: Dean Walcott twice attempts to have Patch dismissed from the school despite his high grades, believing his methods demean the doctor-patient relationship and undermine the dignity of the medical profession.
40	* DrivenToSuicide: Patch's attempted suicide is what kickstarts the story. [[spoiler: He nearly attempts it again later on]].
41	* DrJerk: Every single one of the doctors, except Patch Adams, is cold and refers to patients by their room number or disease and even in one scene discuss amputating a patient's leg in a very casual way ''[[ImStandingRightHere while the poor patient is lying right next to them]]''.
42	* DudeNotFunny: That stunt Patch pulls to the visiting gynecologists [[spoiler:where he places a pair of giant inflatable legs by the college's door so the entrance resembles a giant vagina]] comes off as not funny, just SickAndWrong to them.
43	* FanDisservice: [[spoiler:Patch moons the audience at his graduation.]]
44	* GenderFlip: The person Carin is based on was a man in real life.
45	* GreatAccomplishmentWeakCredibility: Patch doesn't just do well in his exams, but surpasses his roommate Mitch. As Mitch sees Patch as a buffoon who treats medicine like a joke and has never seen him do any serious studying, he accuses Patch of cheating.
46	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Mitch finally softens after Patch's methods help one of Mitch's patients, and advises Patch on how to handle his upcoming medical board hearing. When Patch is allowed to continue his medical training, Mitch looks genuinely pleased]].
47	* HumansAreBastards: Patch notes after Carin's murder that humans are the only species that actively hunts and kills its own species (which is not true).
48	* IdiotBall: Carin answers the phone and hears an [[ObviouslyEvil obviously insane man]] who wants "somebody to talk to." So naturally, she goes to his house alone. [[spoiler:It doesn't go well.]]
49	* InformedAttribute: Patch's medical knowledge. The audience never sees him study or actually tend to patients, but is just told his grades are among the highest in his class, and when challenged by his roommate to explain how that is when he doesn't study as much as everyone else, Patch just gives him a small TheReasonYouSuckSpeech instead to tell him "You're just still young and believe being a jerk is the way" and leave. This was one of the criticisms levied by the real Adams.
50	* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: See HumansAreBastards above.
51	* {{Jerkass}}: Patch is this in the eyes of the Dean and initially to Carin. Some of his antics, such as the gynecologist setup, could be construed more as this than the opposite intention of being humorous.
52	* KarmaHoudini: Let's just say Patch gets away with a lot of stuff he shouldn't. Namely, practicing medicine without a license and stealing from a hospital.
53	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: When Mitch encounters an elderly patient who refuses to eat, he realizes the problem is beyond his book knowledge and humbly asks for Patch's assistance.
54	* {{Koan}}: "If you focus on the problem, you can't see the solution!"
55	* LampshadeHanging: Patch's InformedAttribute about his medical knowledge is pointed out by his roommate, who says "I know what you study, or should I say ''don't'' study."
56	* TheLancer: Patch's friend and fellow student Truman buys in to his ideas and becomes his sidekick at his pseudo-clinic ranch.
57	* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler:After getting Carin to come to his house alone, Larry Silver shoots her and then turns the gun on himself]].
58	%% * PunchClockVillain: The other doctors are portrayed as this.
59	* RapeAsBackstory: Carin was apparently molested as a child.
60	* RealityIsUnrealistic: In a film that [[{{VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory}} takes a lot of liberties with the actual story behind it,]] one of the few things it got right is that hospitals & doctors [[{{DrJerk}} often did not have good bedside manners]] during the time period. [[note]]While the concept of bedside manner existed for decades before the film is set, it wasn't widely enforced and ultimately varied from hospital-to-hospital, and doctor-to-doctor.[[/note]]
61	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Patch is on the receiving end of one from his roommate Mitch.
62	-->'''Patch:''' You told Walcott I cheated. I know you did it, just tell me why.\
63	'''Mitch:''' Look, cut the crap, Hunter. I live with you, I know how much you study, or should I say ''don't'' study. And you do better than me? Give me a break.\
64	'''Patch:''' You arrogant, pompous prick! Who appointed you custodian in medical profession? Is it because your father was a doctor, and his father was a doctor? Is it some sort of genetic thing?\
65	'''Mitch:''' You're damn right.\
66	'''Patch:''' Really?\
67	'''Mitch:''' You know, I grew up with it. I know what it takes to look in the eyes of dying people day after day after day and then come home for dinner at night. I know what it takes. You don't have it.\
68	'''Patch:''' Oh, really? And you do? If you don't like me, just say it.\
69	'''Mitch:''' ''I don't like you!''\
70	'''Patch:''' Why don't you like me? You're a prick, and I like you.\
71	'''Mitch:''' Because you make my effort a joke! I want to be a doctor! This isn't a game to me! This isn't play time! This is serious business! I have it in me to be a great doctor! But in order to do that, I have to sacrifice in order to be better.\
72	'''Patch:''' Better? Better than me?\
73	'''Mitch:''' I will save lives that could have otherwise not been saved. Now, I can be like you, and go around laughing and have a good time, ha-ha, but I prefer to learn. Because the more I learn, the more likely I will have the right answer at the crucial moment and save a life. And you say I'm a prick? You say I'm a prick? You know, maybe I am. But you ask the average person when death comes knocking at their door, whether they'll want a prick on their side, or some kindergarten teacher who's gonna kiss their ass! Because when that day comes, I'll want the prick, and so will you.
74	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dean Anderson, the head of the medical school, is more tolerant of Patch's antics than Wolcott. He also takes the time to gently tell Patch about [[spoiler:Carin's death]].
75	* SmiteMeOMightySmiter: After [[spoiler:Carin's death]], Patch returns to the cliff overlooking his land, rails at God's apparent apathy towards human suffering and lack of compassion for each other, and [[spoiler:considers jumping off the edge before spotting a butterfly, recalling Carin's story about how caterpillars get a second chance]].
76	* StrawFeminist: Carin is obviously insecure about being a woman in a male-dominated profession, and refuses Patch's (platonic!) advances out of fear of showing weakness, and contempt for his carefree attitude.
77	* StrawmanPolitical: The social issue Patch is facing was not a revolutionary idea (the term "bedside manner" long predates him entering medical school), but almost all of the people opposing him act as though being apathetic {{Dr Jerk}}s is the supreme goal of medicine.
78	* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Carin]] brings their own death on their own person, via being stupid enough to [[spoiler: drive all the way to the house of a patient that is ''obviously'' unstable, without bothering to call the police or tell anyone to come with her as support]]. Naturally, they get shot to death for the trouble.
79	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Lots of changes were made. Most notably, the romantic love interest Carin was really a male friend of Patch Adams [[spoiler:who was killed under similar circumstances, though earlier than the film depicts]].

Context Film / PatchAdams