oscaralbert Review of The Prize Pest

The Prize Pest (1951)

From its very beginning, America has viewed psychiatry . . .

[6/10 · 24 November 2015]

. . . as just another hoax, not unlike global warming, equal opportunity, and the moon landings. Warner Bros. makes this distrust of DSM IV's great-grandpa the theme of its animated short, THE PRIZE PEST. Daffy Duck thinks he can use Porky Pig's fear of "schizophrenia" to usurp Porky's household. Daffy doesn't realize that Americans take great delight in being totally inconsistent about so-called "mental health." There are laws on the books designed to prevent hospitals from their current practice of treating serious physical illnesses (for free, if necessary), but turning away all acute psychiatric patients who do not have millionaires to underwrite their treatment. Yet the Rich People Government in charge of America lets half of these disabled mental patients suffer on the streets, while the other half languish in abusive prisons. When one of these untreated nuts kills someone, are they pitied with an "Innocent, by Reason of Insanity" verdict? Heck no, they're tortured to death on gurneys in executions frequently dragging on for six hours or more! Obviously, there's loads of humor to be mined from this situation, and Daffy Duck does his best, with help from Porky Pig here.