Rethink lodges complaint over Frankie Boyle sketch

Mental health charity Rethink has lodged a complaint with Ofcom over a sketch by comedian which parodied attempts to tackle stigma around mental illness.

Boyle, who is also under fire from AIDS and cancer charities over his television show, mocked an advert produced by the Time to Change anti-stigma project, which is run by Rethink and Mind.

The project, which is funded by Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund, has succeeded in changing attitudes around mental health and in reducing discrimination.

In part it seeks to tackle the stereotype which associates violence with mental illness and challenges the image of the ‘violent schizophrenic’ in movies, by producing a trailer for a fake horror film called ‘Schizo’ which leads the viewer into expecting a stereotyped view of schizophrenia.

Ultimately the film shows someone with schizophrenia talking about their experiences while making tea in his kitchen.

In the Frankie Boyle sketch, shown on the Channel 4 show ‘Tramadol Nights’, a man says he has mental health problems and comments on the stigma surrounding mental illness. The camera then pans down to show four children dead and covered in blood.

Go to mental health charity Rethink’s website for a link to the film