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Patch Adams
- 208 statements
- 40 feature instances
- 23 referencing feature instances
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Patch Adams (1998) is a Very Loosely Based on a True Story film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Robin Williams 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 Philip Seymour Hoffman in a smaller role as Patch's roommate.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.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 it simplified all his work into "laughter is the best medicine." Furthermore it fabricates entire events, such as making his best friend into a woman 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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| Patch Adams / int_121b3725 | type |
Age Lift | |
| Patch Adams / int_121b3725 | comment |
Age Lift: 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. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_18aff462 | type |
Artistic License – Biology | |
| Patch Adams / int_18aff462 | comment |
Artistic License – Biology: During his Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter moment, Patch tells Truman that man is the only animal who kills its own kind. The praying mantisnote Though not to the same extent you probably think., black widow spidernote Also not to the extent you probably think, 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 Ape Shall Never Kill Ape 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. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_2554f670 | type |
Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter | |
| Patch Adams / int_2554f670 | comment |
Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: After 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 considers jumping off the edge before spotting a butterfly, recalling Carin's story about how caterpillars get a second chance. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_2a090d00 | type |
Lampshade Hanging | |
| Patch Adams / int_2a090d00 | comment |
Lampshade Hanging: Patch's Informed Attribute about his medical knowledge is pointed out by his roommate, who says "I know what you study, or should I say don't study." | |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_34889673 | type |
Gender Flip | |
| Patch Adams / int_34889673 | comment |
Gender Flip: The person Carin is based on was a man in real life. | |
| Patch Adams / int_34889673 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_351e0e53 | type |
Dean Bitterman | |
| Patch Adams / int_351e0e53 | comment |
Dean Bitterman: 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. | |
| Patch Adams / int_351e0e53 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_35b8b13f | type |
Collateral Angst | |
| Patch Adams / int_35b8b13f | comment |
Collateral Angst: 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. | |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_3d4d3dc9 | type |
Humans Are Bastards | |
| Patch Adams / int_3d4d3dc9 | comment |
Humans Are Bastards: Patch notes after Carin's murder that humans are the only species that actively hunts and kills its own species (which is not true). | |
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| Patch Adams / int_401d4116 | type |
Broken Aesop | |
| Patch Adams / int_401d4116 | comment |
Broken Aesop: The movie makes the cases that doctors should care for their patients emotionally as well as physically, but midway through the movie getting too close to a patient causes Carin to be killed. This is made worse because Patch treats his deadly mistake as merely something to overcome, rather than learning from it to evolve his craft. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_42176a2d | type |
Comedy as a Weapon | |
| Patch Adams / int_42176a2d | comment |
Comedy as a Weapon: Patch believes in helping patients through humour and laughter. | |
| Patch Adams / int_42176a2d | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_524f94d3 | type |
Rape as Backstory | |
| Patch Adams / int_524f94d3 | comment |
Rape as Backstory: Carin was apparently molested as a child. | |
| Patch Adams / int_524f94d3 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_60b21fa3 | type |
The Lancer | |
| Patch Adams / int_60b21fa3 | comment |
The Lancer: Patch's friend and fellow student Truman buys in to his ideas and becomes his sidekick at his pseudo-clinic ranch. | |
| Patch Adams / int_60b21fa3 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_617f0563 | type |
Heel–Face Turn | |
| Patch Adams / int_617f0563 | comment |
Heel–Face Turn: 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. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_61b8f9e2 | type |
Bunny-Ears Lawyer | |
| Patch Adams / int_61b8f9e2 | comment |
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: 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 he never studies or is shown on-camera utilizing medical knowledge. | |
| Patch Adams / int_61b8f9e2 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
| Patch Adams / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: Patch's attempted suicide is what kickstarts the story. He nearly attempts it again later on. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_7286e96d | type |
Idiot Ball | |
| Patch Adams / int_7286e96d | comment |
Idiot Ball: Carin answers the phone and hears an obviously insane man who wants "somebody to talk to." So naturally, she goes to his house alone. It doesn't go well. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_76d233f9 | type |
Straw Feminist | |
| Patch Adams / int_76d233f9 | comment |
Straw Feminist: 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. | |
| Patch Adams / int_76d233f9 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_7abd339f | type |
Black-and-White Morality | |
| Patch Adams / int_7abd339f | comment |
Black-and-White Morality: The antagonist seems to have no motivation other than to enforce cruel traditions, while the charming rebel is always portrayed in good light. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_7d89315b | type |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech | |
| Patch Adams / int_7d89315b | comment |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Patch is on the receiving end of one from his roommate Mitch. | |
| Patch Adams / int_7d89315b | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_85557b38 | type |
Reality Is Unrealistic | |
| Patch Adams / int_85557b38 | comment |
Reality Is Unrealistic: In a film that takes a lot of liberties with the actual story behind it, one of the few things it got right is that hospitals & doctors 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. | |
| Patch Adams / int_85557b38 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_87a38662 | type |
Murder-Suicide | |
| Patch Adams / int_87a38662 | comment |
Murder-Suicide: After getting Carin to come to his house alone, Larry Silver shoots her and then turns the gun on himself. | |
| Patch Adams / int_87a38662 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_9ae85487 | type |
Dr. Jerk | |
| Patch Adams / int_9ae85487 | comment |
Dr. Jerk: 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 while the poor patient is lying right next to them. | |
| Patch Adams / int_9ae85487 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_a3eae597 | type |
Award-Bait Song | |
| Patch Adams / int_a3eae597 | comment |
Award-Bait Song: "Where My Heart Will Take Me" by Rod Stewart, which infamously became the theme song of Star Trek: Enterprise. | |
| Patch Adams / int_a3eae597 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_a70223 | type |
Karma Houdini | |
| Patch Adams / int_a70223 | comment |
Karma Houdini: 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. | |
| Patch Adams / int_a70223 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_b58b4e3c | type |
Too Dumb to Live | |
| Patch Adams / int_b58b4e3c | comment |
Too Dumb to Live: Carin brings their own death on their own person, via being stupid enough to 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. | |
| Patch Adams / int_b58b4e3c | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
Patch Adams / int_b58b4e3c | |
| Patch Adams / int_c23525d4 | type |
Character Title | |
| Patch Adams / int_c23525d4 | comment |
Character Title: Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams. | |
| Patch Adams / int_c23525d4 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_c23525d4 | featureConfidence |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_c3448a6f | type |
Informed Attribute | |
| Patch Adams / int_c3448a6f | comment |
Informed Attribute: 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 "The Reason You Suck" Speech 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. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_c660bc15 | type |
Fan Disservice | |
| Patch Adams / int_c660bc15 | comment |
Fan Disservice: Patch moons the audience at his graduation. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_cdd835ce | type |
Dude, Not Funny! | |
| Patch Adams / int_cdd835ce | comment |
Dude, Not Funny!: That stunt Patch pulls to the visiting gynecologists 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 Sick and Wrong to them. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_d46ddfa2 | type |
CloudCuckooLander | |
| Patch Adams / int_d46ddfa2 | comment |
Cloud Cuckoolander: Patch, because certainly a doctor that dresses like a clown is a weirdo. | |
| Patch Adams / int_d46ddfa2 | featureApplicability |
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| Patch Adams / int_dca70c44 | type |
Reasonable Authority Figure | |
| Patch Adams / int_dca70c44 | comment |
Reasonable Authority Figure: 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 Carin's death. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_dfe687c9 | type |
Alone with the Psycho | |
| Patch Adams / int_dfe687c9 | comment |
Alone with the Psycho: 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. Carin's visit to Larry Silver's house. It doesn't end well for either of them. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_e06d3a98 | type |
In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves | |
| Patch Adams / int_e06d3a98 | comment |
In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: See Humans Are Bastards above. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_e16cd24e | type |
Know When to Fold 'Em | |
| Patch Adams / int_e16cd24e | comment |
Know When to Fold 'Em: 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. | |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_e2023325 | type |
StrawmanPolitical | |
| Patch Adams / int_e2023325 | comment |
Strawman Political: 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 Jerks is the supreme goal of medicine. | |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_e4b69188 | type |
Very Loosely Based on a True Story | |
| Patch Adams / int_e4b69188 | comment |
Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Lots of changes were made. Most notably, the romantic love interest Carin was really a male friend of Patch Adams who was killed under similar circumstances, though earlier than the film depicts. | |
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| Patch Adams | hasFeature |
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| Patch Adams / int_e544a7f6 | type |
Koan | |
| Patch Adams / int_e544a7f6 | comment |
Koan: "If you focus on the problem, you can't see the solution!" | |
| Patch Adams / int_e544a7f6 | featureApplicability |
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Patch Adams / int_e544a7f6 | |
| Patch Adams / int_eb8ec7c8 | type |
Jerkass | |
| Patch Adams / int_eb8ec7c8 | comment |
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. | |
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| Patch Adams / int_f648dc43 | type |
Great Accomplishment, Weak Credibility | |
| Patch Adams / int_f648dc43 | comment |
Great Accomplishment, Weak Credibility: 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. | |
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Patch Adams |
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