"...Take that, you bastard!" This quote from Wendell Williamson is presented in large, bold text at the bottom of this Time magazine article. Such is the portrayal of Williamson in an attempt to give us a glimpse into this "psychotic" killer's mind. Williamson, who suffered from a mental illness involving delusions, shot and killed two people in 1995. In this article, however, Williamson is misrepresented repeatedly. Williamson ceases to become a victim of a mental disorder, but is defined by it in this article. This article presents mental illness as the reason a fine young man somehow is transformed into a "psychotic killer."

A promising young law student at the University of North Carolina, Williamson suddenly began suffering from delusions. One day, he even started screaming and slapping himself in public. This was enough to get Williamson admitted for a ten-day evaluation period in a psychiatric ward. Williamson was released after this period, but continued to hear voices. In 1994 Williamson sought out the care of psychiatrist Dr. Myron Liptzin. Dr. Liptzin found Williamson to be delusional and prescribed for him some antipsychotic drugs. Liptzin pl

This article presents a disturbing account of a clearly ill young man. However, perhaps even more disturbing is the way he and his actions are presented by the media. Very few details are given about his mental illness. Not even a specific definition of his disorder is given. Instead this article presents Wendell Williamson as an extremely crazed and dangerous individual. A great deal of emphasis is placed on Williamson's sinister and scary acts, and he is presented as the stereotypical "psychotic killer." This article serves to further the bias against mentally ill people and provokes fear and the misunderstanding of them. Some rather flowery language, and a convenient lack of details about Williamson's mental state, creates a distorted view of this man and his illness. A few examples could best illustrate these themes that are found in this article.

Ultimately, Williamson receives no pity for his actions or his mental illness in this article. Williamson is instead portrayed as a threatening and monstrous figure. The notion that he might even be insane is passively mentioned. The focus is instead but on the outrageousness of his lawsuit against Dr. Liptzin, and the killings he committed. This article as a whole provokes misunderstanding and fear of

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Approximate Word count = 857
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)