mental illnesses: real versus reel

That's interesting; I've watched Fight Club several times, and it never occured to me that the character had schizophrenia. (I've worked with people who have it, and one of my close friends has it, so I'm somewhat familiar with it). I just took it to be a "movie illness" - not really meant to closely represent a genuine illness in the real world. I assumed the writer had intended us to think that the character's condition had been brought on by the society he lived in, and that the same could happen to any young, male consumer. I do agree with you though that mental illness is often misrepresented in the movies or even played for laughs. I don't think films should be censored, but when films that unfairly portray people suffering from a given condition come out, that it's worthwhile for these people (or agencies who work with them) to speak up.