Where would the modern thriller be without psychiatrists? Drs. Alex Cross, Hannibal Lecter, and Jo Beckett are widely-recognized fictional forensic mental health experts, whose exploits have entertained countless readers. Many popular authors, including John Grisham, Jonathan Kellerman, and Meg Gardiner, to name a few, rely upon the world of psychiatry to provide fascinating characters and advance the plots of their novels. In this article, our goal is to illustrate that these fictional experts can educate about forensic psychiatry, as well as entertain. To achieve that goal, we utilize the typology of forensic experts portrayed in fiction: "Dr. Evil," "The Professor," "The Hired Gun," "The Activist," and "The Jack (or Jill) of All Trades." We then use these characterizations to make teaching points for trainees.First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?"- Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1)Building upon the work of Gabbard and Schneider (2,3), noted psychiatrist film scholars, we recently (4) described a typology of forensic mental health experts in fiction. Using film and television portrayals, we described five characterizations of forensic experts including "Dr Evil," "The Hired Gun," "The Activist," "The Professor," and "The Jack/Jill of All Trades" (4); (See Table 1.) Sometimes, it is the words and actions of the character that result in placement in a particular category. At other times, it is how the character is viewed by others in the novel that determines his/her type.
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