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Ben Selkow produced a documentary titled A Summer in the Cage, which was not originally intended to be about a young man with mental illness. Originally, Mr. Selkow had the idea of filming the lives of the street-ball basketball players at New York City’s famous West 4th Street basketball courts. Most of the players were young, strong and beautiful black men, but there was this one white guy, Sam, at over six foot five, who liked to play with them.
Though he was kind of geeky, the other players didn’t mind playing with him even though, in his attempts to fit in better, he would try to talk tough like the street-ball players. Sam enjoyed being filmed with the black players tremendously and pleaded with Mr. Selkow, who was completely responsible for every facet of production from directing to filming with his camera, to do a story about his life.
Although Mr. Selkow refused, Sam was persistent. Though Mr. Selkow was most interested in the black players, he entertained Sam and filmed him a little and heard his story. Eventually, the black players told Mr. Selkow that they did not want him filming them anymore. At that point, Selkow started filming Sam with all his energies and interest.
As the filming progressed, Sam, struggling to achieve his dream of being a sports broadcaster, began to have a mental breakdown, cycling through manias and depressions. Sam was originally from a quiet town out west somewhere. Although he was intoxicated by the pace and glamour of New York City, it took its toll on him emotionally. Without any friends or family in the city, Sam got attached to Selkow, treating him like a brother with whom he had serious disputes.
The film was interesting as the camera followed the exploits of Sam, though Sam’s behavior was often annoying because, as a staunch New Yorker, Sam’s naive nature and dreamy talk irritated me. I know someone like Sam who also has a mental illness as well as a dream to make it big as a film actor. This friend, like Sam, but without Sam’s upbeat tempo, always and only lands roles as an “extra,” usually a non-talking part that involves dressing up as, say, a cop, just to create the feel that there are cops in the screen shots. My friend is very full of himself when he talks about his looks or how people perceive him even though, in reality, he is not “all that” and may never even get a few lines in a film.
A Summer in the Cage doesn’t have a conclusion. Instead, we are left wondering what will happen next to Sam, though he seems better and more “with it.” With some intense scenes between Sam and Selkow, the threats and ranting, and the “crazy” behavior like bathing naked in the muddy Central Park lake, A Summer in the Cage could be fun for someone who knows nothing about mental illness and likes to laugh at other people’s expense. But for people like me who have been through the mental health system, A Summer in the Cage is a little more emotional.
I found myself sympathizing, angry with and a little afraid for the character of Sam, who, like many of us with mental illness, seeks to discover more about himself even at great risk to his mind and body. I think it is worth seeing. Maybe it will be shown at the annual Mental Health Film Festival organized by our peer Carla Rabinowitz of Community Access.