Episode 208: How Evangelion Opened Washington Post Editor Gene Park's Eyes to Mental Illness

07.01.2019 - By Josiah Renaudin Play

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That's right. We're talking about anime.

Washington Post editor Gene Park happened to watch the world famous anime Neon Genesis Evangelion at the tender age of 16. Like many young adults around him, as well as Evangelion's cast, Park grappled miserably with his mental health, and felt like he had nowhere to go. A year later, he would attempt to take his own life, and was hospitalized and kept in a psychiatric ward. It was only after another 19 years of mental health issues, alcoholism, and various drug addictions that Park managed to achieve sobriety and, like Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno, better understand himself.

On this week's episode of the 1099, Park joins me to discuss a brilliant piece he wrote about how Evangelion helped him recognize and contextualize his own history of depression (https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/06/27/how-evangelion-opened-my-eyes-my-depression/?utm_term=.5526fc57c07e). We discuss his article, how Evangelion approaches the subject of mental health through a very Asian lens, the relationship between obsessive fandom and mental health, and the realities of mental illness we see illustrated in the show. Trust me, it's not as heavy as it sounds, because Gene Park is a wonderful human and I absolutely had a blast speaking with him, and I think you'll gain something extra meaningful from this conversation.