John Nash

John Nash is the anti-heroic protagonist of the 2001 bio-film A Beautiful Mind. He is a fictional portrayal of the real life John Forbes Nash Jr. An intelligent and gifted mathematician at Princeton University, Nash goes on to discover Game Theory and earns a position as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. However, his life becomes increasingly sinister upon meeting William Parcher, until he reaches the shocking discovery that he is schizophrenic, and three of his close friends are not real.
== Personality ==
At first, Nash is presented to be a timid and antisocial introvert. He rarely engages in discussions, and is shown to present really weird ideas when he does talk. Nash also appears to possess sociopathic traits, as he lacks empathy for anyone apart from those closest to him, such as Alicia and Charles. Nevertheless, Nash does want to be able to socialize better, as he is envious of Charles Herman's charisma and extroverted personality. He maintains his social anxiety throughout the entirety of the film.
Despite his strange exterior, inside, Nash is a mathematical genius, allowing him to recognize hidden messages within newspapers, magazines and even screens of binary text. This profound intelligence is what fuels his arrogance and desire to overcome anyone he sees as a rival to his smarts, such as Martin Hansen and Dr. Rosen. For most of the film's beginning, Nash's pride in his genius is what encourages him on a relentless pursuit for academic recognition.
On a darker note, Nash's schizophrenia makes him hold deep paranoia for espionage in the context of the Cold War. His work for Parcher results in him becoming heavily cynical of his environment out of fear of Soviet assassination. This fatal flaw almost costs him his life and relationships many times throughout the film.
== History ==
=== Princeton ===
Not much is known about Nash's past, but it is mentioned that his third grade teacher said he "had two helpings of brain and no helping of heart", suggesting he was always a sociopathic but intelligent introvert. In 1947, Nash enrolled in Princeton University. Listening to an introductory speech by Professor Helinger, Nash became inspired to pursue his discovery of "an original idea", refusing to take any classes. At the following garden party, Nash met cryptography student Ainsley Neilson after commenting on his bad tie, fellow students Bender, Richard Sol and Martin Hansen, and his roommate Charles Herman. Charles and Nash developed a bond and became close friends as Nash entered a fierce rivalry with Hansen on the assumption Hansen was challenging his intellect.
Later on, at a bar with his friends, Nash came across a scenario involving an attractive blond girl and her friends which kickstarted his discovery of Game Theory. Nash wrote up an essay on this theory, challenging Adam Smith's philosophy of individualism in favour of teamwork to achieve both the common good and individual benefit. Impressed by his talent, Helinger helped Nash be appointed to a position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In order to mock Hansen, Nash chose Sol and Bender as his assistants instead of Hansen, getting the last laugh in their rivalry.
=== Parcher and Alicia ===
Six years later, Nash was invited to the Pentagon to decipher encrypted Soviet transmissions intercepted by the United States. Within a matter of seconds, Nash unlocked the message as a Soviet plan to attack the United States from the US-Canadian border at Prairie Portage in Minnesota. Impressed by Nash's work, Department of Defense agent William Parcher recruited Nash into identifying hidden Soviet messages in newspapers and magazines in order to thwart alleged Soviet plans to unleash maximum nuclear destruction upon the people of Massachusetts.
Later on, one of Nash's students, Alicia, fell in love with him, and Nash did too after taking her out to a festivity hosted by the Governor of Massachusetts. Nash would go on to meet Charles again and his niece, Marcee, and after receiving Charles's advice, Nash proposed to Alicia. They became married soon after.
=== Dr. Rosen and his diagnosis ===
Continuing on his mission, Nash was picked up one night by Parcher, who revealed the mission had been compromised, and the two were being pursued by Soviet sleeper agents. Parcher managed to shoot and kill the agents (albeit barely, as he and Nash were close to death themselves), but Nash became traumatised and fearful for his and Alicia's safety. Becoming increasingly paranoid and discovering Alicia was pregnant, Nash attempted to resign from his assignment, but Parcher refused, forcing him to continue working.
While delivering a guest speech at Harvard University, men in black suits entered the hall and began slowly approaching Nash. Once again cynical of the men, Nash took the opportunity to flee, but was eventually cornered by the men and sedated. The leader of the men, Dr. Rosen, asked Nash to calm down, but Nash accused Rosen of being a Soviet agent and continued to struggle until he was worn out by the sedation. Amidst a crowd of confused onlookers from the lecture, Nash was driven away to a psychiatric hospital. When Nash woke up, he thought Charles had betrayed him to the Soviets, and cursed his old friend for being a Russian traitor. Meanwhile, Rosen informed Alicia that Nash was schizophrenic, and as a result, paranoid of his environment. Alicia discovered the evidence of Nash's "work", and tried to convince Nash that Parcher, Charles and Marcee were not real, but Nash continued to resist. Nash underwent shock-insulin therapy to "cure" his illness.
=== Denial ===
Due to the complications of his treatment, Nash was forced to quit his job at MIT, as he was no longer fit for teaching. Nash turned into a numb and depressed shell of his former self, knowing he would never be the mathematical genius he once was. Alicia became increasingly stressed and unsatisfied with their relationship as she was essentially bound to taking care of him. Eventually, unsatisfied with his medication, Nash secretly stopped taking it, regaining his creative mind and once again seeing his delusions.
This led to a nasty incident where Parcher confronted Nash outside his house, and convinced Nash into resuming his "assignment". Eventually, Alicia discovered this, but was forced to rescue their infant son from drowning in the bathtub before she could confront Nash. Nash tried to defend himself stating Charles was watching over Nash Jr, but Alicia persisted in trying to call Dr. Rosen. Parcher appeared and attempted to "kill" Alicia, claiming she knew too much about the "mission", and tried forcing Nash into doing so after he protected her. After a lengthy breakdown where Nash was yelled at by Parcher, Charles and Marcee, Nash came to the sudden conclusion that Rosen was right, because Marcee never aged, meaning she, and the other two, did not exist.
=== Aftermath ===
Against Rosen's advice, Nash decided not to continue taking his medication, as he wanted to restart his teaching career. Alicia stayed behind to care for Nash, guiding him every step of the way for the next few decades to help him distinguish from reality and delusion. Returning to Princeton, Nash confronted Hansen, who had overthrown Helinger as the head of the mathematics department. Nash finally admitted defeat to their rivalry, but Hansen cleared up years of misunderstanding by telling him they were never rivals, and everything Hansen did to Nash was supposed to be a playful joke. Reconciled with Hansen, Nash was allowed to work in the library. Over the next two decades, Nash learnt to tolerate his hallucinations, despite Parcher's best attempts to drag Nash back into his "work" and Charles trying to speak to Nash again. By the 1970s, Nash was allowed to teach again.
In 1994, an elderly Nash met Thomas King, who announced Nash would be receiving the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his discovery of Game Theory almost fifty years ago. Nash is honored by other professors, and at the Nobel ceremony in Stockholm, Nash used his speech to thank Alicia for being "all (his) reasons". As Nash, Alicia and a grown-up Nash Jr. left the ceremony, Nash spotted Parcher, Charles and Marcee one last time, but he no longer cared about them, having finally achieved the recognition he desired for so long within his boundaries of reality.
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