Shades of Grey (1948)

After the suppression of Let There Be Light, the Army decided it still needed a film that covered the subject of PTSD. If that other film didn’t exist, this may seem forward thinking on the part of the Army to recognize that PTSD actually exists among its soldiers. But that other film does and did exist as a fairly honest testament to a diverse group of real men suffering from the very real problem and the resources that were available at the time to hopefully help them go on to a mental healthier life. This film on the other hand consists of trite reenactments with an almost entirely white cast where the blame for mental health issues lays solely at the foundation that good old Mom laid out, that she helped you when the local bully took away your toy instead of encouraging you to just punch his lights out. Mental health is described as a scale where the most mentally healthy are white and the most unwell are black; in between are those shades of grey. It even goes as far as to suggest that for at least one troubled soul is better off for being in the Army because they were able to talk to through his problems so that he could go back and join the troops and fight another day.