Mandy Patinkin Says Criminal Minds Destroyed His Personality

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It isn’t too often you hear an actor speak out against the work they’ve done – the only one that immediately springs to mind is George Clooney’s embarrassment for having done Batman & Robin – so you can imagine my surprise to hear Mandy Patinkin absolutely regrets the two seasons he worked on Criminal Minds. I make no effort to hide my distrust of crime procedurals. They’re quite formulaic and rarely differentiate from one another, but Criminal Minds has, at the very least, intrigued me in the way it examines criminals on a psychological level. So what exactly caused Patinkin to regret his time on the show?

According to TV Guide, Patinkin abruptly left Criminal Minds because of the subject matter. “I thought it was something very different,” he said, mirroring my own thoughts on the show’s focus on how a criminal’s mind works. “I never thought they were going to kill and rape all these women every night, every day, week after week, year after year. It was very destructive to my soul and my personality. After that, I didn’t think I would get to work in television again.” Obviously, Patinkin did end up continuing with television as he now stars in Showtime’s Homeland, which is still a show with violence, but isn’t the focal point of the drama.

Patinkin expresses his concern for those who spend much of their time watching crime procedurals, though he doesn’t judge them for their personal tastes. I can sort of see his point. These shows like Criminal Minds, CSI, and countless others turn real life jobs into entertainment. I can’t imagine anybody who actually works as a crime scene investigator ever being thrilled to watch CSI. These shows, in a way, use murder and rape in an exploitative fashion. It is just entertainment, but it’s interesting to see it from the point of view Patinkin is taking. Should we be subjecting ourselves to these horrors that occur everyday to real people and treat it as something to watch before bed?

Like Patinkin, I do not judge anyone who loves crime procedurals, but I also do not find myself drawn to them. I’m more for shows like Person of Interest, which is about preventing violent crimes, or Fringe and Supernatural, which are still procedurals, but are of the sci-fi and fantasy genres and therefore do not mimic real life.

3 Comments

1. 

   GGH

   September 17, 2012 at 9:07 pm

   It has been five years since Patinkin left Criminal Minds but he still finds it necessary to talk about it. It is time for him to move on. I believe if he had gone to the showrunners at the end of Season 2 and told them he could not continue I might give more credence to his reason. What he did do is simply not show up for the first table read for Season 3. The writers had seven scripts ready and 200 people were waiting for him to show. Because of this unprofessional behaviour the professionals on the show, cast and crew, had to scramble to get shows on the air. It is amazing that a person who claims to be this sensitive has so little empathy for his castmates and colleagues. He is always quick to say why he left and for some reason continues to get ink when he does it. He has never explained why he left in the unprofessional way he did and I hope one day a reporter who gives him a forum to degrade the show challenges him on his reasons for leaving the way he did and his absolute lack of respect for those he worked with.

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2. 

   Hannah

   September 20, 2012 at 1:15 pm

   MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!! Literally couldn’t agree more!!

   Reply
3. 

   Jeremy Harold

   September 28, 2012 at 5:51 pm

   What a loser. seriously your fault for leaving the # 1 crime drama. Get over it. So if violence is bad why is he now on another show with violence.

   Reply