Passion Pit vs. 'Silver Linings Playbook': Bipolar Singer Says Hollywood Exploiting Mental Illness

Passion Pit lead singer Michael Angelakos took to Twitter Sunday prior to the Academy Awards to chastise the film "Silver Linings Playbook" for its portrayal of mental illness.

"Cheap use of mental health as legs for plot," Angelakos tweeted during the ceremony. "'@lfitzmaurice: To be perfectly clear: did not like Silver Linings Playbook much at all."

When a fan pointed out the film's director David O. Russell had a son with bipolar disorder Angelakos was quick to reply.

"So?" he said.

"It's very much in right now -- in Hollywood, mind you -- to use mental illness as a way to bring added drama or almost entirely all drama to piece," the singer continued in a string of tweets. "Be it TV or film, it's lazy and usually, perhaps inadvertently, regressive. That being said, it has to exist in some capacity for discussion. Lets allow Hollywood to dramatize so there can be backlash/discussion. See, insurance companies barely recognize mental illness as health."

Last August Angelakos told Rolling Stone about his battle with depression and mental illness. The illness forced Passion Pit to cancel tour dates last July while the singer sought treatment for bipolar disorder.

"My depression was so bad three weeks ago when we had to cancel everything -- people don't understand this," he told the publication. "It was so bad that I was suffering from something called Psychomotor Retardation, which is essentially where your brain starts shutting down your entire body. So you're sitting in bed and can barely move."

Angelakos further clarified his stance on the movie somewhat in a later tweet regarding Russell.

"Okay, really. The director, cast and intention all great," he tweeted. "Depiction of mental health questionable. That's it."

One fan didn't take kindly to the singer's stance, describing Angelakos as a "prick" which the musician replied to.

"I'm allowed to have an opinion as much as anyone without being called a prick," he tweeted. "Twitter is not a discursive medium. Don't like? Block."

Fans began replying to Angelakos on Sunday regarding the topic, which seemed to brighten the singer's spirits.

"Well, great to see people care about the issue," he tweeted. "We still have a long way to go. Have a lovely day and give someone a hug."

Passion Pit perform tonight in St. Louis on their U.S. tour before heading down to South America for a batch of dates. The group, who released their last album Gossamer in 2012, will return to the U.S. for more shows including appearances at Coachella and in June at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee.