Movies about the mentally ill tend to render them in cute, charming strokes — with only the occasional blast of ugly to remind us, “Oh yeah, this gorgeous, lovelorn soul is still crazy.”

And “Silver Linings Playbook” has a hint of that. You cast Bradley Cooper as a mentally ill man who probably got out of the psychiatric ward a bit too early, and Jennifer Lawrence as a young cop’s widow who isn’t really coping with that fact, and the Hollywood ending is written all over it.

I know most of us are trying to put the acerbic politics of the latest election behind us, but I feel like I need to throw one last bucket of gas on the slowly dying fire.

Last Friday the Lariat printed an opinion piece written by Leonard Pitts for the Miami Herald.

The biker: capable of achieving speeds of 20-plus mph, capable of going from max speed to pain in less than one second, susceptible to blunt force trauma.

The pedestrian: capable of achieving top speeds of 12 to 15 mph, incapable of looking 360 degrees simultaneously, incapable of hearing inaudible bikes, incapable of taking flight or teleporting, capable of going from max speed to pain in less than one second, susceptible to blunt force trauma.

You know, December 21, 2012 (as predicted by the Mayan calendar)?

Only a few weeks from now?

It’s fast approaching.