Last night I went to see ‘I Swear’, the superb new film which tells the story of John Davidson who, since being diagnosed as a teenager, has lived with Tourette’s Syndrome, the neurodevelopmental condition characterised by involuntary tics and vocal utterances which often take the form of words that aren’t altogether acceptable in polite society.
It’s an excellent film and I heartily recommend it, not just for the fine acting but for the very good script made up of some very bad language.
So if anyone does take my advice and go and see it, please do be aware that it might not be a good idea to take your grandmother with you, unless that is she is a big fan of Bernard Manning and has a habit of never wearing her hearing aid.
But having said that, to me at least, the genuinely offensive language never managed to offend, because, perhaps, offence was no more intended than the words were ever meant to be said.
All of which means that the point of the film is not to shock but to make you both think and feel what it must be like to live with Tourette’s Syndrome. Which it does very successfully, forcing those watching to notice how those labelled experience ridicule and rejection which together make their lives so unpleasant that they may no longer want to live.
And what they need most is a little understanding, a lot of kindness, and wholehearted acceptance. Acceptance that brings with it the willingness to offer them a chance in life – a chance to show others what they can do rather than what they can’t.
Because, in a world where few show such respect, and the system simply doesn’t have space for them, that is what will be required if their lives are to be made better and more bearable.
Which is what those with other neurodevelopmental problems need too, those who, rather than being patronised with suggestions that, because of their condition, they have superpowers, should instead be considered to have a very real problem that, despite the marginal benefits that may come with it, frequently makes their lives both horribly sad and nigh on impossible.
And that same kindness is, of course, what we also all need, irrespective of how supposedly normal we may be. Because when we behave in less than ideal ways, and without negating our responsibility, rather than being dismissed as failures, we could all do with being given the opportunity to say, not what’s wrong with us, but what caused us to act in the way that we have.
Because understanding what’s happened to make us as we are will go a long way to understanding why we all, to a greater or lesser extent, make such a mess of our lives.
And if, as a result, we could both show and be shown a little compassion, then I swear – compelled as I am to say it – it would be a mighty good thing for us all
Other blogs related to films or TV Series:
To read ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’, click here
To read ‘When the joke’s on you’, click here.
To read ‘Where the Salt Path leads – and why you don’t want to go there’, click here
To read ‘Time’, click here
To read ‘Three Chords and the Truth’, click here
To read ‘It’s NOT just you’, click here
To read ‘Life in the Happy Valley’ click here
To read ‘Slow Sheep’, click here
To read ‘The Life I Lead’, click here
Some musings 