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A case of Finding Dory but forgetting the facts?
In the previous edition of Headway News, we spoke with actor Ben Price about the challenges of playing a brain injured character.
Getting the right balance between the exaggerated drama required to attract viewers and the desire to be as accurate as possible when depicting brain injury is no easy task, it would seem.
This summer, the latest in a long line of Disney characters created to capture our hearts (and wallets?) was unleashed upon us. Dory is a fi sh. Not just any fi sh, but the adopted sister of Nemo...remember him? Well, Dory does despite suffering from memory problems.
Finding Dory is yet another Hollywood production that builds a storyline around memory loss. Whether a drama, comedy or cartoon, it’s a topic that seems to obsess scriptwriters the world over.
But how often do they get it right? Is it even possible to portray the effects of brain injury with any degree of realism? Looking at what you’re all telling us on social media, it would appear the answers to those
questions are ‘rarely’ and ‘no’!
But should that concern us? Yes films like Finding Dory could be accused of trivialising memory loss and brain injury, but equally they bring these very real issues to the public’s attention.
Articles in The Mirror and Sunday Telegraph following the launch of Finding Dory provided us with an opportunity to remind people of the realities of brain injury and how memory loss can impact on lives and relationships.
Sure, we’d all love to be lauding a blockbuster that accurately portrayed brain injury – without the magic ‘cure’ at the end of the film. While we wait for Hollywood to draft the script, perhaps all we can do is watch, try to enjoy, and grab with both hands (or fins?) the opportunity to set the record straight.
The Communications Team
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