Posted on 04/28/2016 4:04:58 PM PDT by jazusamo
Patti Davis, daughter of late President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan, penned an open letter Thursday to Will Ferrell, criticizing the actor for agreeing to play the 40th president in an upcoming satirical film about his battle with dementia.
“I saw the news bulletin — as did everyone — that you intend to portray my father in the throes of Alzheimer’s for a comedy that you are also producing,” Ms. Davis, a former actress, wrote in her blog. “Perhaps you have managed to retain some ignorance about Alzheimer’s and other versions of dementia. Perhaps if you knew more, you would not find the subject humorous.
“Alzheimer’s doesn’t care if you are President of the United States or a dockworker. It steals what is most precious to a human being — memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime that we all come to rely on to hold our place secure in this world and keep us linked to those we have come to know and love,” she continued. “I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, ‘I don’t know where I am.’ I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away. For ten long years he drifted — past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar…and mercifully, finally past the fear. There was laughter in those years, but there was never humor.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I sure hope so and also hope the movie bombs.
Can’t believe it - even of Hollywood. Alzheimers for laughs? I recall being introduced to a woman in her 80s. 10 minutes into the conversation about how grueling it was for her to physically and emotionally deal with her husband’s Alzheimers, she said quietly “I just want to kill myself.” Yeah, that’s what I thought of when I read about Will’s movie idea.
PS: I urged the woman to join a support group - she’d been toughing it out on her own and it’s too much, a person needs support.
Why all the criticism of Will Ferrell? What about the writers of the script? The production company that thinks it is a good idea to make such a movie?
Really. Will Ferrell is an idiot for taking the part, but the real jerks are those who came up with the idea in the first place.
“Alzheimer’s doesn’t care if you are President of the United States or a dockworker. It steals what is most precious to a human being — memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime that we all come to rely on to hold our place secure in this world and keep us linked to those we have come to know and love,” she continued. “I watched as fear invaded my father’s eyes — this man who was never afraid of anything. I heard his voice tremble as he stood in the living room and said, ‘I don’t know where I am.’ I watched helplessly as he reached for memories, for words, that were suddenly out of reach and moving farther away. For ten long years he drifted — past the memories that marked his life, past all that was familiar…and mercifully, finally past the fear. There was laughter in those years, but there was never humor.”
Ferrell is also the producer of the movie.
My Dad died from Alzheimer’s Dec 15,2015. I concur.
from Wikipedia:
“The term suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a willingness to suspend one’s critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment.[1] The term was coined in 1817 by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who suggested that if a writer could infuse a “human interest and a semblance of truth” into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative. Suspension of disbelief often applies to fictional works of the action, comedy, fantasy, and horror genres.”
That concept is why this movie is destined to fail.
No art or craft will ever successfully portray cursing the deaf behind their back or putting stumbling blocks in the path of the blind as entertainment.
Absolutely!
Did he write it, too?
Get real, Ferrell is producing and playing the part and you’re defending him because he didn’t write it?
Writers are a dime a dozen, just check the paper backs sometime.
My mother-in-law’s mother died of it.
There is nothing funny about it.
So when will we see a humor filled portrayal of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr? I hear James Earl Ray was hilarious.
No, not defending him because he didn’t write it. The very fact that he would take such a part or think such a movie is worth filming does not say good things about his character.
But the original idea still belongs to a writer—someone who clearly has the empathy of a brick, and may have some sort of personality disorder.
Indeed
Okay, sorry. Didn’t mean to lash out at you, am a bit emotional about this because the wife and I are now dealing with this with my MIL. I understand what you’re saying.
With elderly women, they often do not have the symptoms that younger women have & they can go undiagnosed until the UTI is so bad that it literally puts them out of their mind. The nephew caregiver of one elderly woman (roommate of a friend) always knew when she had a UTI because she would become irrational, delusional ... generally just off her rocker. An 80+ woman for whom I was a caretaker would be without symptoms except she would complain her fingernails hurt (weird, I know). We would insist the nurses test for a UTI & she was right every time & fortunately, she never got to the point of it affecting her mind. Bottom line, UTIs aren’t good for anyone, but they can be quite dangerous for the elderly, men & women.
Also old age onset hydrocephaly. If you have an elder friend or relative with memory issues, urinary incontinence, and a shuffling gait - it’s worth checking out.
https://www.dementia.org/normal-pressure-hydrocephalus
Will Ferrell has never been funny to me which doesn’t really mean anything to the conversation. Just thought I’d opine.
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