I really encourage all of you to watch Phoebe In Wonderland.
This movie is brilliant and a little strange, and wonderfully unique, starring Felicity Huffman, Patricia Clarkson, Elle Fanning, Bill Pullman, Campbell Scott.
It is heart-warming and may make you tear to see Phoebe struggle through and cope with her disorder.
In a nutshell, it is a fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. She is confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her; Why can't she just follow the 'rules'? Why is it that she can't be 'normal'? Why is it that she has to count? Why does she have to keep on washing her hands until they bleed?
A school play, Alice In Wonderland, provides an escape for Phoebe, who acts like a normal kid then, without the twitching of shoulders & fingers, the imitation of other's sentences, the spitting, the OCD.
The story slowly unrevels to show what Phoebe really has, which is Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome together with OCD, which stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And these miraculously disappear when she is in her happy place, when she is enjoying herself in the play rehearsals.
Why I encourage you to watch this movie is because of 2 reasons, one, because it accurately shows the true symptoms of OCD. Many ppl say they have OCD when they are particular about things; Cleanliness, Tidiness, doing things the only in their way etc, but some never really understand the true extent of how OCD really affects people.
It's so much more than just being particular about something, it stretches to the extent where people with OCD hurt themselves because of what they have to do. And the explanation as to why they have to do this particular thing is that, they just have to, they have to do it until it feels right. And trust me, you wouldn't understand this unless you either have it or you know a friend who has OCD, the REAL OCD.
The other reason is because I feel that by watching this movie, more of you will be familiar with the neurological disorder, Tourette's Syndrome. It is very well portrayed in Phoebe In Wonderland, except that she doesn't tic very boldly. But the spontaneous utterance of socially objectionable or taboo words or phrases, the repeating of the words of others and repeating one's own words are all there. The counting is also there.
I really hope that this movie will expose more of you to what this syndrome is so that you may not be so ignorant as to comment, "Why is she so noisy?" or "Why is she blinking so hard? So weird..." or "What is she doing? What a retard.", should you meet anyone with Tourette's syndrome. These unwarranted audible comments, though they may not seem to affect them, actually hurts and frustrates these individuals who are already struggling to cope with not just this syndrome but also problems from their everyday life which both you and I go through.
I have a friend of 19, with both OCD & Tourette's (they usually come together) and I'm very proud of the person she has grown into. She did not get depressed, or should I say, stay depressed, but emerged as this vibrant, honest and outspoken young lady who is not afraid to dream and to pursue what she wants. Sure, it gets tough when she meets new people who do not understand her syndrome, but instead of feeling angry and upset, I think she sees it as an opportunity to educate others about Tourette's.
There was this time when she was in KLCC, and this girl of a race I shall not mention, turned behind and went "Sewel ar??" in the most obnoxious way possible. Wah, I tell you ar, I felt like, and still feel like, punching her face man. Lol. Beh tahan people making snide remarks without finding out first why she does what she does. Ignorant, self-centred, pea-brained people.
Why must they be so unkind?
People with Tourette's lead a normal life; They laugh, they eat, they gossip, they have crushes, they smile, they cry, they study hard, they go to the movies, they do sports, they attend BBQs, they go for tuition, they shit, they have a sense of humour, they go shopping, they watch football, they have celebrity idols, they play the piano, they like to dress up, and so many more things they do. I'm just trying to show you how most of them do the same mundane things we do. And I'm sure they don't want our sympathy, just a little understanding.
Like my friend says, "Sometimes, even to live is an act of courage."
Which is so true in this cold, cruel and skeptical world of ours.
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