Howard Brody has written a terrific book called Stories of Sickness. I am going to talk to you about some ideas in this book which I have found helpful in thinking about experiences of sickness--my own and others-- and in thinking about experiences of 'story',--as storytelling, as fiction and fact that I have read about in books. The point would be to have story and sickness reflect on each other to increase understanding of the human condition, maybe in a big way. This document may go on for a bit, so relax.
One of the key ideas Brody introduces is how the ideas of sickness and respect go together. We know that sick people can lose the respect of others and can lose self-respect when disability keeps them performing their usual social duties like working and socializing. Think about that for a moment. .
A healthy person has an accident/contracts a disease, and then has to be pushed around in a wheelchair, has to be fed and toileted, and so on, loses status as an adult, and, being treated like a baby, that person gets the 'respect' or lack of accorded to a 'dependent' or 'useless' person. Can happen, and does: we all know the story--we see it in the media all the time. Such a person can lose self-respect to the point of committing suicide--directly or by withdrawal into a drugged state, a degraded state. We all know the story. Or, by some extraordinary circumstance of character or support from a near one, that person manage to not only retain/regain self respect, but to earn the respect of others. Who's stories can we think of in this regard? Te remarkable Helen Keller comes to mind. Put some of your examples on the CourseRoom Discussion Space.
After hanging out in this topic for a while, we could think of a lot of particular stories about particularly afflicted people. And our ability to do so depends on, owes a lot to the insights of trained storytellers, sometimes the sick person(which makes a topic of it's own--the illness that created the writer that created the healing of respect), or to some dedicated observer of the disabled, like Oliver Sacks--some great storyteller writer, director, composer.
Dadaism and pop art have largely influenced Brody's work. ... Why be inhibited by the edges of the page'says Brody. ... Brody worked at "The Face" until 1986. ... Brody felt his work had been ripped off too much. ... Since 1987 Brody has had his own London studio. ...
In the essay "Deep in North America" Stephen Osborne writes about an experience Hugh Brody told of in his book, The Other Side of Eden. ... At one point one of the men who was acting as Brody's teacher told Brody that they might not make it home. This shocked Brody with a since of fear. ... They did end up making it safely to their destination, and Brody was said to have become Innu. Although not all of our experiences are quite as serious as Brody's we all learn something from them like Brody learn to live like the Innu. ...
The rabbi soon died, and Israel went to the city of Brody to ask Hannah's brother, Rabbi Abraham Gershon, for Hannah's hand in marriage. ... The rabbi gave up trying to teach Israel and ordered him and Hannah to leave the city of Brody. ... He gave birth to Hassidism there in those mountains, by being there for years thinking, meditating, singing, listening to the nature around him, writing amulets, learning from the women how to heal sickness with grasses and herbs, and how to drive out evil spirits. ... Meanwhile his brother in law the rabbi back in the city of Brody, regretted hi...
An interesting shot is the one of Chief Brody on the beach when he witnesses Alex Kintner's death. The camera does a close-up shot of Chief Brody's face while the background is being pulled away from him. ... At the same time Chief Brody is shown looking through an informative shark book with the look of terror in his eyes. The viewer gets the idea of the fate of the two fishermen by the parallel of the photos that Chief Brody is looking at. ... The beach scene right before Alex Kintner dies the camera cuts between people on the beach, a dog, and Chief Brody's face. ...
Human African Trypanosomiasis, known as sleeping sickness, is a vector-borne parasitic disease. ... There are many regions where tsetse flies are found, but sleeping sickness is not. ... In Uganda two thirds of all deaths are cause by sleeping sickness. ... Insect control could help prevent the spread of sleeping sickness. ... Sleeping sickness also has major impacts on economic and social roles in Africa. ...
The woman in this story is faced with a severe case of depression. ... People tend to ignore the sickness very easily. ... The woman in this story was deprived of all these options. ... Depression is a complex sickness. ... The woman in this story goes insane because her sickness is not taken seriously by other people. ...
Cromitie's defense attorney Susanne Brody's case revolved around the fact that the FBI informant had a hard time convincing Cromitie to take part in the operation. ... Brody described them as "low level drug dealers" (Messana). In fact, the three who faced charges together "don't even know one another," said Brody (Messana). "The government evidently manufactured the crime," said Brody. ...
Wladyslaw Szilman is played by Adrien Brody also received an Oscar, for best actor. ... Adrien Brody does a wonderful job in the part of Wladyslaw Szilman. ... The story is absolutely amazing, the way it tells of a man that wants to and does survives the war. The film is so powerful not because all the events real but because the story of the Wladyslaw Szilman is true. ... The story is the most impotent part of a film because it needs to touch the audience in some way and this story does just that. ...
Wladyslaw Szilman is played by Adrien Brody also received an Oscar, for best actor. ... Adrien Brody does a wonderful job in the part of Wladyslaw Szilman. ... The story is absolutely amazing, the way it tells of a man that wants to and does survives the war. The film is so powerful not because all the events real but because the story of the Wladyslaw Szilman is true. ... The story is the most impotent part of a film because it needs to touch the audience in some way and this story does just that. ...
