[00:00:00]
As an English man, I think something I'm not very good at doing is expressing how I feel. So I think it's important to have these films to almost show people the things that I can't feel—like, I can't tell them. So when I first saw the film I just thought, this is absolutely brilliant. And not in a cheesy way because I'm really—I don't want to suck up to whoever produced it—but because I genuinely thought this was really beautiful and it was really honest and real, and it was showing someone properly.
[00:00:33]
Going through what you go through, when you’re— I mean, when she’s struggling at the beginning and she can’t quite—her body’s not doing what she wants it to do, I thought, oh gosh, yeah, I felt it. I really did. I thought the film was a very good insight into how people with MS feel, especially those that are newly diagnosed. I had a lot of empathy for the character and how she was struggling and trying to cope with this new diagnosis and all these awful things that were happening to her. I think it’s really important. I think it’s important
[00:01:13]
not just for everyone else—so people without MS—so they understand what we're going through. But I think it's important to raise the awareness for people with MS as well and let them know that actually it's perfectly normal to experience these symptoms and sometimes it can all just become a little bit too much. Even though there's nothing seemingly wrong with you, these hidden symptoms are real, and it is perfectly normal to experience them every now and again. It was really amazing seeing the doctors interpreting the MS, because so
[00:01:44]
far I'd never thought about the MS like in that way—of your body doing its own thing and reacting in its own way. And there’s so many times when you want to be saying a million and one things but you actually can’t say it with words, and I think the dance really beautifully summed it up. Because it's so frustrating when you're constantly trying to explain what MS is, and it's a million and one things. And it's up to us to tell people because no one knows what our MS is—we can't see it. Having to tell people what MS is, and
[00:02:22]
the dance kind of sums it up beautifully. So the other symptom that I really resonated with was when she had her MS following her—because she was sort of reaching out to her and kind of stroking and grabbing her arms and squeezing. And it just looked really uncomfortable. And that's almost exactly how I feel. I feel like I've almost got my own version of my MS following me around and just occasionally coming out of the blue and like really irritating my arm, or when I re-experience my pins and needles—it’s
[00:02:54]
like—it’s exactly like that. Like I feel like I have my own version of my MS following me around. The character in the film that I most identified with was Kirstie because I think, like me, she’s been living with MS for quite a long time and she understands it, and she understands its limitations. At the same time, she does understand what Keisha’s going through, so she’s willing to offer some advice and say, “We're here. I can help you. Please come to me.” So I think the character I probably most relate
[00:03:27]
to is Keisha—and that’s not because I’m sort of like a London rapper—it’s because she’s quite clearly having a lot of issues with her invisible symptoms. She hasn’t quite learned how to deal with them yet, and I can really relate to that, because that’s exactly how I felt when I was first diagnosed. If I had to sum up The Head in film in three words, I would say: creepy, honest, and accurate. I think it’s really insightful. I think it is, and it’s—it’s actually really relevant.
:quality(90)/)
:quality(90)/)