How Should Hollywood Portray Disease?

Feb. 24, 2005 — -- In many classic Hollywood films, the heroine -- she's young, single and, of course, easy on the eyes -- falls in love, only to be felled by a strange illness.

Symptoms include dramatic fainting spells, occasional bouts of temporary blindness and a flawless complexion.

From Bette Davis in 1939's "Dark Victory" to Nicole Kidman in the recent hit "Moulin Rouge," the disease was always fatal. Sometimes the writers didn't even specify what the ailment was -- all that mattered was that it was terminal. Spoofing these tragic melodramas on her television variety show, Carol Burnett provided the syndrome with an appropriate name: Movie Star Disease.

Shaping public perceptions has always been a powerful side effect of films and television. But when Hollywood portrays disease, the results can be laughably inaccurate -- or they can fuel fear, misunderstandings and prejudice.

Does Hollywood ever get it right?

Perhaps no disease fares worse on television and in films than Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder marked by involuntary muscle twitches and tics.

To most of the viewing public, however, TS has only one symptom: barking out obscenities at the worst possible moment, like when an elderly matron has entered the scene.

Though it's a boon to screenwriters, this obscene shouting -- known as coprolalia -- is rare even among those with TS. By most estimates, 80 percent to 90 percent of those with TS do not exhibit coprolalia.

Coprolalia has been played for laughs in countless television programs and in films like "Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo" and "Not Another Teen Movie." But for those who suffer from TS and those who are trying to raise awareness of the illness, there's nothing funny about it.

"It's extremely hurtful, especially for kids, who are bullied and made fun of," said Tracy Colletti-Flynn, spokeswoman for the Tourette Syndrome Association.

The association has embarked on a public awareness campaign to combat widespread misunderstanding of TS.