2015

I. Introduction

The movie Concussion is also known as the 2015 American biographical sports drama film

directed and written by Peter Landesman. This story was based on the exposé "Game Brain"

by Jeanne Marie Laskas, that was by GQ Magazine and published in 2009. This film was

premiered at AFI Fest on November 11, 2015. It was also released by Columbia Pictures on

December 25, 2015. It is said that the movie had grossed $48 million worldwide and received

mixed reviews. In addition. Will Smith earned a Golden Globe nomination. The movie’s genre is

dramatic thriller and has a runtime of 1 hour and 30 minutes.

According to some viewers, Concussion lands a solid, well-acted hit on its impressively

timely subject matter, even if its traditional sports drama structure. The people who were part in

this movie are Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Luke Wilson and other great actors and actresses. Will

Smith is one of the well known actor in Hollywood. He was an is an American actor and rapper.

He was regarded by Newsweek as "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". He has been known

to be nominated five times in Golden Globe Awards and has won four Grammy’s Award. He is

the only actor to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office,

eleven consecutive films gross over $150 million internationally, and eight consecutive films in

which he starred open at the number one spot in the domestic box office tally. Smith has been

ranked as the most bankable star worldwide by Forbes

It said that, Will Smith’s performance is lovely: small-scaled, precise, imbued with

righteousness but not tritely pious. Another viewer also commended,“

Ultimately, it is worth seeing -- despite its flaws -- thanks largely in part to a strong cast that

includes Will Smith.”

 II. Discussion

This movie was set in September 2002 when Omalu, then with the Allegheny County

coroner's office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was assigned to perform an autopsy on the body

of Mike Webster. He was also known as "Iron Mike," However, his mental health deteriorated to

the point where he was ranting at strangers and attacking himself with a Taser gun, he died at age

of 50 due to heart attack.

Omalu knew nothing about football but had heard about Webster's death on the news, and

was curious as to what the ex-player's brain would reveal about his behavior. After taking the

brain home and carefully dissected and stained, he discovered the presence of tau proteins, which

impair moods and cognitive function upon accumulation. It was similar to findings in the brains

of deceased boxers but clearly in a category of its own, so Omalu coined the condition "Chronic

Traumatic Encephalopathy," or CTE. He submitted a paper, explaining his discovery and belief

that Webster's troubles were the result of repeated head blows from his playing career, to the

prestigious medical journal Neurosurgery.

Omalu naively believed that the NFL would be receptive to a study that revealed how the

sport was endangering the mental health of its participants. Instead, after the paper appeared in

the July 2005 issue of Neurosurgery, the response was a letter to the editor from three members

of the NFL’s Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee (MTBI), which noted "serious flaws" in

the study and demanded an official retraction.

 By this point, the general press had caught wind of the concept of CTE, and the NFL's MTBI

again responded by publicly vilifying Omalu and his research. However, examinations of more

ex-football players confirmed his initial findings, and also drew the support of influential allies

like Dr. Julian Bailes, chairman of neurosurgery at West Virginia University Hospitals and a

former Steelers team doctor.

The tipping point came with an article by Jeanne Marie Laskas in a September 2009 issue

of GQ, which detailed Omalu's discovery of CTE and the NFL's continued denial of its

existence. Shortly afterward, the league revealed the results of a study that determined its former

players were suffering from memory-related diseases at a higher rate than the normal population,

its first public admission that maybe there was a problem.

III. Conclusion

Mental Health is one of the prominent issues in our country and being educated about it is

a must. Specifically, this movie focused on Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This is

a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries. This term was also used to

describe brain degeneration likely caused by repeated head traumas. This can only be

discovered by an autopsy studying sections of the brain. Some symptoms of this disease are,

difficulty in thinking, depression, short-term memory loss, impulsive behavior, emotional

instability and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However it is believes that there is no

treatment for CTE. But CTE may be prevented because it is associated with recurrent

concussions. Individuals who have had one concussion are more likely to have another head

injury. The current recommendation to prevent CTE is to reduce mild traumatic brain injuries

and prevent additional injury after a concussion.

Indeed, this film was a great eye opener to everyone, most especially to all the athletes.

This tackles a very important issue, that should not be disregarded by anyone. After the

discovery of this disease that might happen to any athletes, this results to much more

awareness and legal liabilities to those who handles them. This movie would help its viewers

to be more knowledgeable about one’s mental health as well its importance. Although,

experts are still trying to understand everything about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,

Dr. Omalu’s discovery about it was truly remarkable.