SECTION A52

First of all, I think it should be mentioned that I love Robin

Williams so I had high expectations for this film from the get-go, and

I’m glad to say that I was not at all disappointed. From the

production, the actors, and writing of the characters was brilliant to

the point that I actually was able to sympathize with them. The

interactions between Robin Williams’ socially inept character (Malcolm

Sayer) and his patients, especially Robert De Niro’s character

(Leonard Lowe) was both entertaining and heart breaking as we watched

the dynamics they had from beginning to end, which I will explain in

the latter parts of this paper. To see a Doctor with no prior

experience or understanding of humanistic tendencies be thrown into an

institution with catatonic patients, and to see how he tried to

approach something so unfamiliar was interesting to say the least, but

was also part of the film that I enjoyed the most. Malcolm Sayer,

though socially challenged, made an effort to understand his patients

and actively searched for a way to help them. His thoughts on the

possibility of consciousness in patients such as Lowe, which was

frowned upon as it was deemed “unthinkable”, was his drive to help

them attain a more fulfilling life. Despite the constant degradation

and indifference from his colleagues, as well as difficulty in dealing

with the livelier patients, he persevered with his research and even

formed connections with others. This for me, is what made his

character even more charming and lovable. One line that really stuck

to me was when Malcolm first started his tour around the institution
wherein, he was introduced to the area dubbed “The Garden” because of

how hopeless and incurable the patients in that ward were according to

medical practitioners at the time the film was set. I’ve read about

how people with neurological disorders were treated before any studies

were proven, but to see it portrayed in such a way was just horrific

that I actually laughed at how rude the whole thing was. When Lowe was

treated with the “miracle drug” and gained consciousness after 30

years, we can finally see Malcolm as more than a socially awkward

doctor as he forms a budding connection with Lowe and those around

him. It isn't until the side effects of the drug finally make an

appearance where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It’s

this scene that truly made me enjoy the movie as more than a feel good

or fix-it film because it showed that not every problem has a solution

or will have a permanent fix. The temporary bliss that the miracle

drug brought was immediately burnt through, and the disappointment and

frustration Lowe felt as though all of his progress slipped away was

something I could empathize with with my own medical issues in the

past. Because of this frustration, the relationship between Lowe and

Sayer became strained and hostile despite how peaceful they were when

Lowe experienced his awakening.

I’ve read up on what I could about Encephalitis Lethargica ( or

EL for short)and I still don’t quite understand it but I do have

somewhat of a basic understanding of it. The intricacies of this

illness truly show just how much we know about the human brain and how

to deal with it. The shock and awe the characters experienced with the
miracle drug, along with the hopes of a possible cure for such an

illness that was deemed hopeless, only to be short-lived and faced

with debilitating side-effects that reverted them back into a

vegetative state; ripping away what little they had of normalcy. From

what I understood, EL is still fairly obscure, but recent studies aim

to uncover the cause of this illness by finding the connection between

infections and the brain. Due to this lack of understanding, treatment

often is intended for the symptoms rather than the illness itself

using L-DOPA and other medication for Parkinson’s.

REFERENCES:

Sparacino, D. (n.d.). New Awakenings: The Legacy & Future of

Encephalitis Lethargica (EL). RN. Retrieved January 3, 2022, from

https://www.rn.com/nursing-news/new-awakenings-encephalitis-

lethargica/

Hoffman, Joel A Vilensky, Encephalitis lethargica: 100 years after the

epidemic, Brain, Volume 140, Issue 8, August 2017, Pages 2246–

2251, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awx177