Complicated In The 2014 Film, Still Alice

1) This video was an educational and eye-opening documentary about the infamous Alzheimer’s Disease and its effects on the victim and their family. The film follows several different families, each directly affected by the disease, and how they cope with the loss of their, or a loved one’s, memories and mind. One such family, the Noonans, had a rare form of the disease, where its destruction of the mind began much earlier in life, around age fifty. Three of the Noonan siblings out of ten caught Alzheimer’s and none of the other seven knew whether they had the gene for it or not, passed on by their mother, who also died of this. Watching this unfold in the movie “The Forgetting” was rather eye-opening,

This report provides detailed information regarding the Alzheimer’s disease, and how it affects the individual as a person. It examines the facts and statistics of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cover the survival rate. It covers the cognitive impacts that Alzheimer’s has on the individual, and also the emotional profiles of each of its victims. Gives a general concept of how Alzheimer’s disease has evolved over the past years, and it also shares the advances that it has made. It addresses the role of the public health and aging services, and how it affects the person. It goes into detail on how the brain is affected by this disease, and the impact it can cause for the individual. Overall, it stresses the importance of being aware of the Alzheimer’s diseases because it allows for there to be support, encouragement, and hope for the victims. Just having someone there can make all the difference to someone suffering.

Just Love me: My life turned upside down by Alzheimer’s (Lee, 2003), has allowed Lee (2003) to put on paper what an individual going though Alzheimer’s disease thinks and feels. This book has been written in order to better inform individuals that have Alzheimer’s, as well as the non-suffers who have been touched by Alzheimer’s in friends and family. It follows Lee (2003) though her struggles with early onset Alzheimer’s, describing her experiences before being diagnosed as well as how her disease progresses. It also examined the difficulties in diagnosing a disease that is not yet well understood. Lee (2003) talks about her everyday struggles as the disease worsens and she begins to lose her occupations and the person she use to be.

The theme of the book is related to the early onset Alzheimer’s disease and how the main character, Alice Howland’s quality of life or in other words her lifestyle is affected due to the disease she is diagnosed with (Genova, 2009). The novel sheds light on the lives of those

“I want to tell you how much I miss my mother. Bits of her are still there. I miss her most when I sit across from her” was said by Candy Crawley. This quote is displaying how Alzheimer's disease can affect an individual and that person’s family and friends. Everyone in the world desires to keep the ones closest to that individual safe. Many people do not understand how traumatizing Alzheimer's disease is or can be. No one knows for sure what causes the disease. It could have a huge, dramatic alternation on any person’s life in an instant. It can be traumatizing because Alzheimer’s has many side effects, physical or emotional, to the individual. There are several reasons to why people in the world should know more about Alzheimer's disease,

Lisa Genova, the author of Still Alice, a heartbreaking book about a 50-year-old woman's sudden diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and Dementia USA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's Association. Genova's work with Alzheimer's patients has given her an understanding of the disorder and its affect not only on the patient, but on their friends and family as well (Simon and Schuster, n.d.).

Living with an insidious cognitive declining illness, individuals diagnosed with early onset familial Alzheimer’s disease often fear losing their sense of self (Borrello et al. 2495). This theme is carried out in the film through the character of Alice, a 50 year old linguistics professor at Columbia University. The inevitable decline in memory, communication, and eventually independence strike those with the disease (Borrello et al. 2494), which will quickly affect not only themselves, but also relationships with others. In this essay, I will discuss the level of accuracy in the film, Still Alice, directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, by analyzing its display of knowledge on neurological and psychological

In another scene, Lydia asks her how it feels to have Alzheimer's. They emphasize language more in this specific scene by defining the characters by their conversation and not their surroundings. The walls are painted in brown to symbolize a very natural calm setting, with no other sounds, but the sound of their voices. Both directors use this to give Alice a voice on her condition saying: "I have always been so defined by my intellect, my language, my articulation, and now sometimes I can see the words hanging in front of me and I cannot reach them and I do not know who I am and I do not know what I am going to lose next" (Still Alice). This scene is the only scene in the movie that viewers see Alice talk about her disease and how she is coping with it. Before that scene, her husband, and her two elder children are having a discussion about her while she is asleep. They are treating her like she is a child and has no saying in what is there to do with

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. “Anosognosia effects 81% of those with Alzheimer’s disease” (Stevenson 1) and it may worsen as Alzheimer’s progresses. The first symptom of Alzheimers’s is often difficulty remembering new information. Although, as it progresses the symptoms become more severe and could lead to confusion, disorientation, changes in mood, and suspicions of family, friends and caregivers. “I have found that women with Alzheimer’s disease, especially those who have outlived their husbands, tend to misidentify a daughter” (Feinberg 34). Emma, an eighty year old patient of Feinberg’s, claims to have two daughters named Betty. One of them being the “real Betty” and the other being the “assistant” Betty. Emma’s Alzheimer’s has progressed to the point where she is excessively confused and can’t comprehend she has a disease. She therefore has anosognosia. Not all cases of Alzheimer’s are as bizarre as Emma’s situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s not equally as

“Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a slowly progressive disease of the brain that is characterized by impairment of memory and eventually by disturbances in reasoning, planning, language, and perception.” (Howard Crystal) In Health 1000 we were asked to read the book Still Alice. I have never dealt with or have done any study on Alzheimer’s disease before reading this book. After finishing this book it has really opened my eyes to how bad of a disease and how it cripples the mind. I never imagined the effect of this disease on a patient and the patient family. This book is about a upper middle aged lady named Alice who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and how she and her family learn how to deal with disease. One of the things this book

Unfortunately for Lear, his worst case scenario came true. This reminds the audience that there is no escaping age, but that together with the medical field, we can be proactive in the fight against Alzheimer’s

Socioeconomic status is a defining factor in nearly every society around the world. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the issues of class and stratification are manifest in many types of media, including films. Like many nations, the United States operates under the class system. The sociologist Dalton Conley defined the class system as, “an economically based hierarchical system characterized by cohesive, oppositional groups and somewhat loose social mobility” (Conley 249). Still Alice and The Notebook depict social stratification and the struggles between different socioeconomic classes. Still Alice follows the life of Alice Howland, a linguistics professor at Columbia University, as she is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s and fights to retain her memories and relationships. The film is set in modern day America, in which there is a stigma associated with dementia, there is a large degree of gender inequality, and some careers are viewed as prestigious (e.g. doctors and lawyers) while others are condemned by society (e.g. starving artists). The Notebook shares the story of Noah Calhoun as he tries to revive the memories of his wife Allie, who suffers from dementia, by reading her the story of their undying love. While Noah reads to Allie, the movie displays their life in the 1940s. During this time, America was facing World War II, segregation, and a highly stratified society (U.S. Timeline, 1940-1949). When the movie shows elderly Noah and Allie, it takes place in

I saw Still Alice this week. I wanted to see the Glen Campbell movie (which I will watch later) but opted for this one first. What a stirring movie! Watching the progression of her decline, and realizing that she KNEW that she was affected, was very sad. It was heartening to see the support that her family gave her, even while dealing with their own issues. The fact that she was proactive on the front end, in obtaining the diagnostic testing helped her family be better able to understand what was happening and to support her. I love the fact that she and her daughter were able to have a better relationship, and that her daughter was truly able to see her mom, even when her mom had trouble seeing her earlier.

The emotion evoking 2014, film titled Still Alice featured the many challenges a family residing in New York City faced following the matriarch’s, Alice Howland, diagnosis of a rare form of familial Alzheimer’s disease. The film opened with Alice and her Husband, John, celebrating Alice’s fiftieth birthday along with two of their three grown children, Anna and Tom, as well as their son-in-law, Anna’s husband, Charlie. The couple’s third child, Lydia, was not present at the birthday dinner, as she was aspiring to be an actress and resided in California. Within minutes of the opening scene Alice’s mild cognitive impairments became apparent through her marked confusion while communicating with Anna and Charlie. As the film progressed, Alice herself, a renowned doctor of linguistics and college professor, quickly became cognizant of her own declining cognitive ability as she struggled with mundane tasks, such as imparting a lecture at the University of California Los Angeles. The subsequent concerning episode, where Alice became disoriented and fearful in due course while out for a run on the campus where she had taught for years and was therefore familiar with it’s geography, ultimately encouraged her to seek care from a neurologist.

Still Alice is a 2014 Drama film based on the 2007 novel also titled Still Alice. Alice Howland, played by Julianne Moore, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the young age of fifty. She has a husband who is a physician named John and three children, Lydia, Anna, and Tom. Alice was a well-known linguistic professor at Columbia University. She got lost in one of her jogs around campus, a place she is very familiar of. Alice’s doctor diagnoses her with early onset familial Alzheimer’s disease. Alice has experiences her memory is slowly fading away, she forgets words in her ow lectures, and has constant daydreams of her sister and mother, (who passed away in a car crash when she was younger). As days go on, her 3 children and her husband watch as their mother and wife slowly fade away from who she is. Alice fights her daily struggles of her mental decay, but to make the most of her remaining time to find happiness with her love ones.