A film about ordinary people making extraordinary change
John Williams, Cardiff Central Socialist Party
‘I Swear’ is the true story of John Davidson, who develops Tourette syndrome as a young child. Tourette’s is a neurological condition where the brain sends unwanted signals, causing repeated movements or sounds (tics) that the person doesn’t mean to do. These can include blinking, throat clearing, sniffing, or grunting, though swearing (coprolalia) is rare, and typically improves in adolescence. Tourette’s can also can involve co-occurring conditions like ADHD or OCD, managed through therapy or medication.
At the beginning of the film, we see how John develops Tourette’s and how this hugely negatively effects his life as he gets older. Swearing at his teacher and getting into fights at school lead to him being hit with a whip. It was tearful to see John get into dangerous situations in his life, which was no making of his own. In one scene, he calls a woman a derogatory name, only to be badly beaten up by a group of men as he walked home and was put into hospital.
The acting was powerful, as we saw him put on a mask to protect himself from the dangerous world he was now constantly in. I could see the internal conflict of the man: a polite, easy-going character who was even sympathetic to people who laughed and even hurt him. Watching it, I could only feel anger at society and British institutions who mocked him and weren’t even willing to believe him when he said he wasn’t doing it for attention. From teachers, to the police, to judges.
But as the film progresses, it does bring back your faith in humanity. It was only when he meets his friend’s mother, Dottie Achenbach, and his boss Tommy Trotter, who works as a caretaker, that John feels like he can do something about it. As Tommy says: “I don’t think Tourette’s is the problem. People not knowing about Tourette’s is the problem… educate them”. And that’s exactly what he does and is able to forge links with other sufferers, their parents, and institutions too.
The comedy of the film is very well timed too. And what’s good about it, is that it doesn’t make you feel bad for finding swearing randomly funny. I think the film did that so we didn’t think Tourette’s was a taboo, and that we could discuss openly about how it made us feel.
Yes, the development of the story is predictable, but that’s exactly what you’d expect from a feel-good true story of a brave, honest and remarkable man who helped change our perceptions of Tourette’s. Ordinary people making extraordinary change. Society moulds heroes like John because that is what society needs to make it more progressive. And as soon as John had the power to stop people and make them listen, they immediately understood.
- I Swear is available to watch now on Amazon Prime, YouTube and other platforms, as well as some cinemas
