Psychological movie analysis

By -

Godil adiba
Front of the class (2008)
Sayyid hana
Lekinwala suhasi
 Movie - front of the class (2008)
Synopsis
Brad Cohen, a young man with Tourette’s
Syndrome (TS), dreams of a career in
teaching. But, as a child, kids teased him and
adults scolded him for his outbursts and tics.
Despite the poor understanding of his
condition by most and his father’s lack of
acceptance Brad is determined to be a
teacher. When he gets a chance to be a
second grade teacher he can finally teach
others about TS and show he’s got what it
takes to be teacher of the year. Based on a
true story.
 analysis
Tourette syndrome is a nervous system disorder which involves having uncontrollable repetitive
movements or unwanted sounds (tics), such as repeatedly blinking the eyes, shrugging shoulders or
blurting out offensive words.
Brad’s Tourette syndrome can be seen very obviously through his tics, which were mostly vocal.
He himself Defines the syndrome as "a brain thing that causes me to make these strange noises, they're
like sneezes, irrepressible."
Along with simple tics he would have complex tics where he’d agressively shrug his shoulders, bite into
his pencil ,shake his legs.
In his childhood scenes, he would be seen being restless, hyperactive and inattentive or he’d be seen
not being able to concentrate or read at all . Which Shows symptoms of adhd & learning disability,
usually seen in children with Tourette symdrome.
His childhood also included him not being able to have friends and social relationships aside from his
relationship with his mom and the principal. Which is usually the case when people with TS.
 The impact of the
syndrome
Along with academic, social interferences are faced by people with TS. In
the movie brad faces such social rejections, from school to dating life.
Children with Tourette’s are also at an increased risk for school avoidance,
due to not being accepted by their peers.
Brad, as an adult, faces many obstacles in his pursuit of a teaching career,
and these problems are commonly reflected in the experiences of other
people with Tourette’s Syndrome.
People hold stigma against the syndrome which causes a prejudice never
allowing them to understand people with the syndrome, for example in the
movie, one of his interviewer assumes that TS always include coprolalia
( involuntary, repetitive use of obscene words ).
Due to this stigma people always question their ability to perform in a
social setting. For example brad being questioned about his ability
everytime he went for an interview and eventually getting rejected shows
how much prejudice people have against people with such disorders.
This particular challenge that Brad faced, having his abilities questioned
in the workplace, was not unique to Tourette’s.