Tourette’s
John Davidson has Tourette syndrome. He has the variety where he uncontrollably yells out offensive things. It isn’t what he is really thinking. It is just part of who he is. He has campaigned for awareness of this condition and was awarded an MBE. When he received it from QEII he exclaimed “f**k the queen”. She had been briefed and didn’t react, and just congratulated him on his award. He called the then Prince Charles an effing parasite, and again no reaction.
A film on his life, I Swear, was up for six BAFTA Awards. He was in the audience for it. The entire audience had been warned he was in attendance, and his condition means he may exclaim things. And so he did. He yelled out the N word at two black presenters. Now it is one thing to curse the Queen to her face, but the usual suspects decided that he must really be a closest racist and proceeded to rip into him.
The irony is great. All these lovelies were at the awards to praise a film highlighting his disability, But when he displayed the very same disability, many of them were horrified and condemned him.
The furore reminded me of a hilarious Southpark episode ages ago when Cartman found out about Tourette’s, and pretend to have it so he could be, well, Cartman.
The post Tourette’s first appeared on Kiwiblog.