Aphasia Movie

Watching the life of Carl McIntyre in this movie was very moving and inspiring. Carl McIntyre, a 44 years old actor and salesman with three kids and a wife, lived a normal life until everything changed one day. Carl suffered a massive carotid embolic stroke that left him unable to speak, walk, and understand others. He had to start all over again since in his own words, “he’s an infant mulling and puking.” I found the movie to be a great depiction of what it means to have life with Aphasia. It was a very heart wrenching story with a humorous aspect to it.

The initial moment of the stroke was extremely scary; to see Carl lying hopeless on the floor with his child on top of him having no idea what is going on. It is an event that can realistically happen and unfortunately you cannot control situations like those. Luckily, the child did not get hurt in the process, but it’s scary to think of what could have happened.
I liked how the movie was presented, showing a timeline of Carl’s life in 3 month intervals. As a result, the audience is able to the progress being made in Carl’s life and how he was able to cope with his condition. It was incredible to see that after only three months, Carl was able to sit behind the wheel and drive a car. He had great comprehension skills, but had a difficult time getting his thoughts across. It was a very touching moment when his young son was trying to help him say a word and encouraging him by saying, “you got it dad, you got it.”
Unfortunately, not everyone is sensitive towards those with a disability. It was very upsetting to see Carl getting bullied at the Christmas party. When the guy asked Carl to “touch his nose” in front of a group of people knowing that Carl would not be able to comply, was heart breaking. It is crazy to think that there are people who are truly that cruel. When Carl came home that day he tried to practice the task of touching his nose. After many attempts he broke down into tears from not being able to perform the task. It was honorable to see him repeatedly try, but very upsetting to see him breakdown after every failure. There is already so much to worry about in regards to getting healthy again; you should not have to worry about people making fun of you in the process. Unfortunately, it is the reality of life, and there will always be people knocking you down. At the point where you believe there is no hope left, that is when you need to regain the strength to keep moving forward.
Although, Carl was hopeful throughout, it is never easy to see the person you were before a tragic event. It was very frustrating for Carl to re-watch his old movie, which is something that is completely understandable. He explained that there are two versions of himself i.e. the “then” and the “now”, though the “now” is the only one his son will ever know. It is hard to get past the fact that you will never be the same, but it is important to keep striving to be that self again.
Carl luckily had the strength to keep moving forward and working towards his end goal. It was very encouraging to see Carl be a fighter and not give up. Carl had a lot of difficulties producing the sound ‘f’. Six months after the stroke he passed by a drive thru selling a Frozee that he wanted. His initial attempt didn’t go as planned. When he got to the drive thru, he couldn't get the word out and had people honking at him so he just drove away. Three months later he went back to the drive thru to order the Frozee again. When he got to the window, he still had difficulty pronouncing the word. Although he couldn't say that ‘f’ word, he said another one (f$ck) that got him smiling. He was happy that he was able to produce just any ‘f’ word. It was refreshing to see him laughing at himself. I felt that he had a light mood about the situation throughout the movie. He was able to add a humorous aspect within the tragedy, which was inspirational. It was hopeful to see Carl’s persistence and motivation to keep coming back until he was able to say, “I like a Frozee”, which he finally had.