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Canary in a Coal Mine becomes 'Unrest'

Cheesus

Cheesus

Senior Member
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Hip said:
The first connotation that comes to my mind when hearing this word is political unrest, or social unrest, and that's why I think it sounds intriguing and interest-raising as a movie title.
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I also think that it would make people stop and look when scrolling through documentaries on Netflix because it is ambiguous and pithy (supposing it gets onto Netflix, which would be ideal).
 
Seven7

Seven7

Seven
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Kind of mute point now to regret it since the screening is announced. Hope for the best! Maybe the content will be great enough so the word of mouth will prevail. I hope they do a preview in any service so we can review before ordering it so we can distribute to friends and family.
 
Old Bones

Old Bones

Senior Member
Messages
808
Sasha said:
I mean that the film should provide us with the opportunity for awareness-raising and all sorts of advocacy and fundraising, if the content is appropriate (which I hope it will be).
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Presumably, many of us live in locations with one or more film festivals throughout the year. I'm already aware of two in my city -- a search may uncover more.

If, as @Sasha stated, the content is appropriate (and I can't imagine it won't be), my intent is to bring the film to the attention of organizers for every local film festival I can find. If all of us do the same, and if even a few of us are successful in getting the documentary screened, that should certainly increase awareness.
 
K

Kmorfas

Messages
2
Kati said:
From Jennifer Brea on Facebook:

We have some big news I want to share: we’re officially changing the name of "Canary in a Coal Mine" to "Unrest." Over the last three years, I’ve grown very attached to the name Canary, but it needed to change and I want to tell you why.

First, one of the defining challenges of this illness has been the horrible name, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Doctors, media, coworkers and even loved ones misinterpret us as just being tired, and often even accuse seriously ill patients of being lazy.

The truth is, patients who have been bedridden for years are not tired or lazy or ‘resting’; they are in a constant state of fighting just to be alive. Whether you are mild or severe, you know how hard it can be to push through, day in and day out. Even when we might look like we’re resting, it’s a fight. I wanted a name that represented that struggle. Unrest describes the experience of all of us who are constantly resisting both the limits of our bodies and the larger social stigmas that have held back equal access to treatment and care.

Second, one of the most exciting developments over the last year has been the rise of a global movement of patients and allies coming together to fight for health equality. The folks drawing attention to the #MillionsMissing are also engaged in a form of unrest. We are attempting to disrupt the status quo that consigns desperately sick people to the margins of medicine and society. Coming together, engaging in collective “unrest” – I wanted to capture some of that spirit in the title, too.

Finally, Unrest represents the hope we all share: that with a real investment in this disease, we can discover the root causes and develop treatments. Then maybe someday we can “un-rest” and get back to our lives.

In 2013, the midst of our Kickstarter campaign, one patient said, “It’s an uprising from our beds.” I’ve returned to that phrase again and again when thinking about how this film might do good in the world. I want people outside of our circles of ME patients, friends and family to see how we, people with so little to spare, are coming together, loving and supporting each other and challenging some of the biggest forces in society. Whether in bed, at work, or outside of government offices, we are in a state of unrest for our health and for justice.

http://unrest.film
http://twitter.com/unrestfilm
http://fb.com/unrestfilm
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thanks jen for all of your hard work and dedication to our cause. I do question though if "unrest" really gets the message across. perhaps "unnoticed" would more clearly reflect what we are going through. in any event, I look forward to the movie and thanks again for your tremendous effort.
 
Riley

Riley

Senior Member
Messages
178
I think Unrest is a good title. I trust and respect Jen's judgement. She has created an ME documentary that is premiering at Sundance! How incredible!

The title also resonates with me. I feel like my body is a prison, and I am the prisoners banging on the bars and wanting to riot and escape.

While Canary in a Coal Mine was an intriguing title, I didn't understand how it applied to ME. My impression was it was suggesting that ME is an environmental illness caused by something that is affecting everybody, but only we, the canaries are manifestly ill. That is not a hypothesis that I support at all.

Let's hope that Unrest make a big splash at Sundance. Look at the film Blackfish as an example. It premiered at Sundance and subsequently had a huge impact. Lots of people saw it or are familiar with it and now Sea World is phasing out killer whale shows.
 
G

Groggy Doggy

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1,130
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453533/

There is a 2006 Horror Film called Unrest. Lets hope people don't confuse them.

How about using "Terminal Unrest" since we are stuck surviving a terminal illness, always feel exhausted (no matter how much we "rest"), and are forced to leave our beds to fight (just to be seen and heard). "Terminal Unrest" is more eye catching and implies the seriousness of our plight.
 
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A

AndyPR

Senior Member
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Guiding the lifeboats to safer waters.
Jennifer J said:
Thanks, @AndyPR. :)

The write up about it sounds great. I was going to post it here but wasn't sure if it would be better for traffic to go to the site. I'm excited. Thank you, @JenB and everyone that made this possible! :hug:
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I didn't think there was enough on the page to warrant posting any of it here. It's interesting but it would be good if it was, as you say, read on the Sundance page.
 
mfairma

mfairma

Senior Member
Messages
205
@Nielk yeah, I agree, but it's hard to introduce the naming issue in a few sentences without going into more substantive (and tedious) issues that might have distracted from the points Jen wants to make and way she wants to sell it.

I totally agree that, in 2016, we should be long past the point that we're still using that damn name. But that's likely a broader battle than anything that can be fought in a brief blurb. (And that it hasn't been dealt with says things about the community larger than Jen).

The deeper question is whether Jen will tell and sell the substantive issues in the way I think many of us hope. I tend to assume she will focus more on emotions, rather than substantive content, than my own preference. But if she's gotten this far, she must be doing something right.
 
Nielk

Nielk

Senior Member
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6,970
mfairma said:
@Nielk yeah, I agree, but it's hard to introduce the naming issue in a few sentences without going into more substantive (and tedious) issues that might have distracted from the points Jen wants to make and way she wants to sell it.

I totally agree that, in 2016, we should be long past the point that we're still using that damn name. But that's likely a broader battle than anything that can be fought in a brief blurb. (And that it hasn't been dealt with says things about the community larger than Jen).

The deeper question is whether Jen will tell and sell the substantive issues in the way I think many of us hope. I tend to assume she will focus more on emotions, rather than substantive content, than my own preference. But if she's gotten this far, she must be doing something right.
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I think that there are probably differening expectations of what the end product of this documentary will be. When Jen originally presented the idea of this documentary and when she ran the crowdfunding to our community to raise funds, it was specifically presented as a documentary on ME as opposed to CFS.

Many in the community contributed and supported the project based on that premise.

If this documentary was serious in raising awareness and educating about ME, myalgic Encephalomyelitis should appear in any blurb about it. There is no reason that CFS should appear anywhere.

It was the same idea with SMCI's ad in Times Square. When some of us complained to Carol Head that she was using the name Chronic fatigue syndrome in big letters, she replied that it was because no one would recognize myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

If we and those who claim to represent us refuse to use the proper name how can we expect anyone else to?

I personally object to the lost opportunity for educating and leading in the awareness raising of the proper name - which is not only a name but representative of the true disease.
 
mfairma

mfairma

Senior Member
Messages
205
I don't disagree, but it's not my decision and ultimately ownership for these decisions lies with Jen. That's just the nature of crowding-funding. Jen is already way ahead of the curve in that space for even producing an end product.

SMCI has more of a duty to be accountable than does Jen. Plus, their ad is terrible, where Jen's documentary promises at least not to be that. If the documentary is effective overall, we will be helped, regardless of this blurb.
 
caledonia

caledonia

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Where the land is hilly and they eat hot chili
As far as the name, a wise musician friend once told me, for naming your band, it doesn't really matter what the name is. The band makes the name, the name doesn't make the band.

So "Unrest" will only be as good as the documentary.

A general emotional appeal with a bit of facts, would likely have more impact than something more cerebral packed full of facts and figures.

It's just how humans are wired - they relate to people's stories better. Makes it feel like it could happen to them or someone they know.
 
J

JenB

Senior Member
Messages
269
Hi everyone. This has been an interesting debate to follow.

I just want to mention that festival programmers (not film teams) write these blurbs you see in festival programs. So you are likely to see a wide range of messages going forward. We will always do our best as we work with film festivals, publicists, the media, etc. to convey a message that reflects what we have tried to convey in the film. Aside from the name, I think whoever wrote this did a beautiful job!
 
A

AndyPR

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H

Hajnalka

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Germany
My internet kept crashing for the first 30 minutes. Did anybody get, when it´ll be possible to buy the docu/watch it online? Can´t wait! :) But Jen said, her TED Talk will be available "extremely soon", looking forward to that!! :thumbsup:
 
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