Canary in a Coal Mine becomes 'Unrest'

[KristenSF]

I follow Jennifer Brea here and on Twitter, and she seems like a brilliant young woman to me. I am definitely not brilliant, and not a filmmaker, so I defer to her regarding the title.

To be honest, I kind of like it! I like the nod at the double meaning of civil-unrest and the notion that there is no such thing as rest for us.

In the early stages of my sickness, I would wake up every day with the same thought: "I need to get away." I would lie in bed planning a fantasy vacation for 30 seconds or so before realizing vacations are a thing of the past for me; they are too hard and make me feel worse.

The thing I want to get away from is my sick body, and vacations don't accomplish that. Like a lot of you, I don't experience refreshing sleep. I am typing this at 1:40 a.m. because I'm 'wired not tired,' and no matter when I go to bed I'll feel like utter crap tomorrow anyway.

Having said that, I want to be clear I in no way want to diminish anything said by the people who object to the new title. I think you've all been sick a lot longer than me, and are rightfully more exasperated than I am over the way the words are inaccurately used to describe our condition.

Everything everyone has said in this thread can be accurate and important, and the fact that Jennifer Brea is awesome can also be true! I can't imagine the toll all this advocacy must take on her health. If I feel a tiny bit better I cut my toenails and blow dry my hair. Make a movie? Start a movement? Unimaginable for me.

I can't wait to see the movie and hear her Ted talk.

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

"Unrest" sounds synonymous with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

I don't like either one.

They are both pathetic trivializations of the issue. As if we should just learn to deal with being tired like most people do.

That said, I think "Canary in a Coal Mine" scares the h*@ll out of people.

 

[Seven7]

Unrest definition, lack of rest; a restless, troubled , or uneasy state; disquiet: the unrest within himself.

This is what I understood to be too when I saw the name change.

A word for Cfs will be whatever comes to the mind of the person when it first see the word wether intentional or not is what plp first think the word association is.

 

[Undisclosed]

To me the word "unrest" conjures up a psychological state on the one (bad) hand and in terms of advocacy a state of dissatisfaction (good) -- so both a good and bad title. To me it is fairly bland and doesn't grab one's attention.

There is also another movie called "Unrest" about a cadaver causing misfortune to those who come in contact with it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrest_(film)

 

[Jan]

To me the word "unrest" conjures up a psychological state on the one (bad) hand and in terms of advocacy a state of dissatisfaction (good) -- so both a good and bad title. To me it is fairly bland and doesn't grab one's attention.

There is also another movie called "Unrest" about a cadaver causing misfortune to those who come in contact with it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrest_(film)

I agree Kina. Please can it be called Un-Dead, that describes us exactly!

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

There is also another movie called "Unrest" about a cadaver causing misfortune to those who come in contact with it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrest_(film)

Essentially, how many people respond to those of us with ME/CFS.

 

[Old Bones]

@Old Bones I changed the links, can you please let me know if the links work for you?

@Kati The links all work perfectly now -- thanks!

I'm very much looking forward to seeing Jen's documentary.

 

[SB_1108]

Unrest definition, lack of rest; a restless, troubled , or uneasy state; disquiet: the unrest within himself.

Similarly though, unrest is defined as "a state of dissatisfaction, disturbance, and agitation in a group of people, typically involving public demonstrations or disorder." Synonyms: disruption, disturbance, trouble, turmoil, turbulence, disorder, chaos, anarchy

I actually really like the title from an advocacy perspective and from a general patient perspective. Unrest definitely describes how I feel on a day-to-day basis (especially considering I suffer from the "wired but tired" symptom). All of the synonyms above could be used to describe how my body feels with ME. We as a community are growing even more restless as the years go on waiting for a cure. "Canary in a Coal Mine" didn't resonate with me like Unrest. I really feel that the new title better reflects the patients, especially the #MillionsMissing movement.

 

[worldbackwards]

I liked Canary in a Coalmine, although I didn't have the faintest idea what it meant with reference to ME; it struck me that, far from being an early warning system to stop others from getting into danger, we were simply being shovelled full tilt into the dangerous pit whilst those behind us denied that anything bad might be happening to us. Catchy though.

Unrest makes a lot more sense to me and I think anyone finding psychological connotations to it are working a bit too hard. And it also reminds me of this...

...which is always good.

 

[Mel9]

To me the word "unrest" conjures up a psychological state on the one (bad) hand and in terms of advocacy a state of dissatisfaction (good) -- so both a good and bad title. To me it is fairly bland and doesn't grab one's attention.

There is also another movie called "Unrest" about a cadaver causing misfortune to those who come in contact with it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrest_(film)

Also reminds me of 'the undead '

 

[Hip]

The most important thing is that people go to watch this film, people in the general public. If I were healthy, and someone said to me: "Hey, we're going to see a film tonight called 'Unrest', do you fancy coming along?" my first thought would be: "Hmm, sounds intriguing, yes, I'll come".

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.

 

[Denise]

It seems that the world premiere of Unrest will be at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

"Unrest / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Brea) — When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s "all in her head." Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story—and four other families' stories—fighting a disease medicine forgot. World Premiere"

 

[Forbin]

"Unrest" is such a short, ambiguous title, I think it might benefit from a subtitle. For example, if the film was going to highlight recent patient advocacy, politics and scientific advances, you could go with a double double-meaning...

UNREST
A MEDICAL REVOLUTION​

​

​

 

[worldbackwards]

"Unrest" is such a short, ambiguous title, I think it might benefit from a subtitle. For example, if it was going to highlight recent patient advocacy, politics and scientific advances, you could go with a double double-meaning...

UNREST
A MEDICAL REVOLUTION​

​

​

You have to do it in that movie trailer voice though.

 

[Forbin]

You have to do it in that move trailer voice though.

"In a world where disease is denied and the sick are told 'it's all your head'..."

 

[soofke]

well I think it's catchy(er)!

 

[Valentijn]

"Unrest" is a better title for the intended audience. Jerks might make jokes about rest/fatigue/blah blah blah, but they aren't the audience and they always find ways to be jerks anyhow. If someone is watching the movie, they aren't going to come away confused about ME/CFS being fatigue that would improve if we could just chill out a bit.

 

[Sasha]

I think the real and important news here is not the name change (which is Jen's choice and presumably a done deal, and chosen after a lot of thought and discussion with trusted advisers) but the fact that the movie will premiere next month:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...iere-at-sundance-film-festival-1-19-17.48123/

I think it would be good to focus on thinking how to leverage the film to benefit PWME. (I think the other thread would be a good place for that, because the title of the thread here won't help people to find that discussion - people will have stopped reading here if they're not interested in talking about the name change.)

 

[Nielk]

I think the real and important news here is not the name change (which is Jen's choice and presumably a done deal, and chosen after a lot of thought and discussion with trusted advisers) but the fact that the movie will premiere next month:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...iere-at-sundance-film-festival-1-19-17.48123/

I think it would be good to focus on thinking how to leverage the film to benefit PWME. (I think the other thread would be a good place for that, because the title of the thread here won't help people to find that discussion - people will have stopped reading here if they're not interested in talking about the name change.)

What do you mean by "leverage the film"?

 

[Sasha]

What do you mean by "leverage the film"?

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). The same is true, I would think, of Jen's TED talk, which I had thought was going to be released in the Autumn. Maybe it's being held back to use to generate interest for Unrest.