PBS - Tavis Smiley interviews Jen and Omar

[Hajnalka]

http://www.pbs.org/video/director-jennifer-brea-and-professor-omar-wasow-opaluy/

TAVIS SMILEY

Director Jennifer Brea and Professor Omar Wasow
Clip: 09/29/2017 | 14m 22s

The documentarian and her partner discusses Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and her latest film Unrest detailing her fight to overcome the disease.

I don't know Tavis or his show but it looked like national TV and thus thread-worthy.

 

[Mary]

Hi @Joh - he is on national public television (not a commercial station), and definitely thread-worthy!

 

[Hajnalka]

Until now I found every interview with Jen simply perfect. This was the first interview that made me feel a little uneasy about the conversion disorder part (a diagnosis I got too, so I might be extra sensitive). Not sure if it was completely clear this time for someone who isn't informed that conversion disorder was a misdiagnosis and is not the same as CFS? All the other parts I found as brilliant as usual.

Hope I worded this right. This was really just a small personal concern and it's huge that Unrest again got exposure on national tv! This campaign is exceeding my wildest expectations. Very grateful to Jen and Omar, they're amazing advocates. No idea how Jen manages all these premieres, interviews and Q and A's and how Omar manages caregiving, advocating and traveling while still working.

 

[Rooney]

So proud. She is working so hard. I'm pleased she's upright at all with her schedule. It's squeeze time with this movie.

 

[Seven7]

I felt sooooooooooo uncomfortable watching this. That guy asked questions that I wonder if the disease was like cancer, if he would consider some of those questions appropriate. I really find the questions very offensive and I don't offend very easily. Just inconsiderate towards Jen and Omar for that matter. There are some questions that you just don't ask out load.

 

[edawg81]

The questions were raw, completely and utterly raw, just like the movie, struggling with how we just manage all aspects of our life, how it impacts our family. The NBC interview was very glossy, very rushed, this interview stopped me in my tracks and I feel it was amazing to watch, just like the movie Unrest. Also it was very inspiring...

 

[Hajnalka]

The interview was definitely different. He didn't ask much about the disease but focused on their relationship and how they manage as a couple. So there was no chance to mention PEM or the term ME or other facts. One time Jen seemed to gasp a little (can't really remember, I think when he asked about how she feels because Omar didn't chose this?) and she emphasized that she didn't chose this either (and one time corrected him that she doesn't feel sorry for herself). I wondered if the interview was so different because they mentioned they have been friends for years.

 

[Jennifer J]

The interview was definitely different. He didn't ask much about the disease but focused on their relationship and how they manage as a couple. So there was no chance to mention PEM or the term ME or other facts. One time Jen seemed to gasp a little (can't really remember, I think when he asked about how she feels because Omar didn't chose this?) and she emphasized that she didn't chose this either (and one time corrected him that she doesn't feel sorry for herself). I wondered if the interview was so different because they mentioned they have been friends for years.

I felt the same and noticed all those things too. I do think it was because Tavis was friends with Omar. Sounds like they knew each other before Omar met Jen.

I generally like his talk show. I was disappointed in how he handled this. I think he's a bachelor, that (and other reasons I can see) too may play a role in how he viewed this more from what it was like for Omar than what it was for Jen.

I wondered also if he had watched the film and even learned some about the disease from them. It seemed to me that he didn't from his questions and he wasn't too interested in it. He is an activist that speaks out about injustices, there is plenty with this illness that could have caught his attention in that regard.

I happened to see it that night at 1 am (before you posted) when it was on TV so my brain wasn't too fresh. I was so surprised and happy to see them on Tavis and then disappointed in how it went. I might watch it again, hesitant to do so cause I was so taken aback, Tavis could have helped us and reached a lot of people in a much better way than he did.

 

[MEPatient345]

I loved this interview. The film is something of a love story, and it is billed that way so I don’t think it was at all inappropriate to take this more personal and interesting approach to to their interview. He asked questions that tied into what jen and Omar discuss in the film about their marriage and the fears that she expressed about not being able to give him enough. His questions were so personal and I think the phrasing may have thrown people like “getting him into this mess”, but that he asked them bc she had expressed those fears in the film, and in the hope of getting some of those much more personal responses, which — he did!