3.+Elements+of+Truth

//Often Awesome// is an observational and reflexive documentary chronicling Tim LaFollette battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). The documentary has over thirty 10-20 minute episodes on AllAcesMedia.com. These videos capture one man's progression with an incurable disease that lasted a couple of years. The upload time stamps for the videos on youtube.com start in December 2009 and end in January 2011. Over the course of the 34 episodes the producers try to strike a balance between two different aspects of the "truth" of living with a debilitating disease. The episode that Kim and I analyzed, episode 14, reveals this balance in the way it mixes what is shown from their honeymoon trip to Scotland. This was a two week trip that the producers condense into one 9 minute episode and means that there were a lot of editing choices and from which to tell a specific story.

The truth that this episode portrays is that Tim's battle with ALS is painful, uncomfortable, difficult, depressing, scary, but that in the midst of this he has not lost his ability to laugh. Humor and quality time with friends is the first side of the truth of living with ALS that Tim portrays. The first clips of the trip to Scotland show Tim and Kaylan toasting cocktails, laughing with friends, joking about sex, and eating strange Scottish food all in the company of Tim's old friends. This lighter side to the trip draws the audience in and shows that while the prognosis for ALS patience is not good, there can still be good times in life.

Before crossing the line into avoidance of reality or a strange denial, the episode shifts to the long clip of Tim explaining what the trip has done to his strength and motor functions. It brings the story back to the reality of what he lives with everyday and the inevitable conclusion that the larger story of the entire documentary is moving towards. This latter part of the episode is sobering and difficult to watch. It shows not just the physical deterioration of Tim as he goes from sitting in wheel chairs, to laying in the bed asleep, but the emotional roller coaster terminal illness has on the patient. Kaylan's few words about watching Tim move further along in the disease reveals a truth that going through this with someone is difficult.

This balance of retaining an ability to enjoy life and people, with the sadness of having a terminal illness is the truth of //Often Awesome//. What is missing from this episode are the taxing and menial tasks involved with taking care of a person who physically cannot do many things for themselves. We do not see Tim at the doctor or taking medicine. There is a reference to a urine bag and how much accumulates when Tim sleeps, but other than that we do not see much of the daily care giving he requires. They do talk about the difficulty of someone in Tim's condition taking a trip like this to another country, but we do not see the difficult transitions in and out of airplanes or taxis or hotel elevators. These smaller details are left out or glossed over for more footage of Tim smiling and joking with friends or telling the audience about how difficult the disease is.

The video has several purposes that this balance of the good and bad sides to the disease works well with. Taping this progression seems to be not only a way for Tim to process what is happening and to give him a voice in order to share his emotions, but we see at the end that this is also a way to spread the word and raise funds for a cure to ALS. This series is being used to bring to people's attention the need for research on ALS and a way to give a face to the disease. The goal does not seem to be simply an observation of the disease but also to get people involved. This means that for as much as people should see the gritty details and difficulty, they also need to like and connect to Tim and Kaylan. It would be really easy to turn the video off or stop watching after #1 if you did not invest in the couple. The choice to show their love and affection for each other, as well as their friends, makes the audience want to root for Tim and want to help find a cure.

Finally, the last thing that is not seen when watching this video, is what an individual with no insurance or familial help does when facing this same disease. From what Tim and Kaylan say, as well as reading in the credits, there is a large support group surrounding them. We do not see what life with ALS would be like, if you were suffering through it alone. Tim has a loving wife and friends to visit with and help to raise his spirits. While this is a portrayal of a life with ALS, it is still just one person's life and experience.