I never knew what Parkinson’s disease was until actor Michael J. Fox started his foundation in 2000. It turns out that Parkinson’s is more common than I had thought. Nearly 1 million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson’s disease. PBS’s Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s follows three individuals’ journeys of living with Parkinson’s and how they cope with the incurable disease.
Parkinson’s is a disease that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements in the body. Matter of Mind tells the stories of Juan Solano, a business owner; Veronica Garcia-Hayes, a mother and a certified boxing trainer; and Peter Dunlap-Shohl, a political cartoonist – all three are Americans who are fighting the disease. Juan is an older gentleman seeking surgical treatment with the hopes of regaining some control over his body movements. Veronica has found a way to soothe the tremors in the way of boxing. Lastly, Peter has taken medication over the years that has helped to an extent, but eventually, he needs something else to cope. Peter has had the same surgical procedure that Juan is seeking, known as a deep brain stimulation surgery. The surgery is meant to lessen the writhing motions that often come with Parkinson’s and also help with motor fluctuations.
“…follows three individuals’ journeys of living with Parkinson’s and how they cope with the incurable disease.”
All three stories were interesting. I feel that the documentary educated me on the disease without taking away from showing the personalities of these three strong individuals. I loved the attitudes of all three, as I’m sure that living with a disease such as Parkinson’s has to be exhausting. Yet, they all had positive attitudes and were very strong-minded, which is likely the reason why they gave this documentary the title of Matter of Mind. It was a great idea to show a person in different stages of the disease. I do think that one thing that was missing was finding an person that had just recently been diagnosed (months or a year), and showing how they are coping with the diagnosis as well as the disease itself.
With Peter being a former political cartoonist, it was also a great idea to show much of his story through animation. It is just a no-brainer that when you have an artist as your subject, you use that same skill to strengthen the telling of their story. The animations and illustrations are things that give the documentary just an extra layer, which I feel is needed in a documentary such as this one.
Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s is another great documentary produced by PBS. It is heartbreaking and inspiring. Not only do I feel more educated on the disease, but I feel like I know those who shared their stories. The documentary was easy to watch because it didn’t feel like I was watching it for a class study or anything of that sort. PBS remains at the top of the industry when it comes to documentaries.