Alzheimer's disease, a shifting paradigm in Spanish film: ¿Y tú quién eres? And Amanecer de un sueño

Raquel Medina*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In the last fifteen years Alzheimer's disease (AD) has changed the way in which developed countries have tended to perceive and deal with ageing. It has also become the main health problem needing to be resolved in both financial and social terms. If cancer was considered and labelled as the epidemic of the twentieth century, AD has soon been designated as the epidemic of the twenty-first century. This article analyses how AD is perceived and represented in two films, Amanecer de un sueño, directed in 2008 by Freddy Mas Franqueza, and ¿Y tú quién eres?, directed in 2007 by Antonio Mercero. As for ageing, questions of stigmatization and stereotyping around AD are discussed, and special consideration is given to the manner in which medical, social and political institutions in Spain have created a monolithic view of AD with the purpose of shaping a homogeneous social response to the disease. Current debates between those who perceive the disease as a social burden for the State and the family, and those who defend centring the discussion on the persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and their personhoods frame the analysis of these two films. © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2013.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)356-372
Number of pages17
JournalHispanic Research Journal
Volume14
Issue number4
Early online date9 Jul 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2013

Keywords

  • ageing
  • alzheimer's disease
  • memory loss
  • personhood
  • spanish film
  • spanish health and social care policies
  • stereotyping
  • stigmatization

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