The night that young actor Robert Aramayo deservedly won Best Actor at the BAFTA Awards for his breakthrough performance in the movie I SWEAR, he almost got overshadowed by an unfortunate incident. In the movie, Aramayo played  John Davidson, a man living with severe Tourette’s whose involuntary vocal tics cause him to blurt out obscenities. 

Then came the controversy. During the live ceremony that was being televised, Davidson who was there as a guest of the filmmakers, shouted a racial slur from the audience as Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award.  Suddenly, Tourettes became a very much a live reality and it cast the syndrome into the spotlight: a neurological condition that can cause sudden, uncontrollable movements or vocalisations known as tics. In rare cases, these tics include the involuntary swearing or uttering of offensive language – that’s called coprolalia.

Poor John Davidson offered his unreserved apologies.  After the event, there was a lot of public shame heaped on the BBC for its decision to keep the incident in the television broadcast, but the moment had blurred the line between film and reality.  The sad part of all this was not celebrating the fact that this excellent movie was all about us understanding Tourette’s, but suddenly it became about  focusing on one small negative incident 

This award-winning movie will be released in April DO NOT MISS IT