I just learned Kelsey Grammer is starring in a drama series called “Boss.”
It’s about a Chicago mayor in the early stage of a ‘degenerative brain disorder.’ This may or may not refer to dementia.
If that’s what it means, the show should be interesting, because I can’t think of another TV series that’s tried to tackle such a misunderstood disease as dementia, especially for a character as young as Grammer’s.
Representations of dementia in movies like The Notebook and Away from Her, commercials or other media, as necessary as they are to educate the public about this illness, usually portray it as an old person’s disease.
But to educate people so they’re not overwhelmingly confused when they run into someone with early onset dementia, more popular forms of entertainment need to portray it as a mid-life and in rare cases a young person’s disease too. (Did you know the youngest person diagnosed with dementia was 17?)
Back to ‘Boss,’ the trailer (below) doesn’t mention this brain disorder, but according to an article at ZAP2it, Grammer’s character, Tom, “has a degenerative brain disorder that’s starting to affect his work and his life.”
Also, Tom’s estranged daughter ” may be the first one to realize what’s happening to her dad.” This hits a little close to home.
One critic says the pilot episode is promising, so we’ll see how it turns out and how they represent dementia.
I don’t get the Starz station, unfortunately. If you do, and if you catch the show, come back and tell us your impressions.
Grammer’s character supposed has a Lewy body disorder, probably Dementia with Lewy bodies. The show contacted the LBDA to provide guidance on the type of behavior he would display. I’d love to see it but I too, do not have STARZ.
A person with early onset LBD often displays behavior labeled as “inappropriate, paranoid and/or odd” because delusions (false, usually paranoid beliefs) can be one of this disorder’s first symptoms.