"It's harder to have Tourette syndrome today than in the 80s"

BarcelonaWhen the English director Kirk Jones met John Davidson to explain that he wanted to direct a film about his life, the first thing Davidson told him was: “Fuck!” But it wasn't a spontaneous invitation to fuck but one of the verbal tics that have marked his life since he was 14, when he developed Tourette's syndrome. Davidson went from being a normal teenager who got good grades and had a group of friends to being marginalized at school within weeks, labeled as crazy, beaten by his classmates, and on occasion, arrested by the police. His struggle to have a dignified life, relate to others, and find a job are the raw material of Incontrolable (I swear), the film inspired by Davidson, which premieres this Friday and is already one of the great successes of British cinema in the last decade, with more than a million viewers in theaters in the UK and awards such as the Bafta for best actor for Robert Aramayo, who beat, among others, Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet.

Jones, who in 1998 directed the popular comedy Waking Ned Devine, became interested in Davidson's story after seeing the documentaries he starred in as a teenager (John’s not mad, from 1989) and when he was in his thirties (The boy can’t help it, from 2002). “I was fascinated by John’s condition – Jones recalls. He was a good person who couldn't help but say and do terrible things. He just wanted to have a girlfriend, but when he approached a girl and introduced himself, very politely, he suddenly couldn't help but spit in her face. It was terrible and tragic, but at the same time funny.” Even Davidson laughs at the outrageous things that come out of his mouth, and when Jones asked him what he would think if his biopic were a mix of drama and comedy, he was delighted: “That’s exactly my life, an absolute tragedy and at the same time a hilarious joke.”

The man who shouted 'nigger'

What wasn't fun was the situation that occurred on February 22 at the Bafta awards ceremony when Davidson's tics flared up and he shouted "nigger" at Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, who were on stage at the time. The director and the actor from The Sinner did not react, but Davidson's shouts could be heard on the broadcast of the gala and the controversy was one that made history. Kirk Jones, who was obviously present, explains that the organizers did everything possible to avoid incidents: seating Davidson away from the stage, near a door in case he needed to leave, and with no one to his right to avoid accidental bumps. At the beginning of the gala, it was also announced that Davidson was present and that inappropriate comments might be heard due to his condition. “Everyone applauded him, it was a beautiful moment of acceptance, almost unthinkable for John a few years ago – Jones recalls –. The problem is that the BBC promised to edit his comments from the broadcast, and that's why it was broadcast with a two-hour delay. But there was a mix-up and they let one of the shouts through. People who had seen the film understood immediately, but many interpreted that John was a racist or that if he couldn't control himself, he should have been muzzled.”

Days after the incident, Davidson released a statement explaining his version of events, apologizing and explaining how Tourette syndrome works. “We saw each other afterward and he seemed very sad – explains Jones –. I asked him if he was okay and he said yes, that it was like that every day of his life, but on a smaller scale. He goes out to buy milk, sees a woman in the store, shouts something impertinent, and an offended husband comes to settle the score. And he just wanted some milk.” Curiously, although inclusivity is a rising trend, modern, conscious societies are a minefield for people with Tourette syndrome.

“I asked him if it was easier to have Tourette's in 1989, when very few people understood his condition, or in 2026. And I thought he would tell me now, because people are more understanding, but no, it's the opposite –says Jones–. Language today is a very dangerous terrain, understandably, because in the last 10 or 20 years we have strived to describe minorities in an appropriate way, without offending them, and that is a problem for a person with Tourette's. On the other hand, the language used on television in the eighties was very crude and would now be very shocking to us. Therefore, it was more difficult to offend people. So yes, it is harder to have Tourette's syndrome today than in the eighties”.