Hear the Silence
| Hear the Silence | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Timothy Prager |
| Directed by | Tim Fywell |
| Starring |
Hugh Bonneville Juliet Stevenson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Cinematography | Ivan Strasburg |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Budget | £1 million |
| Release | |
| Original network | Five |
| Original release | 15 December 2003 |
Hear the Silence is a 2003 semi-fictional TV drama based on the MMR vaccine controversy started when Andrew Wakefield published a paper claiming a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism. It debuted on 15 December 2003 at 9 PM on the British network Five. The film, produced at a cost of about 1 million pounds, stars Hugh Bonneville as Wakefield and Juliet Stevenson as Christine Shields, a fictional mother who discovers the possible MMR-autism link when her son is diagnosed as autistic. Stevenson's character begins telling doctor after doctor that her son seemed to develop autism soon after he received the MMR vaccine, but she does not receive any sympathy from them, nor does she receive any from her boss, or even her husband. However, this all changes when she meets Dr. Wakefield, who believes her statements about the MMR vaccine causing her son's autism. The film then shows fictional government officials "plotting" Wakefield's "demise", which they intend to bring about by portraying his research as flawed. Although never documented in reality, film depicts Wakefield being targeted by the government: his phone is tapped and his files are stolen. The film attracted 1.2 million viewers on the first night it screened, considerably fewer than usual for Channel Five's films that debut at 9 PM, which often get more than 2 million viewers.
The film received a lukewarm reception, with many critics arguing that it portrayed the purported MMR-autism link in a sympathetic light despite there being no scientific evidence to support the connection, and that it idealized Dr. Wakefield and vilified the physicians who dismissed the vaccine-autism link by depicting them as "blatant caricatures." Some parents who watched the film were scared about the possible consequences of having their children receive the MMR vaccine, but one of them told the Guardian they were still skeptical of the veracity of the tale told by the film. The mother in question, Jenny Ebanks, also expressed concern that MMR vaccination rates might drop as a result of the film's popularity. The other mother interviewed by the Guardian defended the film as "totally responsible", adding, "If it keeps the debate going I think it has to be seen as a good thing. So many people are worried about the possible links it is important that they are not just dismissed."
...
Wikipedia