Bravery

I admire Marianna Palka. She is a very brave young woman. She put her story and her journey out there for the entire world to see. And this was before she knew if she was living with Huntington’s Disease.

Marianna has been a model, a screenwriter, director, actor and even photographer. With the help of her friend and fellow director, she also became the full focus as she embarked on the life changing journey to be tested for the awful disease that has claimed her father. He is in the final stages of a life cut short by Huntington’s Disease.  So, at the age of just 32 and not yet exhibiting symptoms, she made the decision to get tested. She also chose to record it for the whole world to see.

The Lion’s Mouth Opens  is her story. It is a brief 27 minute documentary that begins the night before she learns her results. She is having dinner with several friends and discussing Huntington’s. They talk about the disease; she details the process that you have to go through before getting tested. Marianna talks about the state her dad is in and what it has been like to watch him deteriorate and know there is nothing that can be done to stop it. In Marianna’s own words “Getting a positive result is like a death sentence, and if you get the opposite, then you just get to be like everybody else. Those are two such different realities.” I think she sums it up pretty well.  A positive result paints the grim picture of the remainder of your life. A negative picture is like an unfinished story, just like everybody else in the world.

If you are familiar with Huntington’s Disease, watching this documentary is not easy. Watching it is a window into the life of so many people who have made the courageous step to be tested before showing symptoms of what has been nicknamed by many as “the devil of all diseases” since it can be likened to Parkinson’s, ALS and Alzheimer’s packaged together as a gift you hope never to receive. The film ends with some facts about the disease and some film of people that are living with Huntington’s Disease in various stages. I won’t lie; if you have had experience with the disease, you know that it is not all rainbows and unicorns.

The Lion’s Mouth Opens is available On Demand via HBO or on the HBO to Go App. I understand that both Marianna and Lucy Walker - who helped produce The Lion's Mouth Opens are already working on part 2 of this story to chornicle Marianna as she continues to live with Huntington's Disease. All the more reason to admire this amazing lady.

 I will leave you with just a small portion of the 5 page eulogy written by Bob Dylan about his friend Woody Guthrie who was lost to Huntington’s Disease.

And the lion's mouth opens and yer staring at his teeth
And his jaws start closin with you underneath
And yer flat on your belly with yer hands tied behind