Life Interrupted: It's Not All About Me
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR
1980s & '90s,20th Century (multiple decades),2000s
Chris M. Tatevosian
Logline
Revealing the solemn and troubling prevalence of verbal abuse often suffered by the spouse and/or caregiver of some chronically ill and disabled. Innocence meets reality when a diagnosis of MS during his freshman year of college, changes his life forever, or does it? A fantastic story of life lesson
Genre
Biographical,Memoir
Short Summary
Chris Tatevosian, had an excellent childhood riding minibikes with friends in the woods behind his house, playing street hockey or baseball in the cul-de-sac before navigating the awkward teenage dating scene before leaving home for college.
The story of one man’s battle with multiple sclerosis and the growth of his poor me attitude, his battle with depression and the resulting misdirected anger experienced by his wife, Rachel and stepson, and the couples subsequent messy divorce.
Setting
Holliston, Massachusetts
Based on a True Story
Yes
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth,Tragedy,Rebellion Against 'The One'
Plot - Other Elements
Happy Ending,Meaningful Message,Philosophical Questions
Mature Audience Themes
Information not completed
Main Character Details
Name: Chris Tatevosian
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Role: Logical
Key Traits: Strong Moral Code,Visionary,Skillful,Outspoken,Selfless,Empathetic,Educated,Heroic,Honorable
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Development Pitch
Life Interrupted: It’s Not All About Me Synopsis Multiple sclerosis (MS) has the ability to destroy a deep love, especially if the ill partner harbors a “Poor Me” attitude. Three steps can be taken to address and eliminate this attitude, saving a marriage from its downward spiral. These steps are taking antidepressants, seeing a counselor, and maintaining clear, open, and honest communication. I learned these steps from personal experience. During my freshman year at Johnson State College, I experienced debilitating numbness in my right hand that would eventually result in a diagnosis of MS. I compensated in various ways, including changing my career path from ecology to chemical technician and then occupational health and safety instructor. While working, I met and married my wife Rachel and became stepdad to her son. We faced challenges after the first year of marriage that exacerbated my symptoms of MS. We both lost our jobs, lost over 50% of our joint income, and had our savings dwindle to nothing. We also faced battles with social security disability insurance and with acquiring an expensive but effective MS drug called Betasaron. I became permanently disabled as a result of my deteriorating condition. I took out my feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy upon my wife. Despite the fact that she worked as sole breadwinner in addition to my caretaker, I neglected to show my wife attention in the little things. I released my feelings of frustration, caused by my mental and
Genre
DRAMA
Brief
Chris is a guy who has a normal life. He studies, dates, has fun with friends. Suddenly, he is diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis and, despite dealing well with the disease initially, his married life becomes affected over the years due to what he calls a "poor me" attitude.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: GOOD
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: FAIR
Pace: FAIR
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: GOOD
Accuracy of Book Profile
It does, but the author could include more characters in his profile. And also, Chris is the protagonist of the story, not the logical, because the whole narrative revolves around him.
Draw of Story
The narrative starts when Chris begins to feel his first symptoms, still in college. It's an impactful and moving description of a disease that doesn't choose an age to emerge. We understand his fears right away.
Possible Drawbacks
The sections where the author advises readers on what not to do in their love lives are the ones that could be dropped if adapted. It's interesting to see him living the problem, dealing with it, making mistakes, and finding a better way to live. It is an indirect and more appealing way of raising a reflection in the reader/audience.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
The hook is how a person manages to deal with a degenerative disease and the fears and anxieties that it generates.
Fanbase Potential
The story certainly has enough dramatic weight to attract fans of the drama genre.
Awards Potential
Yes. If the movie or series digs deeper into the fears, challenges, victories, struggles, and lifestyle of a person with MS, as a portrait, it would have chances to earn awards.
Envisioned Budget
MEDIUM BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING: A PROMISING AND BRILLIANT ASTROPHYSICIST WHO ENDS UP LOSING MOBILITY AND SPEECH AND HAS TO DEAL WITH NEW LIMITATIONS WITHOUT LOSING HIS WILL TO REMAIN ACTIVE. THE DIVING BELL AND BUTTERFLY: AN EDITOR IN CHIEF OF ELLE MAGAZINE SUFFERS A STROKE AND HAS HIS WHOLE BODY PARALYZED, COMMUNICATING ONLY USING HIS LEFT EYE. HE OVERCOMES HIS DIFFICULTIES AND WRITES A BOOK.
What’s New About the Story
The focus on marriage is the most original in this story. We usually see how people with MS, or similar, deal with life, career, and the love element stays in the background. Here, the love life shaken by Chris' more rigid posture is the central focus.
Lead Characters
Chris is a good protagonist, as he is active and experiences a lot of transformations throughout history. The only concern would be to make a good balance between Cris' moments of anger with his wife and moments of sweetness and insecurity so that the audience could understand him and be on his side. Protagonists with a "dark" side are fascinating, but the audience still needs to want to root for them. He's a likable guy to start with, but his constant fights with his wife, if excessive, can make him a little less likable.
Uniqueness of Story
It's not a rare gem because we've seen similar movies before, and also because the structure needs further development to reach a higher narrative level.
Possible Formats
Film: Indie, Streaming TV Series: Limited Run / Mini-Series, Unscripted
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.
Tips for Improvement
The frank portrait of what life is like for a person with multiple sclerosis is in itself worthy of attention and exciting material for the audiovisual. Getting to know different realities in depth is one of the biggest facets of cinema, and this story has great potential for that. However, as an audiovisual work, the narrative would need adjustments. The structure is a little uneven. We accompany Chris' story and get into his narrative, following his daily life and daily challenges. Then suddenly, there is a cut in this narrative so the author can express his opinions about his past and how he treated his marriage and faced life. In a book, these fragments even work, but it would be interesting to keep a straight fictionalized narrative for the audiovisual so as not to pause the audience's growing emotions. The characters could be a little more refined. As a memory, Chris is quite developed, but the others end up becoming too flat in comparison, which can end up affecting interactions, dialogues, and subplots. It would be interesting to have this work of further development of all the secondary characters so that they are minimally equivalent to the protagonist's complexity. It's an interesting report. It would only be necessary to transform this material into a more fictional structure for the audiovisual.