Breakable: Mr. Glass and Osteogenesis Imperfecta.
Posted by biochemistryquestions on October 28, 2008
This movie is called “Unbreakable”, in reference to the character played by Bruce Willis, but from the biochemical point of view, we are more interested in the character of Elijah, played by Samuel L. Jackson: the “Breakable” character, or “Mr. Glass”.
Elijah Price: “I have something called Osteogenesis Imperfecta. It’s a genetic disorder. I don’t make a particular protein very well and it makes my bones very low in density… very easy to break.”
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(Unbreakable: Osteogenesis Imperfecta Case Presentation)
Kara said
As a person with OI, this movie’s representation of the disorder is entirely false. A man of his stature would only have the very mildest form of OI (Type I)-which doesn’t match with the character’s fragility. I actually cringe when I hear people reference the movie in connection to OI but there will be a major book release this spring by Jodi Picoult that is an accurate educational (and interesting) piece about OI.
biochemistryquestions said
I understand what you mean. I agree with you that Elijah does not have a very severe type of the disease. Anyway, the spectrum of signs and symptoms is very broad and as you know better than me, they vary a lot from person to person.
Certainly a better example would be a wonderful documentary about Osteogenesis Imperfecta that was produced for Discovery Channel. That is the one I use for lectures and that is the one I would recommend for non professional persons interested in knowing about this disease. Certainly Sean Stephenson is the patient I would like them to know.