“In 1989 the BBC screened a documentary featuring John Davidson, a 16-year-old youth with severe Touretteís. Last night BBC2 caught up with John in The Boy Canít Help It, and if there has been a finer example of documentary-making this year it has passed me by. John has grown into a fine young man although he still walks down the streets of his native Galashiels inadvertently yelling obscenities at passers-by. ìIf I see someone overweight, Iíll shout ëfat bastardí; if I see a policeman I might splutter, ëpigí; if I see someone I think might be homosexual Iíll call them a ëpoofí.î One part of The Boy Canít Help It saw John going for a beer with his friend Dave Henderson. Across the pub were three young women. In the middle of a conversation John found himself screaming ìtottyî and then ìwhoresî. “
The Times TV critic on “The Boy Can’t Help It” - BBC 2, 27 February 2002
I cannot help thinking that the idea of a town truthsayer is attractive. I think John Davidson and people like him should be give civic honours as people who routinely say the unsayable and point out the obvious and not so obvious. They are a great antidote to pretension and hypocrisy. Lucky is the town where you can get an honest appraisal of yourself shouted at you by the town truthsayer. Usually we have to rely on children to point out moustaches on women or ill fitting toupees - but children are not found in pubs and they can quickly be bullied or intimidated in to shutting up. Not so Touretteís sufferers. To attempt to stop the frank opining would be unfair discrimination against someone with a registered disability. There is no stopping faucet of truth saying. One can only try and avoid it or be ready for judgement, a most salutary arrangement.
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