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 PAPER PROTECTION 


With a television remote in hand, I stumble upon an Argentinian dramedy called 27 Nights based on a real-life story. The protagonist is a fierce octogenarian, vivacious dancer, art dealer, and socialite in an unconventional way. Unlike her friends, her daughters see her as eccentric and a spendthrift. They fear
their family fortune will drain away before they can lay their hands on it. So they hatched a vicious plan by teaming up with medical specialists and declared that their mother was suffering from dementia and institutionalised her overnight. 


The iron rules of the institution and the strict vigilance of the carers failed to overwhelm the lonely octogenarian’s spirit. She never missed an opportunity to speak to visitors or to the other inmates to contact her friends. After several failed attempts, she succeeded. Her friends and an official from the state social justice team busted her daughters' deceptive plot, and the lady was finally released from the institution; all restrictions were lifted under the country's law. 


The film culminates with a line that the real-life case pushed the jurisdiction to have a debate on mental health legislation,  patient rights, and the misuse of psychiatric facilities to restrict personal and financial freedom. Most of the audience would sigh in relief that their distant futures are in safe hands and well protected by the government and legislation, especially in countries where mental health and senior care policies and programmes are well thought through and government-supported.


Now, cut II, back to real life, crossing the Atlantic and the Equator. You arrive in one of the world's economically stronger nations, where mental health and senior adult care top the to-do list of every political party and the government. In one such country, in a dementia-specialised care home, you meet a nonagenarian. An elegant, intelligent senior lady, a former voice artist and actor. She was renowned in her heyday, and met a similar fate at the hands of her daughters. She is five short of her century, yet she challenged the jurisdiction and proved her sanity. Unfortunately, her daughters mend their ways and imprisoned her in a private institution. She tries to connect with the person she loves on her brick phone; before long, the vigilant superiors confiscate it. Her daughters deactivated her bank cards. She tried to seek help from the other inmates' visitors, but couldn’t succeed. Even the social care department didn't show up to hear her side. 


Inside the institution, most of the people who cared about her were immigrants, but the leaders silenced them. They couldn’t help her escape. Quietly, they watched her struggle to keep her spirit alive- every dawn she put on makeup with lipstick and mascara smudged, dressed in her best outfit, and never failed to wear her hat with pride. She cried out to many, but with a few, she shared laughter and dreams of freedom. I hope she will someday live her dreams and regain her freedom.

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