It was fiction, though Howland's story was inspired by a real person: the grandmother of Lisa Genova, the neuroscientist-turned-author whose novel the film was based on.
Still Alice is based on a novel of the same name published in 2007. The novel was written by Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist who was inspired by her grandmother's development of Alzheimer's disease to write about the disease from a firsthand perspective.
Beyond showing correct symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, Still Alice did not capture a very truthful picture of the common struggle with Alzheimer's. Alice's form of Alzheimer's is in fact very rare (2014, 26:04), and it only accounts for 5% of all Alzheimer's accounts (St George-Hyslop, 2000).
Lisa's extensively researched fiction focuses on people living with neurological diseases and disorders, people who tend to be ignored, feared, or misunderstood, portrayed within a narrative that is accessible to the general public.
The story is based on the very real history of black Americans still being enslaved even after the Emancipation Proclamation. The most prominent example of this, on which the movie is based, is the life of Mae Louise Walls Miller.
The author of "Still Alice" on Alzheimer's and why she writes about disease
Why is Alice Rated R?
Parents need to know that Alice is a historical action drama starring Keke Palmer as an enslaved Black woman who doesn't realize that it's 1973. Expect scenes of violence, including slavery, beatings, and fights, as well as suggested rape. There's also strong language, including swear words ("ass," "s--t," …
The TV series ALICE was based on the movie of a similar name, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," produced in 1974 and directed by Martin Scorsese. The movie, like the series, originally consisted of Alice, Tommy, Flo, Vera and Mel.
Alice Howland Character Analysis. The story's protagonist. At 50 years old, Alice has achieved tenure at Harvard University, made huge contributions to the field of psycholinguistics, traveled all over the world, and is looking forward to taking another sabbatical in the near future.
In the final scene of Still Alice, Alice's daughter reads her a passage from Tony Kushner's Angels in America: "Nothing's lost forever. In this world, there's a kind of painful progress. Longing for what we've left behind, and dreaming ahead."
Inspired to humanize Alzheimer's after watching her grandmother struggle with the mind-robbing disease, the Harvard-educated former neuroscientist wrote Still Alice after quitting her job to have her daughter in 2000.
Since Alice is so young, Dr. Benjamin suggests that she take a DNA test to see if she has familial Alzheimer's and therefore the Presenilin mutation (2014, 25:10). Alice finds out she has the Presenilin mutation.
The movie Still Alice does not stray far from the book. In fact, the way it's filmed beautifully parallels the way the book is written. In the book, author Lisa Genova writes from Alice's point of view.
What is the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia?
Alzheimer's disease starts in the brain many years before symptoms start to show. Early symptoms are mild and so don't stop someone doing their normal everyday activities. It's only later that symptoms become severe enough to be called 'dementia'.
Familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD), is an inherited form of Alzheimer's disease. It accounts for less than 1% of Alzheimer's disease cases overall. Unlike typical Alzheimer's disease (the non-inherited form) which usually occurs in people in their 70s or 80s, FAD usually occurs much earlier.
The causes probably include a combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. The importance of any one of these factors in increasing or decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer's may differ from person to person.
In one scene, Alice frantically searches for her phone. In the next scene, John discovers the phone in the freezer. Despite Alice's stating that she was looking for the phone “last night,” John quietly tells Anna: “That was over a month ago.”
He is a cancer cell biologist who is career driven, yet loves his wife dearly. John initially refuses to believe his wife's diagnosis, but eventually accepts the reality of the matter and tries to help his wife cope with her disease.
John ultimately decides to move to New York and leave Alice with the kids in Cambridge. Lydia is moving closer to home because she's decided to study theater at college, and is excited to be closer to Alice and Anna's new babies.
It tells the story of Alice Howland, a fifty year-old psychology professor at Harvard and an expert in the field of linguistics, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice is married to John, a cancer cell biologist at Harvard. They have three grown children.
Alice Howland, a 50-year-old woman, is a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard University and a world-renowned linguistics expert. She is married to an equally successful husband, and they have three grown children.
In 1976 Holliday was cast—in what would be her major break—as sassy, man-hungry waitress Flo Castleberry on the American sitcom Alice. Her character coined the popular catchphrase "Kiss my grits!" The phrase became part of the American vernacular.
Polly Holliday left the show to star in her own spin-off series, Flo. In the episode airing February 24, 1980, Flo leaves to take a hostess job in Houston.
Alfred Lutter, who played Tommy in the original movie, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, as well as in the pilot episode of the series, was thought to be too old for the long haul and was not chosen for the part.
