The TED talks have built a brand around influential thought leaders known for their keen ability to deliver compelling insights on complex subjects on a minimalist stage. Although TEDMED has changed ownership a few times since 1998, it’s established itself as a must-see conference with exciting perspectives in healthcare and medical technology accompanied by innovative healthcare startups.
So it was exciting to hear that a group of filmmakers had been commissioned to produce shorts capturing all nine speaking themes in an artistic collabortation for the September TEDMED conference. They accompany each set of speakers listed by theme. I was a bit disappointed with the results.
It’s not so much that short films were the wrong way to go. Why shouldn’t TEDMED want to try something new? If Charlie Rose can break away from minimalist Q&A to co-anchor CBS This Morning, why shouldn’t TEDMED do something completely different?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XrAOFURQ1Y
My problem is that the filmmakers generally make these topics even more vague and abstract than they need to be. For example, “Weird and Wonderful” by Matt Christenden could mean so many things in healthcare or science. Dogs can smell cancer. Fecal transplants as a cure for C. difficile. But here, it’s a short animated film of a squirrel rolling around on logs, calculators and flowers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KONYed2HKI#t=154
A few of the shorts worked. “Human Nature Inside and Out” by Raj Trivedi takes on poor communication by medical staff, overtesting and non patient-centered care through dark comedy.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op-92QOZsWM#t=299
“Flat Out Amazing” by Pedro Gomez Millan, which gives a patient’s point of view of the benefits of medical technology through the eyes of a teen, was effective as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9EGOYbzOtc#t=158
“I was Just Thinking Too Small” by Ian Harnarine takes on a few different issues spanning hospital architecture to medical device innovation t0 new insights about child trauma and diabetes.
Some feel more like a celebration of each moviemaker’s technical skills rather than an opportunity to visualize compelling issues in healthcare and medicine. There’s no shortage of drama, excitement and anxiety in healthcare and medicine that these shorts could have captured. I realize they’re supposed to be avant-garde but it seemed like they missed an opportunity to articulate the problems and promising developments in healthcare and medicine more directly and make them resonate with a wider audience.
[Photo credit: Movie theater by BigStock Photo]
