Just googled this, it appears to be based on a book examining the madness at the heart of US military intelligence which accompanied by a Channel 4 tv series, Crazy Rulers of the World, which aired here in Britain but I missed.

Apparently 'psychic soldiers' were trained to kill by staring at goats, which fell over due to death rather than MC, but we can all see the obvious connection!

Type of Myotonia: Becker's

Country: England

I am completely kidding about this idea, but one way we could garner attention for our disability would be to protest the film saying that they make fun of Fainting Goats, goats who have Myotonia Congenita, and therefore are making fun of us.

This would of course make us look like crazy people, but I think the idea is humorous. It would probably drive more people to see the movie, because people like that kind of controversy.

On the upside, this is the second appearance of a fainting goat in mainstream media--Anderson Cooper and now this (even though the goats in this movie do not have MC, they still fall down, repeating the same visual metaphor). The Anderson Cooper story died, because it lacked the human element. Fainting Goats can only be so interesting.

I've seen this sort of pattern happen in the media quite often. People who develop films, television etc., latch onto ideas that are currently popular in the minds of the public and develop media that has some association with those popular ideas. There are tons of Fainting Goat videos on You-Tube, and it wouldn't surprise me if at least the title of the film was affected by that fact and by Anderson Cooper's short blurb about the goats. I may be stretching here, but for instance, a common practice of screenwriters is to go through the newspaper and pull out stories that seem like they would make good films. The more unusual the better, because everyone is looking to avoid the cliche.
I'm just saying to watch how things develop and you might be surprised how this idea takes off.

In thinking about this, I know that many of us want more people to know about MC, because many of us have suffered from people not believing we have it, but my hesitation is this: anonymity can sometimes be a blessing. It is sometimes better to go unnoticed than to be the focus of something as large as the international media. Of course, It would really depend upon the manner in which people would be introduced to MC. If people were to associate MC with a comedy like Men Who Stare at Goats and the You-Tube videos of Fainting Goats, it may not be the best way for people to be introduced to MC. I'm just speculating that if a story like this caught on like wild fire, we might see some disturbing jokes about us that could distort people's view of what its like to live with this condition. Who knows it may just be funny, and we would all get a good laugh, but I worry about people only seeing us as a big joke.

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: US

I wondered how many other people were having quirky thoughts about that movie and our fainting goat compadres.

Type of Myotonia: MC - Becker's type

Country: USA

I was thinking cataplexy :-)

Type of Myotonia: Becker

I found several blog responses on Google where people are talking about the film and Fainting Goats. If you paste this search into your browser, you'll see what I'm talking about (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Men+who+stare+at+goats+%22Fainting+goats%22&aq=f&oq=&aqi=). When there is enough cross talk between media ideas that are getting this much attention, someone is going to develop a story. The only question is how do we get our story interjected in here in a way that is positive, instead of just being part of a bizarre story, like Men Who Stare at Goats?

Here's one blog:

Subject: RE: BS: The Men Who Stare at Goats
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Oct 09 - 11:04 AM

Simply amazing footage.

Now isn't there a breed of goats that actually faints when cued? Something more to research!

Charley Noble

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Subject: RE: BS: The Men Who Stare at Goats
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Oct 09 - 11:10 AM

Yep, "fainting goats" there are: Click here for video!

Now if the Army could only find out why startling them has this effect.

On You-Tube a National Geographic post on Fainting Goats has 1,900,000 views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3Utmj4RPU&feature=related

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: US

Why the army?

On the one hand I can appreciate the comic effect of the fainting goats, I've watched them on YouTube as well, but on the other this ignorance does annoy me.

Obviously the person who originally posted the above believes that the staring men can actually influence the goats into fainting and is totally ignorant of the existence of a latent myopathy within the animal.

Type of Myotonia: Becker's

Country: England

I watched the trailer for the movie and the goats collapse like they've been tranquilized. Their legs aren't stiff like you'd see with the myotonic goats when they're startled.

However after raising goats for many years I can attest to the fact that they are extremely sensitive animals - for instance they will often just keel over and die if they're in much pain. I wish mine had been more susceptible to psychic influences...if so I might have been able to keep them from hiding under the milkstand, escaping and eating the neighbors' rose bushes and jumping on the roofs of cars!

Jan

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: US