The British comedian and actress Rosie Jones talked about what filming her new Channel 4 documentary cost her and how it affected her mental health.
A Channel 4 documentary, Rosie Jones: Am I a R****d? attracted some controversy over its title. Jones, who is suffering from cerebral palsy, released a video defending the title along with promoting the film.
“I get it, a lot of people will find this word very shocking and upsetting. But in my opinion, society doesn’t take this word and other ableist forms of language as seriously as any other form of abuse from any other minorities,” she said.
Rosie Jones also talked about the Emotional Toll of Filming the Documentary and shared one moment in the film where she was shown hundreds of abusive tweets and said that such abuse has been hard on her for many years.
“I don’t think anybody could read that much abuse directed at them and not have it take a toll on their mental health, I feel anxious whenever I need to go on social media, I find it difficult to ignore. But I’m trying,” she told The Guardian.
“Filming the documentary was also taking its toll on me. I found myself using jokes more as a coping mechanism, something I’ve done all my life. I was feeling sad and angry with the world.” she added.
“It took me a long time to be able to say: ‘I’m angry. I’m angry with how the world treats me and other disabled people. The documentary made me confront things about my disability that I’d perhaps kept in a drawer.” Jones said.
The documentary, ‘Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard?’ is coming to Channel 4 soon.