The documentary chronicling the life of combat sports announcer Mauro Ranallo, “Bipolar Rock ’N Roller,” premiered Friday night on Showtime, but its content is too intimate, too dramatic and too important to be buried on the network’s on-demand platform.
Plans are already in the works to condense the documentary directed by Haris Usanovic into a 30-minute PG-rated version that can become an educational tool distributed to schools, universities, civic groups, treatment centers and mental health facilities. Ranallo, who serves as the blow-by-blow voice for Showtime boxing and a number of other combat ventures, suffers from bipolar disorder, which transforms him from the exuberant, entertaining announcer into moods of deep depression and manic behavior.
The documentary is filled with raw footage of Ranallo, combining his brilliance as a self-taught musician, rapper and announcer with his darkest moments. It’s an unfiltered, authentic look into his world where viewers hear him speak openly of suicide and events that led him to be hospitalized eight times for anywhere from three weeks to three months.
“The reason this works is people get to see me at my worst,” Ranallo said during a private showing in Manhattan earlier this week.
Ranallo has accepted his role as a mental health advocate “in order to save lives,” and Showtime will assist in that endeavor. Stephen Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports, said the film “humanizes an often mysterious illness” that scares most people.
“To some extent the specifics and the details and the practical realities of mental illness are difficult to make tangible to people,” Espinoza said. “But this film, through the use of rare personal, intimate footage, showed in very real ways what this illness is like. That reality makes it a unique teaching tool.”
Espinoza was initially concerned video of Ranallo in the throes of a manic episode might be too revealing for public consumption and could hurt his professional reputation. He soon realized his thoughts were part of the stigma associated with mental illness.
“I realized what I saw as an urge to protect him and his professional reputation was in fact a symptom of what he’s fighting against,” Espinoza said. “If this were a documentary on any illness other than mental illness, no one would be worried about the repercussions to his reputation and professional career. When you have cancer or diabetes, there’s not the same type of judgment there is with mental illness. We should start talking about it and keep talking about until people get comfortable with the discussion.”
Among those applauding Ranallo’s efforts is New York-based boxing promoter Lou DiBella, who has been open about his battle with a depression and also lost a brother to suicide following a head injury.
“To do what Mauro did and let yourself be that naked and that vulnerable to the world, he’s going to save someone else’s brother,” DiBella said. “Mental illness isn’t weakness or a choice. There’s no shame and both help and hope are out there.”
Former Jets and Giants receiver Brandon Marshall, who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, is also supporting Ranallo’s cause. Marshall understands some of the world’s greatest minds have suffered from some form of mental illness.
“We hear bipolar disorder, but if you look deeper you see excellence and you see brilliance,” Marshall said.
Based in Los Angeles, Ranallo took time while in New York to visit Fountain House, a mental health center on 47th Street. This is just the beginning of what he calls a lifetime commitment to mental health advocacy.
“There’s too many people suffering in silence and they wind up being silenced permanently,” Ranallo said. “We need to treat people with mental illness like people.”
Getting his documentary to educators is part of that process.