As I watched the Oscars tonight, I am sure I was not the only one who was struck boldly by the winners of Best Actor and Best Actress. It might be that I am so linked to the diabetes community but I had two distinct feelings.
Fabulous. And; when will see diabetes?
In case you did not know, Eddie Redmayne won his Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Stephen Hawkins in The Theory of Everything depicting his decline in health due to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Julianne Moore followed up with a Best Actress Oscar in Still Alice; a revealing look at a woman’s battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Very compelling performances, both. Two devastating diseases highlighted and recognized. Wow!
What would the movie be like, of a parent or an individual battling T1? How would a movie maker proceed to show a side that no one knows; in a compelling and complete story-telling presentation? It cannot just be a film that resonates with us, but with the general public as well. What do you think? Could it be done?
The real problem with film making is that it may seem like it is important to some people but it MUST be presented in such a manner that resonates with the public as a whole. How can that be done?
Before you answer, you need to remember the many sides when diabetes is presented.
Online initiatives and commercials are many times met with opposing view points. Too rough for our children to see, my kids should not see the complications, and we need to protective our kids so they do not to see ‘this’; are just some comments that have come forward—I am NOT stating if they are right or wrong, that is up to each individual. But I am asking to now imagine an entire movie dedicated to this disease. Would we as a community embrace it?
It’s a question that came to my mind as I pondered the possibilities. How would we react to a film that told the brutal truth to this disease; would we be willing to let people see the truths we deal with on a daily basis? Could we as a community…….’put it out there’? They say, in Hollywood, to be impactful it all has to be out there on a limb.
I could not answer that as I thought about it and I am interested to hear what you have to say about it.
Find a way to make a film both truthful and where the diabetes community would embrace it, knowing that it would be a rough film to make compelling enough that 2 people who have no connection to diabetes would pay $23 dollars to see it on a Friday night….think it can be done?
Let me know your thoughts and should we find agreement, we can move to……lights, camera…………………….action.
I am a diabetes dad.
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6 replies on “The Oscar, for Their Role as a Person with Diabetes…..Hmmmmm. Fantasy???”
A realistic portrayal of Type 1 would be banned by some powerful voices within the DOC because they want to keep the ugly minimized. We are our own worse enemy in getting public support for a cure. Of course I want to empower my son to live life to the fullest but the dark side of T1 affects the whole family. It is a life threatening disease but the public is under the assumption it’s preventable & curable. Many people cope by accepting T1 and brushing the ugly under the rug because “we can” do that with an invisible disease. However, cure research funding is cut short without the public knowing the whole story.
First of all, to think ‘powerful voices’ could ban anything is scary to me. No one voice or collective groups of voices should control anything when it comes to saying what I son someone’s mind. We need to make sure we stay independent in our belief and in our words. When I write, people surely have the right to disagree. How they relay that opposing voice determines how much they impact the conversation. Discuss????….welcomed. Come at me????…I just shut one down. Not always so easy to do. I will always listen to opposing voices, it is how one learns. Discussion….not attacks. Every new idea can seem idiotic…….until is proven otherwise……..(figuratively speaking) ask Christopher Columbus.
A movie centrally-focused on t1d could easily feel like a “disease of the week” made-for-TV movie from years back. Caring for a child with t1d would make a strong addition to a story about a family or parents–the stress, the time and other constraints, the worry would add a level to whatever the main struggle in the movie was. It would take a screenwriter, director or producer who had lived with t1d to make it happen. Given the percentages, there must be several working creative in Hollywood who could do this. I suspect a lot of the audience would still have no idea what was going on beyond “sick kid,” but it could still be helpful to have a depiction onscreen. (Preferably a present-day story with modern insulin, pumps, CGM, etc. A biopic of Sonia Sotomayor, for example, would involve an old-fashioned care regimen that would give the wrong impression.)
‘….an old fashion care regiment….’ is not such a wrong impression in the fact that so many today do not really know how to balance diabetes if their pump breaks down……food for thought.
I think the backlash in the Type 1 community from the documentary, “Midnight, 3 & 6” tells it all. The comments that I have been hearing about the family, and “that can’t be”…. I don’t understand it and don’t want to hear it. Everyone has their own journey with Type 1, some have more ups and downs…literally. But what I keep hearing and seeing on the blogs/Facebook is the inability to hear someone else’s type 1 story and just be supportive. What I go through with my 5 year old daily is not what my friends kids with Type 1 go through. They are different kids, with different activities, likes and dislikes, and hey, different bodies. We can say this is how we treat Type 1-insulin and try to get your A1C to X, but in reality, it is all so personal. I don’t see a movie in our future, maybe on the history of Insulin. What I do hope is that we come together, recognize our challenges and differences, and accept those differences.
I think showing one side of this is what caused the largest reaction. When one looks at a film, any film, they see it as an entity. Film usually does not say to us…..continue the story. The first lesson in film making is show a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Viewers are trained in that from a very early age. The life shown was only a section of her life, I hope; but when that ‘slice of life’ is seen as the entity in the film, the viewer is left to say ……’but’…..or ‘wait, what about….’
I think the majority of the frustration stems from not BEING SHOWN the other side of diabetes. Which the author has the right to do, or not do, as the writer chooses.
But once something is ‘out there’ the masses have a right to give their opinion as well. Why was The Godfather brilliant and Waterworld a disaster? If one options their right to present a piece, the public has a right to their opinion. When the opinion is stated, the conversation, debate, counter-opinions begin. Like it. Hate it.
Trying to convince others to agree……is where the train derails………but that is in all areas not just here……don’t just YouTube a presidential debate……..but read the comments that follow. Been that way since time began.