This past week a friend of mine came to visit and brought a DVD to help pass the time.  She had picked a comedy and was all ready to while away a few hours.  Of course, it was only a few minutes into the movie until one of the main characters was hugging the toilet from chemotherapy and my friend was appalled that she had brought something like this back into my home. Me? The Bucket List had made me uncomfortable for a few minutes, sure. One, no one likes to be reminded of hospital visits where they, too, were hugging hospital toilets. Two, I couldn’t dream of a hospital visit lasting so long that you could plan a Bucket List and three, I couldn’t imagine beginning to feel well enough to even consider one.  Mostly, I was struck by how movies treated illness and my friend’s reaction.

The Bucket List was the first motion picture I could remember where illness didn’t look “pretty”.  Even in Terms of Endearment where Aurora went running around the Nursing Station (and I still to this day tell my own mom they have to be related), poor Emma got a few dark circles under her eyes before she kicked her own bucket. Why do they insist that being ill isn’t a part of life when statistics show that over 35% of all Americans have some form of a chronic illness? Life isn’t always beautiful contrary to what Roberto Benigni says and neither is illness. When The Bucket List took it on directly, my friend flinched- even in a comedy. I think there is the answer.

ChronicChick

Tags: Chronic Illness, The Bucket List

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