Cancer Gets an Emmy?
The Emmy nominations are out and can you imagine, “The Big C” a cable show starring Laura Linney as a woman diagnosed with terminal cancer was nominated. Actually, it was Linney who was nominated for her role on the show. It’s a comedy.
The TV academy voters are usually pretty tame when it comes to their picks for the little statue. But, nominating “The Big C” main character changes all of that.
I have watched this show. It’s not easy for me sit on the couch and see how the writers have created a comedic theme around cancer. I wonder sometimes, after a particular scene that isn’t funny, but hits home with anyone who has lived in cancer world, just how the audience ‘out there’ in TV-land is handling this show?
Maybe I’m just too close to the subject. I admit it, I usually don’t find much to laugh about when it comes to cancer.
But this could be a good thing, this nomination. Laura Linney’s professional star hangs high in Hollywood and she’s bringing attention to a disease that can only benefit from the spotlight.
So when the red carpet is rolled out in a few weeks and all the television cameras find Laura Linney, dressed in fashion couture, looking like anything but a cancer patient, wish her the best. Hope that her name is called and the statue lands in her hands.
Cancer, getting an Emmy, would mark the first time, it would be connected to anything that’s good.
July 21, 2011 @ 2:07 am
Maybe they are trying to lighten up people’s view on the disease, but yeah I know it’s not an excuse. I have lost a number of people to cancer myself, and I agree that it is no laughing matter and not something that should be taken lightly.
July 18, 2011 @ 6:49 pm
I just saw a 15 second video that won 1st Place at Cannes. Go to Google. Type in Video that won 1st place at cannes. The choices will pop up. Watch it. It will touch your heart. If you’ve ever wished to see what love looks like in the cancer world. Watch. Only 15 seconds. Wish I could figure out how to post the link.
July 18, 2011 @ 11:37 am
While I don’t subscribe to this cable network, I think that a sense of humor is important when facing any challenge, including cancer. Remember Norman Cousins? He claimed that laughter could actually have healing properties.
July 18, 2011 @ 8:39 am
I have not watched it. But I did see a movie for TV with Emma Thompson (I believe) whose journey with cancer was chronicled very realistically. It was a glimpse into the life of a cancer patient but only a glimpse.
There can be some humorous moments in the cancer world but often they come into view with hindsight. One of mine……I was lying on a gurney, hooked to IV lines all prepped for surgery to remove a melanoma and also do a sentinel node biopsy. The surgeon who had been brought in to do the sentinel node biopsy (he and I had never met so he had no idea where the melanoma was located) came in and introduced himself, took a look at the marks on my face which outlined where the sentinel nodes were located and then proceeded to tell everyone there including the plastic surgeon that he was not trained to do surgery on faces especially involving so many nerves. Well the silence was overwhelming. The docs conferenced. I was unhooked from my IV and told to go home and come back in 3 days and another doctor would do the sentinel node biopsy. Upon reflection…..it was a humorous situation but at the time, there was no humor in the room.
July 15, 2011 @ 9:07 pm
I’ve watched “The Big C.”
Initially, when my friends were talking about the show, I felt like I wouldn’t like it, couldn’t like it. My youngest daughter and I watched it together, both of us reluctant and feeling that the show would open those emotional wounds. My youngest lost a good friend to cancer (a 14 year old who had just graduated 8th grade- she, my daughter’s friend, would have graduated from high school this year) and I was diagnosed less than 6 months after this painful loss. It took a few viewings for me to enjoy the show. Although cancer is there in every scene, there are also the friends who helped along the way. The family members who just don’t know what to do, though trying their best to do what ever is needed, and wanting to take all the pain away. I haven’t watched it too much lately, though my daughter has. In fact, she has become a regular viewer. Perhaps in some ways “The Big C” has helped her with her emotional journey.