Hollywood's Weird Relationship with Cancer

I didn't have much to say about my cancer in this non-infusion week until I sat down to pay bills, turned the TV on for some background noise and caught the last half hour of About Time. It's a very sweet movie, if totally mismarketed as a romantic comedy (see photo at right). Just my opinion, but it struck me that boy's primary relationship in the movie isn't girl, but Dad. And since it's been more than a year since the movie came out, I'm allowed to say here (ok, fine -- spoiler alert) that Dad, of course, winds up dying of cancer. 

This started me wondering about movies where cancer features prominently. The Internet Movie Database identifies 1,269 titles with a keyword of "cancer," and 56 that match "terminal cancer." 

Granted, the IMBD rankings are based on the “MOVIEmeter” (basically, popularity), but any guesses what tops the lists?

Here are the first five films that come up for the keyword “cancer”:

Guardians of the Galaxy -- Apparently nothing speaks to cancer more than a talking space raccoon with a machine gun.

The Fault in Our Stars -- Clearly a film about cancer, though not a film for me about cancer. But score one for Hollywood and the IMDB rankings.

Good Will Hunting -- Fair to say this one makes the list as a result of Robin Williams’s recent death, and it’s admittedly been awhile since I’ve seen it, but I’m not seeing the connection here. A modicum of motivational back story doesn’t really make cancer a key subject of a movie as far as I’m concerned.

God’s Not Dead -- Despite the presence of Kevin Sorbo, this has more in common with A Thief in the Night* than Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In my opinion, this disqualifies it from further consideration (my blog, my rules).

Fight Club –- Yes, there’s a cancer survivors’ group in the film, but since none of the characters (as I recall) actually have cancer, I’m discounting this one too.  

Let’s see if we do any better with “terminal cancer”:

3 Days to Kill -- Non-specific cancer as motivation for killing lots of Europeans. Uh, no.**  

White House Down -- Non-specific cancer as motivation for starting World War III. Again, no.

Big Fish -- Yeah, a character’s potential death from cancer figures in the film, but since the bulk of the film is basically flashbacks to that character’s life, s/he could be dying from food poisoning for all it matters. 

50/50 -- Finally, a film -- and a pretty great film -- about cancer. Funny, poignant, and actually somewhat educational about dealing with cancer. Score two for Hollywood.

Biutiful -- I’ll concede the point on this one as I haven’t seen the film, and don’t have time to research it. Score three for Hollywood.

So three out of ten movies for which cancer is considered a keyword are actually about cancer in any sort of meaningful way. For the rest, "cancer" is just an ostensibly powerful motivating force. Kill Europeans, because cancer. Motivate graduate students, because cancer. Save the galaxy, because cancer. It’s actually kind of stupid.***

I have cancer, and I can’t say I’m finding it powerfully motivating at all. And it certainly doesn’t make me want to kill any Europeans.

* If you’re younger than thirty or older than fifty, or weren’t raised evangelical, Google it. The 30-50 crowd who were raised evangelical have probably seen it -- and no doubt remember the guillotine.

** Spoiler alert: Especially since the non-specific cancer is miraculously cured.

*** Not to mention, at this point kind of boring. You’d think some Hollywood writer would at least peek into a medical dictionary and choose something novel like hemorrhagic fever to motivate their characters.