Wednesday, May 10, 2006

We put the RAD in ERADICATE

If you love literature, John Donne, academia, scholars, or just people who like to talk to themselves, "Wit" is a movie I'd like to recommend to you. In it, Emma Thompson, a long-time English professor, finds that she has metastatic ovarian cancer, and is convinced by her doctor to partake in an 8 month chemo regimen, in which, she is told, she will have to be "very tough." Later, she finds out she is the only patient to ever survive the full 8 months at the maximum dose, and that she is indeed very tough. Her resilience was inspiring, to say the least, and I loved the hard-headed nature of the character, who threw in a lot of comedy about medical staff that was also concise and accurate. Eventually, the chemo is essentially and sadly her demise, but (of course) there is that moment in between when she begins to realize what the lesson in all of this was, and it's one we could all take note of. Not a movie you'll necessary cry all the way through, but not a happy ending, either, Wit is the best portrayal of a 45 day stay in the hospital that I've ever seen ("How can the moments last so long and at the same time slip so quickly by?"), and it struck me several times that the writer must've gone through chemo at some point, because you can only write a chemo fever like that if you've experienced it yourself. I also loved the message of what a huge difference a good nurse makes in the midst of treatment. Anyway, this movie comes highly recommended from not only me, but Planet Cancer.com, and offers a truthful, satisfying ending you probably won't see in the Queen Latifah edition of this film. Just remember, it's not for the faint of heart or the hopeless cheesy romantic, and that the "storybook" ending isn't alltogether a happy one, but the realization of the importance of the simple pleasures in life is. Hope you enjoy!

-Miss M

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am going to watch it and I bet that I cry the whole way through -

I wanna understand what you have been talking about. Love you
mange over and out

i2y

I'm Too Young For This!