I know I talked about this particular subject just recently in relation to Friendship, but it’s appeared a couple more times in new films I’ve recently watched, so I’m getting my metaphorical magnifying glass out to take a closer look at this weird trend. Spoilers ahead.
Cancer = Unhinged Mystical Powers (Weapons)
I suppose the c word is never explicitly mentioned, but I feel like it’s strongly hinted at. The general plot hinges around Julie Garner’s primary school teacher, who becomes the hounded scapegoat after all her class go missing apart from one boy. As the film progresses, it is revealed that this one boy is acting under the malicious intent of his aunt, who has possessed the boy’s parents and threatens to hurt him if he tells anyone. The aunt is clearly giving weird vibes upon entering the house, wearing a garish wig alongside similarly garish makeup.
The boy finds the aunt in a weird occult room at one point, where her bald head is exposed and she frequently tells him she’s sick. So…probably cancer? The whole bald-haired woman = evil hag thing’s a bit odd. I mean, not odd in that that’s been a fairly common witch symbolism for a decent while, but the strong linking of this image to cancer seems a lot more sus. Surely another visual cue could be employed. A burnt hand hidden behind a glove? A weird tattoo? I don’t know, those are beige examples, but resorting to the ‘ooh bald- haired cancer woman very bad’ schtick wasn’t doing wonders for me. A good film overall though.
Cancer = Lame plot device (The Life of Chuck)
As soon as I saw that quote declaring this to be a 21st century It’s a Wonderful Life, my suspicions were raised. Could this joint compare to my third favourite Christmas film of all time? It’s not set around Christmas, that’s for sure. I’ve also seen it described as life affirming film. I didn’t get much of that vibe, either. Another thing I’ve heard is that it’s received pretty Marmite reactions as well. Funnily enough, I didn’t particularly enjoy the film. I’ve got no particular bones to pick with Tom Hiddleston, I just thought the film was a bit disingenuous. A big word right there, for sure. But that plot device of going backwards in the main character’s life wasn’t as effective as the structure liked to think it was. Particularly when the last act’s so weak.
But it does have time to fast forward to Hiddleston in a cancer hat. And when it’s mentioned that the particular cancer that’s killing him is a brain tumour, I had a disappointed internal sigh. And when it mentions the character’s ‘disintegrating mind’, another level of disappointment was reached. It’s not that brain tumours can’t lead to symptoms of dementia in some cases. They can. But it’s just a bit lazy to slot it right in that final section as a kind of afterthought. The film doesn’t do much to make me attached to the character, and this specific cancer reveal just feels like a copout. This joint didn’t move me all that much, and it’s sure as heck not comparable to It’s a Wonderful Life.
Cancer = Mad Big Head Killer (Alice in Wonderland)
The above two films were the two films I really wanted to focus on since they both came out in a similar period this year, but it’s worth taking a trip down memory lane to quickly mention a film I’ve already mentioned a fair bit in posts like this.
So the White Queen is having a chilled moment with Alice. She then tries to apologise for her sister, pointing to her head and mentioning a lump as if to say that the reason her head is so large, and the reason she’s crazy above cutting off people’s heads all the time is because…brain tumour. This particular cancer is known to have a variety of negative effects, but one of those isn’t making your head absolutely huge. No dice. I guess there’s evidence for brain tumours causing mood swings, but probably not to the extent of becoming genocidal. Anyway, this film generally stinks, so…would not recommend.
Cancer = Genius Serial Killer (Saw)
Similar links to the above film with the mad genocidal thing, but this joint also introduces the idea that the dude with the cancer is also a super intelligent genius serial killer. It’s not implied that the intelligence is caused by cancer, but John Kramer’s diagnosis does prompt him to make some…morally dubious decisions with his remaining years. Like Alice, I’ve talked about this one a lot already, so I’ll just leave this here.
But I’ll also link the various other articles in which I’ve discussed inclusions of this disease in posts below, in case you’re interested. And if you’re not interested, that’s cool too. (◠‿◠✿)