I know I talked about this particular subject just recently in relation to Friendship, but it\u2019s appeared a couple more times in new films I\u2019ve recently watched, so I\u2019m getting my metaphorical magnifying glass out to take a closer look at this weird trend. Spoilers ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Cancer = Unhinged Mystical Powers (Weapons)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose the c word is never explicitly mentioned, but I feel like it\u2019s strongly hinted at. The general plot hinges around Julie Garner\u2019s 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\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s sick. So…probably cancer? The whole bald-haired woman = evil hag thing\u2019s a bit odd. I mean, not odd in that that\u2019s 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\u2019t know, those are beige examples, but resorting to the \u2018ooh bald- haired cancer woman very bad\u2019 schtick wasn\u2019t doing wonders for me. A good film overall though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cancer = Lame plot device (The Life of Chuck)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as I saw that quote declaring this to be a 21st<\/sup> century It\u2019s a Wonderful Life, my suspicions were raised. Could this joint compare to my third favourite Christmas film of all time? It\u2019s not set around Christmas, that\u2019s for sure. I\u2019ve also seen it described as life affirming film. I didn\u2019t get much of that vibe, either. Another thing I\u2019ve heard is that it\u2019s received pretty Marmite reactions as well. Funnily enough, I didn\u2019t particularly enjoy the film. I\u2019ve 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\u2019s life wasn\u2019t as effective as the structure liked to think it was. Particularly when the last act\u2019s so weak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But it does have time to fast forward to Hiddleston in a cancer hat. And when it\u2019s mentioned that the particular cancer that\u2019s killing him is a brain tumour, I had a disappointed internal sigh. And when it mentions the character\u2019s \u2018disintegrating mind\u2019, another level of disappointment was reached. It\u2019s not that brain tumours can\u2019t lead to symptoms of dementia in some cases. They can. But it\u2019s just a bit lazy to slot it right in that final section as a kind of afterthought. The film doesn\u2019t do much to make me attached to the character, and this specific cancer reveal just feels like a copout. This joint didn\u2019t move me all that much, and it\u2019s sure as heck not comparable to It\u2019s a Wonderful Life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cancer = Mad Big Head Killer (Alice in Wonderland)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s worth taking a trip down memory lane to quickly mention a film I\u2019ve already mentioned a fair bit in posts like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s crazy above cutting off people\u2019s 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\u2019t making your head absolutely huge. No dice. I guess there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cancer = Genius Serial Killer (Saw)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s not implied that the intelligence is caused by cancer, but John Kramer\u2019s diagnosis does prompt him to make some…morally dubious decisions with his remaining years. Like Alice, I\u2019ve talked about this one a lot already, so I\u2019ll just leave this here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I\u2019ll also link the various other articles in which I\u2019ve discussed inclusions of this disease in posts below, in case you\u2019re interested. And if you\u2019re not interested, that\u2019s cool too. (\u25e0\u203f\u25e0\u273f)<\/p>\n\n\n\n