Film and Diabetes

Alright, so I'm sitting on my Wal-Mart futon (don't pretend like you guys don't know exactly what I'm talking about), and I'm watching Law and Order: SVU - the best kind of Law and Order. There is a lady on the show who is not only paralyzed from the waist down, but a diabetic. For some reason, even with full use of her arms, the lady is unable to give herself insulin shots. She is (apparently) unable to administer the shots herself, and relies totally upon her husband to give them to her. As it turns out her husband is being framed, someone is trying to get rid of him. If the husband goes down, then the paralyzed diabetic won't be able to take care of herself and she too will surely perish. I honestly don't understand it; a grown woman can't take care of her own diabetes? At least at the halfway point of the show that's how it's shaking down.

This sort of logic in film really pisses me off. It's as if no one in Hollywood has a clue about diabetes. Does no one in LA LA land have it? Doesn't Halle Berry? Kevin Klein's son? I mean most of the residents probably only eat about 50 grams of carbs a day, so iI can understand if Paris Hilton doesn't know too much about it...

But think about it. The first movie I can remember watching with erroneous diabetes facts after my diagnosis was Con Air. Yeah, you know it. Nick Cage. His hands are registered weapons. He kills someone while defending his wife but still goes to prison. He's about to be released from prison, but has to get aboard a plane with a whole bunch of nasty boys who are just being moved to the maximum security Louisiana prison. Among them is a diabetic, who's insulin breaks on the chaotic plane ride. Within 12 hrs, the diabetic is about to go comatose because his blood sugar is way too high - even though they've only had one on board meal.

And then there was Panic Room. You know this one, too. Jodi Foster. Gets a house with a panic room so that in case of an emergency her daughter would be safe. Bad guys come after the house....

Hold on, the lady on SVU now needs her insulin, just a shot, but she was about to pass out because she wasn't going to get her one shot. I mean...come on... That is really really really bad control....

OK, Jodi Foster and bad guys. Well, Jodi Foster's daughter has diabetes and when the bad guys come, they forget her insulin and glucagon shot. The daughter's BS level starts to drop and she is about to go into a seizure, but Jodi Foster talks, yes talks, her out of it. Now to be honest I'm not completely unsure of the fact that you can talk someone out of a low insulin reaction. But really. The girl was in it, man. She was seizing already.

But despite that, the diabetes portrayal wasn't the worst part of the film. No, that would have to go to Jared Leto's cornrows.

The way that diabetics are portrayed in movies and television is honestly, ridiculous.

Case in point, the lady on SVU just seized during trial. She was not sweating, she was not acting bizarre at all. There was no sign of her going too low. She was actually taking notes on the trial, and whamo...she's on the floor.

Let's get on the ball Hollywood. Come on Halle Berry, get the writer's (if they ever come back) to get it right.

And by the way, diabeteshappens. Writer's strikes shouldn't. Give them their money, and let's get Brothers and Sisters back on the boob tube.