Commercials are everywhere, there is no complete escape. It seems that no matter where we go anymore, we cannot break away from the media’s foot hold on our society. Everywhere we look and anywhere we go there is advertising. Yet, what gets to me are the sad commercials thrown into my happy outings at seemingly non relevant events.
What brought this to my mind was a you tube link someone had posted on face book. The link included their personal message, “Please watch and support. My heart goes out.” While sweet, posting a video on face book doesn’t have the same sympathetic strings to pull. Usually because after, let’s call her Kelly, posts this touching video, her status changes to something like, “Kelly can’t wait to get so F’ed up tonight with her girls!!! Woooo!”
The video was about childhood cancer. It was beautiful, but sadly when left in this type of forum, one is left to wonder what the damage is we do by pronouncing our causes so freely in a media centric world. Is it no longer tailored to get the exact effect from the exact audience we want? Is it no longer important to tailor it?
The video jogged my memory back to a few months ago when I sat at the Rays stadium in St. Petersburg Florida, watching the baseball game from an eatery in the stadium. There I was, sitting with a friend and their family who didn’t know me very well, and between the game feed on the televisions came a commercial about childhood cancer. Now, I don’t mind these commercials, they air for good reasons. But what is uncomfortable is being one of those children and then having to sit there and listen to the reactions that come with the commercial.
The standard, “Oh that’s so sad, those poor children.”
The less likely shocker, “Oh well why do we need to help them anyways, there is a lot of bad things in this world.”
The vacant, “That kid looks weird.”
The joker who chooses to play along, “Look! I’m bald! I must have cancer, too.”
Now it may sound like these are made up responses, but I have heard them all, and I have heard worse. Sometimes, I’m not sure if it’s the sympathetic response or the comedic response which hits harder. To introduce myself now as a survivor would no more benefit me then it would cause a very awkward silence. So I look down, and close my mouth. There are sometimes piercing glares. But past that, saying something no more helps me then it would other children. All I can hope to do is cause change by example.
But I have to remember that my world is its own, and if you have never visited it, you probably couldn’t find it on the map. So for your viewing pleasure I have attached a video. If you comment, I ask you to tell me your first true reaction, and if it’s negative then look back on what your judgment is. Because all I sum it up to say, is that cancer is a fight and that makes me a warrior. Not a survivor, a warrior. Therefore, maybe it is a strength not a weakness. When you watch these commercials, instead of seeing patients and victims, see warriors.
First URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJXhhx_ksS4
Second URL:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTKyo-8TuyA
Third URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClgY6q4Ome0
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My wife and I have a bit different perspective, since we are parents and our daughter is fighting the fight. But, especially before she got to her prosthesis, we had similar experiences.
ReplyDeleteI remember one particular incident: we were in a grocery store. We passed two women with kids who gave Rowan that startled "how did her parents let that child lose her eye look?" and I heard one of them whisper something about irresponsible parents not watching their kids. Rather than ripping off her arm and beating her to death with it, I walked away. I win.
Cancer creates a club. You have either dealt with it, or you haven't. No video can capture the sublime pathos of the experience.
As one who walked along side a person whom had cancer, and watched others fight the little #@$#@& that dare to evade their body, I wonder if those on the outside looking in, who make stupid statements are masking their own fear.
ReplyDeleteI know some people who really are selfish and uncaring we cannot help them. However, there are others who deal with adversity differently and many times; it makes them appear foolish, insensitive and uncaring. May your blog be the media to reach the general population.
Keep smiling thanks for boldness
You're in one of the hardest lives I could imagine, and I am sure that my imagination falls short. I think that many people can't figure out how to really deal with this, so many people just don't.
ReplyDeleteThey choose not to try and understand or empathize, because they don't want to be disturbed. It's easier for them to make jokes, or have a brief moment of sympathy and then let it go without really trying to understand. I don't know to what extent I can blame them, because it's a really hard thing to deal with. As others have said, only those who have gone through the battle you're fighting can really ever fully understand.
My favorite high school teacher spent over two years fighting a malignant breast cancer. She survived, but she refused to quit teaching for a single day, until she had periods where she just couldn't make it. So we saw firsthand what she went through. I know it isn't the same thing, but my heart goes out to you.
You're young, strong, and confident. Keep fighting, and you CAN win. Know that there are people out here who try really hard to understand, and we support you.
Wow you have a great writing style. Every blog I've read is not only interesting, but easy to read and understand. While I cannot say that I know what you've been through; I have friends and family who do. My best friend is also a Warrior. Additionally, I believe that hardships only serve to make us stronger and more prepared for the difficulties of life.
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