An Open Letter to Hollywood on the ‘Sick Kid’ Narrative:
Be chronically ill as a teenager or young adult is not The Fault In Our Stars or Everything, Everything or any other cinematic variation of that narrative. Being sick as a teenager is not romantic. It’s not poetic. It’s doesn’t lead to pretentious relationships and lavish vacations. It doesn’t lead to quirky friends and fun outings. It isn’t a beautifully tragic plot device.
It’s watching people you used to be friends with move on without you. Learning to drive without you. Graduating high school without you. Going to college without you. Dating without you. It’s growing up and, the moment you have some independence, losing it.
It’s having months and months of overdue school work. It’s having to pick between a passing grade and a flare up, or failing the class but maybe having some stability.
It’s watching missed milestones pass you by. Watching your life pass you by.
It’s a constant fear of the future. “Will I get sicker? Will I ever be able to work?”
It’s never going to homecoming or prom. It’s not walking at graduation - either because you didn’t graduate or you can’t walk. Or both.
It’s not chewing unlit cigarettes for the ~metaphor~, it’s going through Morphine withdrawal at 15 and taking the SATs with a drug-clouded brain. Hell, it’s watching people you know smoke pot on rooftops while you lay in bed high on Triptans and Tramadol.
It’s not a John Green novel. There isn’t any glory in being a sick kid. There’s no scamming Make-A-Wish and sexy lovers. There’s no empathy from teachers or even from parents.
There is something innately alienating about only seeing your experiences portrayed in an unrealistic, romanticized light, especially at that age.
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