Diabetes+Hollywood=Bad Combination

I know you've heard about Halle Berry's confusion over her own diabetic diagnosis. And thinking about that led me to thinking about how basically everything in Hollywood is unreflective of real life. We all know that Hollywood tends to get a lot of technical details wrong in the movies. And I think it's true that people tend to be most upset at times when the movies get something wrong that we personally know about. Just ask my husband the meteorologist about the "weather facts" in Twister and watch the sparks fly.

So here are some of my thoughts on some of Hollywood's portrayals of diabetes:

1. I was watching reruns of One Tree Hill recently...(did I just admit that? Online? Where the whole world can see? Ouch.) ...And during the school-shooting episode, there's a girl who supposedly has diabetes. Within an hour, she goes from just fine to looking like death, and one of the main characters says, "Oh my gosh, you're diabetic. Where's your insulin?" to which she replies that it's in her locker...

I find this irritating because it seems like people always think that when a diabetic is feeling bad, they must need insulin. ESPECIALLY when there is an emergency that comes up quickly, like within an hour, it's usually LOW blood sugar, not high. Just to be clear, when I have low blood sugar, if you gave me an insulin shot, it would probably kill me.

But people always think they know how to treat diabetics. Do persons with other diseases get preached at the same way diabetics do? Like when I had a friend who chronically drank to get drunk who said that she saw me having a cocktail at dinner and was concerned about me, since everyone knows diabetics aren't supposed to have alcohol. Huh?

Or the famous stranger-in-the-restaurant or friend-of-a-friend who learns you're diabetic and then yells at you that YOU SHOULD NOT EAT THAT CAKE IT WILL KILL YOU NOW. These types of situations are tough. Which brings me to my next movie moment:

2. Steel Magnolias. I only saw this once, and I don't even remember if there are any blaring inaccuracies like treating hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) with insulin, but I do know that this has struck fear into the hearts of everyone who saw it and who learned that I was pregnant in 2005. That just isn't good. I get that Hollywood isn't supposed to be realistic, really, but it sticks in people's minds because it's the only example of a diabetic pregnancy that they've ever heard of. And it's a bad one, not only because of how things turn out for, what was her name? Shelly? But because it is NOT something that is likely to happen, especially to someone in good control with NO complications...like me! But speaking of treating hypos...

3. Did you ever see Panic Room? This is a somewhat small detail in the movie but it strikes me as the most ridiculous diabetes error I can think of: The mom and daughter are stuck in the panic room in their house, burglars trying to get them or whatever, and the daughter is having a low...and they freak out because there isn't any food in the room...only ketchup. ONLY KETCHUP? OH NO! You know, if I ever had to be stuck in a room with only one edible substance during a hypo, BRING ON THE KETCHUP! That stuff has a super-high sugar content, which is exactly what is needed during a hypo...forget what you heard from that guy who told you I can't eat cake.

So yeah, I know these are only a couple examples, and I know Hollywood isn't necessarily supposed to reflect reality, but...come one! I could go on, but I'm aware of my tendency to be long-winded, so I'll spare you. Also? I'm still a bit tired, so I'm trying to go to bed soon. But I probably won't, because Iron Chef America is on tonight. Allez cuisine!

See you tomorrow~