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Soaps and terminal illnesses


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Old 18-05-2016, 12:32
StevieR
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What is it with soaps and terminal illnesses? When a character gets a terminal illness, usually cancer, they go down the euthanasia/suicide route.

Peggy ee
Hayley CS
Either ee
Steph Ho
Jackson ed

I'm sure there Are many more

My Aunty died of cancer almost 16 years ago, she was diagnosed as terminal in September 1999 and died 5 weeks later but she really faught hard in that past month. Euthanasia/suicide was never mentioned by her.

Why do he soaps automatically play the euthanasia card? There have only been a few instances where the character has actually died of their illness. Madge from Neightbours and Pat Ee spring to mind.

Even when they have life changing illnesses like Mark EE and Val Ed, they are killed off in accidents rather than playing out the illness to the end.

Is it because ithe scenes could be too distressing for viewers? I get annoyed when the euthanasia card gets played
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Old 18-05-2016, 12:42
Aurora13
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EE did do a realistic cancer death with Stan Carter last year. What you need though to a top notch actor to pull it off. Mind you all folks did was moan!
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Old 18-05-2016, 12:43
davejc64
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Real issue box ticking exercises.
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Old 18-05-2016, 12:55
weeliz
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What about Alma in Corrie? A really powerful, tear-jerking performance by Amanda Barrie and everyone else in that final scene. I was in bits.
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Old 18-05-2016, 13:13
Oldnjaded
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Soaps feel obliged to do sls about terminal illness, partly because they're a part of everyday life, partly if an actor wants to leave or they want to axe them, and partly for the 'drama' of a death in soap.

Clearly there is nothing remotely 'entertaining' for viewers in watching a character die a long, drawn out and - even at best - very physically uncomfortable death. Far too many of us have seen a loved one die that way irl. A Soap's only aim is to draw in viewers with entertaining and dramatic stories, so with a few notable exceptions, (eg the brilliant John Middleton as Ashley in ED), soaps want to get terminal illness sls out of the way as soon as possible and move on.
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Old 18-05-2016, 13:15
starry_rune
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If they made it too realistic, we'd have months of characters deteriorating, and it doesn't make good TV. They never show people going to the toilet, and people like Ashley, Mike Baldwin and Doug Willis who had dementia generally die within 2 years of diagnosis.
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Old 18-05-2016, 13:22
kitkat1971
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EE did do a realistic cancer death with Stan Carter last year. What you need though to a top notch actor to pull it off. Mind you all folks did was moan!
Yes, but even then they had Stan asking for his family to help him die and just this week, Shirley saying that they were wrong not to have helped him.

I do agree with the OP that Soaps do increasingly seem to be pushing the pro assisted suicide line, emphasizing how awful natural death can be at the end whilst not really going into the help that is available re Paliative Care. Also, there seems to be this suggestion, that taking matters into your own hands is a brave, strong and kind thing to do as you are not allowing Cancer to dictate your end and sparing your family seeing you suffer and leaving an abiding memory of a 'shell'.

So, following that through, does that make people that don't want to speed the process up weak as they are letting Cancer win or cruel to their family who have to Care for them in their final days/weeks?

As somebody that has nursed relatives through Cancer to their deaths, i find that idea, that my loved one was weak or i let them down by not helping them to die rather offensive and upsetting.

I'm not Against Assisted suicide by the way, i think it should be legalised, it is right for some people in some circumstances. But i do think the for and against arguments should be presented a little more equally that they seem to be on Soaps over the last few years.
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Old 18-05-2016, 13:25
davejc64
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They do all seem to be promoting the idea that people with terminal illnesses should consider suicide so as not be a burden on their family and the system.
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Old 18-05-2016, 13:55
StevieR
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Very few cancer storylines feature Macmillan style nurses or hospices. I know it's not nice to watch a character deteriorate so why not have them die off screen in hospice care rather than always choosing the assisted suicide route? It would be more realistic.

Using care nurses like Macmillan would showcase what an amazing job they do.
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Old 18-05-2016, 14:14
kitkat1971
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Very few cancer storylines feature Macmillan style nurses or hospices. I know it's not nice to watch a character deteriorate so why not have them die off screen in hospice care rather than always choosing the assisted suicide route? It would be more realistic.

Using care nurses like Macmillan would showcase what an amazing job they do.
I agree.

MacMillan Nurses were a godsend when my Grandfather died as we had him with us in the House from the moment he was diagnosed - barring a couple of weeks of Hospital stay at the start and one weeks respite Hospice care.

I lost an Aunt to pancreatic Cancer 2 months ago and she was in a Hospice.

I'm not saying that death is ever pretty and of course some people go through agony (both the person dying and their family) but there is help out there and it should be shown in Soaps rather than the rather scare mongreing image they present if thing are allowed to take their natural course.

Also, without being gruesome, an overdose is often not pretty either i what about vomiting and being able to get to the toilet so the person chokes? Or if they don't manage to take enough so land up in Hospital in even more pain with their liver and kidneys failing as well as the initial terminal illness and the medics unable to do very little to ease their pain?

That is never shown is it, like last night it is very much presented as being a beautiful and calm process where the person makes themselves look their best and will just slip away, being found looking serene the next morning.
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Old 18-05-2016, 14:30
little-monster
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What is it with soaps and terminal illnesses? When a character gets a terminal illness, usually cancer, they go down the euthanasia/suicide route.

Peggy ee
Hayley CS
Either ee
Steph Ho
Jackson ed

I'm sure there Are many more

My Aunty died of cancer almost 16 years ago, she was diagnosed as terminal in September 1999 and died 5 weeks later but she really faught hard in that past month. Euthanasia/suicide was never mentioned by her.

Why do he soaps automatically play the euthanasia card? There have only been a few instances where the character has actually died of their illness. Madge from Neightbours and Pat Ee spring to mind.

Even when they have life changing illnesses like Mark EE and Val Ed, they are killed off in accidents rather than playing out the illness to the end.

Is it because ithe scenes could be too distressing for viewers? I get annoyed when the euthanasia card gets played
BIB 1 - wasn't a terminal illness. Jackson could of quite easily of still lived his life. Others have in his situation

BIB 2 Mark never died in an accident. He died of his illness. And the main reason why Val did not die of her illness was because Kate Oates felt that was a cop out and felt it gave people the impression that everyone who has AIDS will die from it, which isn't how it is anymore.
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