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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Asthma / August 2003sitcoms featuring jokes on asthma sufferers
Hi there, i was maddened today while watching tv and couldnt sit around without doing something about it. I was watching "the Parkers show" a TV comedy. the program was dealing with college fraternity groups. One person who was being enrolled was using an inhaler. Apart from many crude jokes about how weak he was and that he would not make the team...every time he used the inhaler the background audience laughing sound would be played. What is so funny about this? this person suffers from asthma not from his fault. instead of doing one show with a moral about teaching (esp children) viewers to tolerate others who are different -this show teaches that making fun of them is ok. Another show which i remember did the same recently was "In the House". there was a show about a cruise where a guy was making a pass on a female lead character. he was muscular and very macho and held her interest till suddenly he required to take out his inhaler to take a puff. the audience laughter sound again. I am trying to find the email addresses/website of the producers to show them my dissapointment. If you know them pls let me know... Thanks for listening to my rant, Sam > Hi there, i was maddened today while watching tv and couldnt sit > around without doing something about it. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > Thanks for listening to my rant, > Sam It's the same as seeing Miss Swann on Mad TV and being of Asian descent. It's supposed to be under the guise of humor so it's okay to be discriminatory. Tasteless but it sells and gets the ratings. No matter what we do, there will always be something that offends somebody. We can't avoid it--everything cannot be Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood--which by the way has also been called racist. I've seen puffers used as a gimmick to show anxiety in bad actors. I forget which movie but in it, the boy takes a huge, incorrectly administered puff of his Optihaler everytime he sees something that scares him--which of course is entirely ignorant of the fact that asthma is almost always caused by allergies. I think it was "Honey I Shrunk the Kids". I would see the body builder taking a puff as a positive image. Usually asthmatics are seen as skinny nerds who are overly sensitive, dependent and weak.  SignatureVivian http://www.20six.co.uk/maroo "Mommy to Honey, Maroo, Boma and Poochi" "All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it." - Samuel Butler If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a researcher I know in the U.K. reviewing the influence of media on asthma care. I seem to remember the use of a salbutamol puffer in Billy Elliott. Others examples would be great to hear of. Thank you. Jon > If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by > one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Jon There was a film with Nicholas Cage acting where one of the characters was asthmatic but, unhelpfully, I can't remember the title. Might jog someone else's memory? Mia >> If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by >> one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > asthmatic but, unhelpfully, I can't remember the title. Might jog someone > else's memory? On the Fox television show "Malcolm in the Middle," Malcolm's best friend Stevie uses an inhaler constantly, as does his father. Stevie also wheezes nonstop, and never had enough air to breathe a full sentence. For some reason this is considered funny. Kathy >>>If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by >>>one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > nonstop, and never had enough air to breathe a full sentence. For some > reason this is considered funny. The serious thriller "Experiment in Terror" featured Ross Martin as an asthmatic villain. IIRC, he wakes up wheezing one morning and has to reach for some kind of puffer, but I think they didn't show it on camera. SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. > > If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by > > one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Mia The film was "Kiss of Death" and he portrayed the character (a nasty mob guy) with asthma. >> There was a film with Nicholas Cage acting where one of the characters was >> asthmatic but, unhelpfully, I can't remember the title. Might jog someone [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >The film was "Kiss of Death" and he portrayed the character (a nasty mob >guy) with asthma. Little Junior was probably a breath-holder when he was a kid... "Kiss of Death" is rated R for considerable violence, profanity, vulgarity, nudity, drugs. > >The film was "Kiss of Death" and he portrayed the character (a nasty mob > >guy) with asthma. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > "Kiss of Death" is rated R for considerable violence, profanity, > vulgarity, nudity, drugs. Was that R for for asthma drugs? :-) Mia >> >The film was "Kiss of Death" and he portrayed the character (a nasty mob >> >guy) with asthma. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Mia Yeah, he used a really weird looking inhaler... > >> There was a film with Nicholas Cage acting where one of the characters was > >> asthmatic but, unhelpfully, I can't remember the title. Might jog someone [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > "Kiss of Death" is rated R for considerable violence, profanity, > vulgarity, nudity, drugs. Of course, by "drugs" you are referring to Albuterol... In the Goonies one of the kids use what looks like a Primatene mist inhaler. terri > If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by > one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Jon > If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by > one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a > researcher I know in the U.K. reviewing the influence of media on > asthma care. The comedy farce "Hot Shots Part Deux" made fun of inhalers. There was a duel between Saddam Hussein and Benson (a takeoff on the light-saber duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi). Saddam tries to say the line "Your powers are...." but he's choking up and has to use his inhaler so he can then say the line "Your powers are weak, old man!" and finish the duel. SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. In Stephen King's "IT", director Tommy Lee Wallace, one of the 4 boys uses his inhaler continously as they get closer to the evil presence. > If anyone can remember famous films where an inhaler has been used by > one of the characters, then email me or post details, as there is a [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Jon > Hi there, i was maddened today while watching tv and couldnt sit > around without doing something about it. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > viewers to tolerate others who are different -this show teaches that > making fun of them is ok. But you don't want to fall into the trap of being condescending either. Too often these days movies and TV are afraid to portray the disabled as anything other than nice guys--that is beyond "tolerance," and has reached condescension. I loved the thriller movie "Experiment in Terror" because the asthmatic was the evil villain. He stalked his victim, making frightening phone calls to her, wheezing as he uttered his threats. SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. |
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