Hollywood Stars and Cancer Fighters
Noah Jupe in Honey Boy (based on Shia LaBeouf’s life as a child star).
I used to prescribe to the ‘protective bubble approach’ while fighting cancer, sticking mainly to comedies and uplifting entertainment that would keep the mood light-hearted. I pictured a moat surrounding a castle and believed that if I only let in positive feelings, it would trigger my body to strengthen my immune system.
Then, as the days passed, I realized that despite my attempts at control, anxiety kept popping back up like one of those Whac-A-Mole machines.
I also got bored.
While home on medical leave, I’ve stopped meeting people and traveling to new places. A life full of structured regimens is efficient but also monotonous… I began craving stimulating ideas and worlds to explore; new information to expand my mind and feel like I’m actually LIVING, instead of always fighting to live. Fortunately, movies have helped me feel inspired and I’ve come around to embracing the idea that a few hours of darker, raw content, although tougher to sit through in the moment, can offer a payoff well worth the emotional price of admission.
This past weekend, for example, my sister and I watched Honey Boy, based on Shia LaBeouf’s childhood and turbulent relationship with his father. Sure, there were tense scenes but the movie really opened my eyes to the chaotic life of a child actor: growing up on film sets, the complicated dynamic of working with a parent, and the resulting PTSD that Otis (main character, based on Shia) suffered from this lifestyle.
Cancer aside, I’ve been lucky. I grew up in a terrific family environment. On the same weekend where my sister and I hung out and caught a movie, we also celebrated my parents’ 40th anniversary. And yet, despite receiving nothing but love and support growing up, I suffer from PTSD after health-related trauma.
We can put ourselves in all the right situations and still not have total control. In a few weeks, I have another round of scans and I’m as terrified as ever. I can barely discuss future plans because when I think too far ahead, it feels like running into an electric fence that shocks my system.
Traumatic events happen; you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. However, there are coping strategies. In Honey Boy, a therapist suggests that Otis venture into the forest and scream at the top of his lungs! Shia also wrote the movie’s script while in therapy since putting thoughts to paper can take away the sting.
The main thing is to keep letting it out. I wish protective bubbles and moats were perfect solutions but then I would’ve missed out on some of my recent favorite movies; films that share fresh insight and help us feel powerful connections right from the seat of our home or local theater. Most importantly, films that remind us that we all struggle with this crazy game of life.
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