The other evening while taking refuge from the early-November snowstorm in NYC, I watched Steel Magnolias (the 1989 Julia Roberts version, available on Netflix). I had heard the name of the play and film(s) in a usually positive context, but never heard the plot details of the story.
I was shocked, then, when it was revealed that Roberts’ character, Shelby, has type 1 diabetes. Quickly, my shock changed into confusion and diasspointment (and maybe a little anger, too). Shelby’s experience with Type 1 diabetes was not only completely different from my own, but completely different from the average woman’s experience with Type 1 diabetes.
[SPOILER ALERT] For those unfamiliar with the film, Shelby is a type 1 diabetic who, due in part to her disease, has very weak kidney function. She has been advised by her doctor not to have children, but wants a child so decides to have one anyway. The strain of pregnancy and childbirth puts her into kidney failure. Her mother donates a kidney, however, Shelby unfortunately rejects the donated kidney and dies at the end of the film.
The film is adopted from a play that the playwright based on the experience his sister faced, who died from a similar series of events. While I do not mean to discredit the authenticity of his personal tragedy, I found this depiction of Type 1 diabetes extremely frustrating. Like the few other movies that feature diabetes prominently, Steel Magnolias leaves “the impression that diabetes draws the people who suffer from it into an uncontrollable tailspin toward death.” It is important to note that death resulting from kidney failure is not by any means a likely outcome for a diabetic (even less so now than in 1989). It is also important to note that while all diabetic pregnancies are considered “high risk” this comes from a higher chance of complications such as miscarriages and birth defects. Diabetic women in general, however, are perfectly capable of having a safe pregnancy (and DO). Yet Steel Magnolias doesn’t draw clear lines of distinction between Shelby’s specific medical case of poor kidney function and the more general implications of diabetes for women who want to have children. With the exception of one scene, we never see Shelby’s struggle with the day-to-day realities of living with diabetes: checking her blood sugar, injecting insulin. Instead, we only see the dramatic, life-threatening and RARE complications that result from her diabetes.
The exception is a scene early on in the movie where Shelby has an incident of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). However, this event too, is overdramatized; while many elements of Shelby’s “low” are factually true and possible – it comes on quickly, leaves Shelby somewhat incoherent, and her mother treats it with orange juice – Roberts’ behavior as Shelby resembles an epileptic seizure more closely than someone with low blood sugar. This is not to say that this couldn’t happen (and I should note that diabetes do experience hypoglycemia differently to some extent), but again, this is an EXTREME example.
So what’s the big deal? Well, seeing these extreme examples in mainstream cinema perpetuates myths and stereotypes about diabetes. What we need is a mainstream movie with a diabetic character who just LIVES with the disease, like most of the millions of diabetics in this country do every day. My problems with Steel Magnolias were especially frustrating because I wanted to like this female-centered and female-driven story – a rarity in entertainment. But unfortunately, the depiction of diabetes just fell way too short.
Wow, I’ve heard of this movie so many times, but I never knew the plot went that way. Have you ever seen Panic Room? One of the characters is diabetic and almost dies because she can’t take her insulin. I’m guessing that the plot of that one is equally unrealistic.
Yes, I have seen Panic Room, but not in awhile (and not since I was diagnosed!). The page I linked to in my post – http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2002/11/01/3036/diabetes-in-the-movies/ – also discusses Panic Room – here’s one criticism (highlighted by your comment that she almost dies because she needs insulin – NOT true! (though it’s the film’s fault, not yours…)
“When “Panic Room” broke box-office records after its spring break release, Donna Gardner was busy writing letters to newspapers. Several film reviewers had incorrectly referred to Sarah’s life-saving shot as an “insulin injection.”
Gardner was appalled. Her husband, Carey, had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes nearly two years ago. A friend of his with the same diagnosis almost died after being given insulin by a well-meaning friend during a severe hypoglycemic episode.
“If you have seen the movie, you know Sarah is given glucagon for low blood glucose,” she exclaims. “This is outrageous!…A lot of people thought the girl was given insulin in the movie because it was never specifically stated…just that she needed a shot. If you don’t know anything about diabetes or glucagon, most people assume that it is insulin.”"
More on Panic Room, specifically:
not everything in “Panic Room” was right on.
A few people with diabetes were perplexed by Sarah’s ability to wolf down pizza and Coke and end up with low blood glucose.
Others were upset by a comment made by Foster’s character: “Sarah, calm down. You know what can happen if you let yourself get worked up.”
The comment suggested that her blood glucose would plummet if she got too excited. Not all people with diabetes find this to be true.
When asked about a confusing “Panic Room” scene in which Foster orders Sarah to drink lots of water to help keep her blood glucose from falling, Cline only needed to flip through her files to know she had done her job.
“Here it is,” she says, before reading from her notes. “‘Thirst is not a characteristic of a person having an insulin reaction.’ It’s right here in my research, and they chose not to change [the scene].”
Yes, I noticed the racial problems as well (I think I saw a black couple at the wedding – ridiculous how whitewashed the film is). I had heard about the lifetime movie, and am definitely interested to see how they handle Shelby’s diabetes and death. I have never seen a stage production but I was talking to a friend who had and she said the woman playing Shelby acted “like a crazy person” when her blood sugar went low (sounds like it was overdramatized to me). I guess it would depend on the amount of research a production does, if they know anyone who has diabetes, if they rely on the movie’s depiction – and then, of course, whether or not they care about being accurate, because the audience must get their drama! (This is the justification filmmakers use for their inaccurate portrayals.)
I love Steel Magnolias and have seen it probably over 30 or 40 times, but I never stopped to think about it within the framework of diabetes. Do you know if stage productions of the show usually have Shelby act in such an extreme manner?
(My main criticism of the film has always been that it takes place in the Deep South, and there is nary a Black person in sight. I don’t know if you know, but it’s being made with an all-Black cast for Lifetime. It would be interesting to see if they treat Shelby’s diabetes differently!)