Since I missed the TV broadcast, I watched Farrah's Story this weekend on Hulu. I've liked Farrah Fawcett since I first saw her in the Noxema commercial with Joe Namath and I always felt a kinship with her since we had a common feature - we both had similar big thick hair in the 1970's.
I liked that she stepped out of the cover girl image and wasn't afraid to bare herself in roles like "The Burning Bed." It wasn't surprising that she would do so again in this latest film chronicling her battle with anal cancer.
I've always been fascinated with stories of people dealing with life and death situations, wondering how I would react if faced with the same circumstances - probably something everyone contemplates at one time or another. Watching this film and having shared experiences with family and friends dealing with similar issues, it always astonishes me how much pain and suffering people are willing to endure to stretch life just a bit longer, even while understanding that the final outcome will still be terminal .
It was hard not to wince with her as she cried out in pain when , similar to a B-movie of an alien abduction, 12-18 inch rods were placed between Farrah's ribs to adminster treatment directly to her tumors. This after numerous surgeries and chemo and radiation. Then came the vomiting, the lethargy, the hair loss and the emotional rollercoaster of news that the tumor is gone, sorry the tumor is back, no the tumors are shrunk, so sorry the tumors are back. I think that the emotional highs and lows are surely as worse than the physical pains.
When something like this strikes your own family, you get so caught up in your own victimization, one forgets how many others in the world are suffering the same thing. Films like this are important to bring to light the private battles that are fought on a daily basis.
I am not certain I would fight that battle to live with all my means and might like Farrah and others I know personally, but perhaps that would change when/if I ever have to look cancer directly in the eye myself.
1 comment:
This was a beautiful post. I've always been a Farrah fan as well, and I admire her even more now.
Do you know who else was Farrah fan? Ayn Rand. For some reason, that surprised me -- pleasantly surprised me. She liked Farrah Fawcett, and she loved the TV show Charlie's Angels.
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