At the beginning of Mike Nichols' film Wit (US, 2001, film, 99min), Professor Vivian Bearing is told that she has advanced ovarian cancer. As a result of this diagnosis, Vivian is located in hospital, and subjected to rigorous chemotherapy treatments, which continue until her death. While Vivian¿s medicalised body is stripped of agency by her involvement in a medical research trial and jettisoned by her physical decline, her verbal analysis of her medical settings and treatments are an enlightening discussion of the symbiotic relationship between medical carers and their patients. It can be difficult to locate the right words to discuss one¿s concerns about illness, treatment, or fear of death. By reading, watching and listening to other people¿s experience with cancer, we can become cognisant of the language required to communicate about the illness. Cinematic depictions of cancer through the constructed caricatures of women such as Professor Vivian Bearing can illuminate aspects of cancer to people who have not been personally affected by the disease. This essay will examine the intersection between cinema and medical anthropology, and the representation of death, dying and the relationship between the body, language and time.
History
Start page
29
End page
39
Total pages
11
Outlet
The Fallible Body. Narratives of Health, Illness and Disease