Has anyone else been watching The Big C on TV over the last few months? Or is it just me who feels morbidly compelled to watch it by dint of ovbiously knowing rather too much about how it feels and wondering just how on earth they'll end the series?
It's a US 'sitcom' (slight misnomer as this makes it sound like The Good Life or Friends) about a woman who gets diagnosed with The Big C out of the blue and has to get on with living her life, in raterh altered circumstances.
And subject matter of the Big C aside, it's actually very good. Both observationally at a general life level (middle aged husband shagging the 40-something rugby team hanger-on slapper) and also on the main topic area itself.
Cut to this week's episode where the main character, Cathy, has finally told Paul her husband that she's ill – and he goes off to work. Tries to be normal, ends up bumming a cigarette from two unknown work colleagues outside his office and when they say 'how are you' he says 'actually not great, my wife just told me she has cancer'.
Cue massive discompfort of work colleagues, awkward silence, Paul then trying to talk to a woman in HR that he doesn't know, but whom he's told has a husband who has cancer… only to find the guy's just died and she can't talk about it as she can barely hold herself together. All delivered in a brilliantly light touch, easy rolling approach and tongue in cheek humour. And all with some good side stories, like the old lady next door, one moment sharp and visceral-tongued, then the next ambling into bushes with Alzheimers. And Cathy's brother the homeless guy who prides himself on dumpster-diving and his shagging abilities despite his poor hygiene…. all good stuff.
But anyway – it made me think about how people cope when they get diagnosed with something shit. Her approach is to deny it, live her life just as normal so refusing to go on any treatment until she actually looks and feels ill. And maybe to say 'sod it' a bit more often and not worry about what people think – cue the great scene where she goes househunting with her bemused oncologist, pretends to be his wife and decides to get into the house's pool fully clothed despite the realtor being horrified, just becuase she wants to enjoy a glorious float…
Anyway – it's kind of worth a watch as its a good programme and weirdly informative. In a thought-provoking kind of way. You can't pretend that nothing has changed and that you can carry on a narmal, when actually everything HAS changed… and all you'd really like is that old, boring, stable, sometimes dull normality back again.
But – not being maudlin here – just recommending a programme, worth tuning in – and as I say, god knows how they will close that series with a hoppedy skip in the tail! Sx