Monday, 28 September 2009
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Peanut Allergy in Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs Movie
Seriously, PEANUT ALLERGY is my worst fucking nightmare.
The WORRY...... is killing me. Paranoia.It's all I think about.
If you didn't know, now you know:
Peanut allergy, can KILL within minutes. An epipen can only buy another 15 minutes of breathing time, to get to the hospital. ONE CAN DIE from smelling/ touching/ eating 1% of a peanut.Anyways, I saw the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" today with my friends...
The movie was cute, it was funny.. but there was this part about peanut allergy, they made it all funny and unrealistic, it's very misleading.
Either.. the movie brings awareness to food allergies, positive thing. Or... the movie misinform kids about food allergies., NEGATIVE thing.
The heroine has a peanut allergy reaction:
1. She doesn't carry an epipen with her at all times.
2. She had a reaction and did not go get her epipen right away.
3. The amount of time she waited in the movie to get her epipen, she would've been dead 5 minutes ago.
4. She didn't call 911 or go to the hospital!
5.. They made the peanut allergy part 'funny' and 'cute'.
What do I think? The movie shouldn't have had the peanut allergy part. FAIL.
You can argue that kids are too young to know the ugly truth about anything, but when its comes to severe food allergies in kids, they need to know, they need to learn, they need to take precautions, there's no age limit when it comes to children's safety.
Anyways, after some googling around, I'm glad that alot of people, mostly parents, agree with me! I'm glad I'm not the only one upset by this.
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- From: Joanna_said_SO@xanga
- Name: JOEY
- About Me: Graphics, Photography, Painting... anything artsy. Oh, and fondant cakes!! Internet, reality shows... you know, the cool stuff ;)
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Comments (22)
I have not seen the movie, but it's a movie made for kids (as I can see from the trailers). If they depict something serious, it will kill the whole "funny and light" mood. Ever see the old cartoons where they hurt people and a big bump comes up and it's supposed to be funny, but it's really a serious injury? Where they drop the anvil on coyote? Where if you're really sick with like chicken pox/measles you look all funny and covered in dots?
I don't think the directors meant to purposely offend anyone here. Although, I have not seen the movie, so I really can't say much I think.
So, I guess when you used to watch Wiley Coyote and Road Runner when he used to walk off a cliff before realizing and float in the air long enough to (sometimes) make it back to the cliff--you were really angry?
I agree that peanut allergy, as well as some others (such as food dye allergies) should have awareness, but not in mainstream feature children's films. Perhaps a cute short film to show in a classroom. Even a series like Conjunction Junction, but an uber educational film has no place in theatres. Osmosis Jones was borderline. It had some valid elements and others that were pure humor, but kids probably weren't leaving the theatre exclaiming their interest in the body's immune system.
OMG. i have a penut allergy where i need to carry an epipen at all times!
that is not funny..when i first had the reaction at the age of 4, i had 20 minutes to get to hospital or i would die.
:(
It sucks a lot that you have peanut allergies but honestly? You really think they should have terrified kids with the realities of peanut allergies in a children's movie? I took my kids to see it and the whole peanut allergy part was such a minor part of the whole movie, I can't believe that people will get so upset about such a non issue.
It's like when people were upset about how adoption was portrayed in Meet The Robinsons. As an adoptive parent, I could have chosen to get offended or I could, as I did, choose to use that opportunity as a jumping off point for explaining adoption to my children. As a parent, you could use that movie to explain why your child needs their epi pen all the time. It's not a movie's job to do that, it's a parents job.
My daughter is almost 8 and has a severe peanut allergy. When I realized what was happening in that scene, I instantly looked over at her to see her reaction. Surprisingly, she seemed fine and she kind of laughed about it. I was offended, as an overprotective mother, but I realize that they also mocked kids that are book smart ("nerds"), kids that wear glasses, and lots of other people in this particular movie. I would have preferred that they leave that part out, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't so bad. I mean, two minutes after the peanut reaction a man got eaten by a cooked chicken.....so reality was not really at the center of this movie.
@turningreen@xanga - 'I mean, two minutes after the peanut reaction a man got eaten by a cooked chicken.....so reality was not really at the center of this movie.' Couldn't have said it better!
@Kait82521@xanga - My thoughts exactly!
...it's not Pixar's job to teach our kids about life and the dangers of it; they're there to entertain.
I saw the movie with my son and husband, the 3-D version. My only complaint was the COST!!!!! Ridiculous!
If my son had a peanut allergy I would have discussed that scene with him afterwards. That's all.Ok, as a parent of homeschooled children who had to listen to my children be made fun of DURING THE PREVIEWS for goodness sake, I'm not sure what you're so upset about. What horrible thing do you think is going to happen as a result of this scene? Most kids who don't have nut allergies already don't know squat about them. It is yours and your child's job (and other adults who are charged with caring for your child) to know what to do not the rest of the world's. Are you afraid your child will have an allergy attack in the cafeteria and no one will rush to call 911 because of this movie, come on, not that's not realistic.
Yes, peanut allergies are serious, but this is a children's movie. In a children's movie, 99.9% of the time, real world logic is tossed right out the window. If they wanted children to listen to this movie, who's to say children won't think other movies aimed for them aren't trying to teach them a lesson and they go dive in the ocean to help SpongeBob get to Shell City or something of the sort.
It's just a fun movie for kids, so there's really no need to get upset about it.
@bubbelcat@xanga - i'm the author of the peanut allergy post.
the movie upsets me because my daughter is 5, and she's allergic to peanuts, she can die just being in the same room as peanuts. its something that i have to worry about everyday, your kids being homeschooled ya ppl can make fun of it, but its not life threatening, and its also a positive tphilosophy to some ppl. it was just horrifying seeing the character swell up in the face and the audience laughing. but i'm an allergy parent, so i'm more sensitive over it.
i'm sure if it was a cancer patient they made fun of, then it would've been more of a controversy right.
@azure_clarity@lovelyish - actually i think its a great movie for kids without allergies, it raises awareness, there are ppl with allergies out there. but for allergy kids to sit there and watch it, its horrifying for them, to see that ppl will laugh when you go into anaphylactic shock. my post was to say that kids watch it, but allergy kids shouldn't watch it or their parents should warn them before they watch it.
For the record not a single person in our theater laughed when she had a reaction. You can hardly blame the filmmakers that people raise insensitive children. The allergy was a deus ex machina to create tension and forward the plot. There had to be SOME reason that she suddenly had to leave and actually I thought it showed that allergies are pretty serious. Furthermore just because your child has an anaphalactic reaction to nuts doesn't mean ALL children with a peanut allergy have a reaction that serious, in fact I know several that have nut allergies that are NOT deadly. The bottom line is you cannot expect the world to revolve around your child's sensitivities. If artists shied away from every potentially offensive issue there weould be nothing to see or watch. For the record I am deathly allergic to bee stings, and likely other stinging insects. I don't expect to have labels put all over the movie "My Girl" because it might upset my children. Instead I talk to them about what they've seen and use it as a teaching opportunity.
@bubbelcat@xanga - and for the record, the entire audience laughed throughout the entire allergy scene. and peanut allergy is deadly, it just depends on the person's tolerance, even if they have very high tolerance, it needs to be treated right away. and you can't compare "My Girl" to a cartoon, the scene was way more realistic, the character died, and I doubt anyone would ever find that part of the movie funny. I didtn' expect the world to cater around my sensitivity towards food allergies in movies, it's a post on how i felt as a peanut mom, it was my opinion that the movie didn't handle that part well.
since you want people to be sensitive to your issues - I have to say - I was offened by you dropping the "f" bomb on a MOM'S blog - I think I need to unsubscibe to mamaroo
Yeah and bunnies can talk! It's a cartoon. The parents will educate their children and if they don't it's not up to the movies to do so anyway.
@jbaranski@xanga - I'm glad someone had the sense to point that out. For crying out loud, there were freakin' meatballs falling out of the damn sky.
Actually there are all types of peanut allergies and they rane from mild to severe.
I know because I have one of the stranger ones. I can eat fully cooked peanuts (boiled or in some dishes) but not uncooked ones. I don't need an epi pen and I have only need to go to the hospital once (i tried my luck with a snickers bar) What happens to me is I get blisters in y mouth and throat and sometimes my throat swells a little. Usually my reaction is calmed by taking Benadryl. Sometimes I have to cauterize the blisters with debacterol. (I used to go to the doctor for this but now I have my own kit.)
So maybe the girl in the movie had a less sever peanut allergy. Like I said my throat swells but I don't need and epi pen and rarely have to go to the hospital.
This movie perpetuates that misinformation, leaving people thinking that my food allergic child can have just a little bit of his allergen & that the only thing that will happen is that he will swell up for a bit. They portray the characters reaction as 'anaphylactic shock'. It isn't.
This character *did* use an epi-pen, but was not having difficulty breathing, airways weren't closing down - she just swelled up a bit. So, what was the point of the epipen?
If my child ingests any of his allergen & goes into anaphylactic shock, he will begin to have immediate difficulty breathing & could die within minutes without his epi & continued medical care. After seeing this movie, though, people will continue to think that if he ingests some of his allergen, he will swell up a bit & then be fine.
Personally, if they weren't going to be realistic about this misunderstood, but very serious, medical condition - I wish they would have just left it out of the movie altogether.
And... This really can't compare to Wiley Coyote's antics. Even little kids know that the physics of injuries in cartoons isn't anything like real life. They've felt pain from falling before, themselves. There is no general consensus of misinformation regarding whether real people who fall from buildings or are hit with hammers are just being overdramatic or faking it. There is a general consensus of misinformation regarding food allergies, though.
Maybe she wasn't deathly allergic. Some people are allergic to peanuts and only develop mild symptoms.
@MaureenN - YES THANK YOU.
Food allergy is a SERIOUS medical condition, and kids should not be misinformed.
for those who compared my post to other stupid cartoons..... they are missing the entire point.
@sick_of_dreams@xanga - I hate to break it to you but you are sadly misinformed about your allergies. Throat swelling is to be taken seriously and just because once it was "mild" swelling does not mean it will always be. You have other body systems impacted as well which per most allergist would require epi-pen.
@MaureenN - If you are waiting for breathing problems as a sign to epi,it may be too late. Anaphylactic shock is a drop is blood pressure. Not all people who experience anaphylaxis (different than shock!) have breathing trouble but still have life threatening reactions.I wanted to wait till the movie came out on video before I let me daughter see it so I could preview it. She had man food allergies, including a life threatening peanut allergy. To those that basically said to educate our own kids...as allergy parents most well informed parents do that. BUT there are many non-allergy children are not informed at all,to the point of potentially hurting other children. My friends child has been chased around the classroom by a boy with a PB sandwich who wanted to see what happened if the allergy came in contact with peanuts. It really a scary place when food can KILL you child.
@samantha - You must be right since you are my doctor and have examined me and been working with my allergy for the past 20 or so years.
Look I'm 23 years old and have had this allergy all my life, I think I know a little more about my reactions than you. Oh and throat swelling can be mild if it is cause by dermatological contact and not anaphylactic shock.