Sick and Sexy

One of the inspirations for this blog was a movie I saw recently called, Love and Other Drugs. In this film, Anne Hathaway plays a 26 year-old free-spirited woman who's in the beginning stages of Parkinson's Disease. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a shallow womanizer who lands a position at a pharmaceutical company as a sales rep. The two meet in a local clinic where Jake's character is trying to get a doctor to start selling Zoloft instead of Prozac. The story follows their relationship that starts out as casual and develops into something meaningful.

Now, there were things that I really didn't like about this movie, like the fact that it was at times cheesy, commercial, and it was a nearly formulaic rom-com. I also hated all the product placement and the movie was likely entirely paid for by Pfeizer. But aside from that, it was a beautiful love story with a lot of depth that highlighted some pretty heavy issues surrounding illness and relationships. What I loved most of all was that Anne Hathaway's character, Maggie, was so interesting and likeable. It was so refreshing seeing a character in a movie who was sick and yet funky! The movie wasn't showing a sick person who is dying, or a sick person that you're meant to pity, instead they show a sexy heroine who is dealing with some pretty major health issues.

The movie made me realize that I have a pretty narrow conception of people with illness. I hate the idea of being a sick person as it conjures up some pretty ugly images in my mind. I see someone who is fragile, weak, bony, gray, whining, whimpering, and boring. The character in this movie was none of those things and this was quite eye-opening and empowering for me. Since I've started this blog, I've been looking around to see what else is out there in the blogosphere and I have been so uplifted and enlightened seeing blogs by people who are fresh and fun and sick too! So, slowly, my conception is broadening; I feel I am moving a little closer to a point where I can feel sick and sexy at the same time.

Please share any movies, books, or music that have inspired you recently! I'd love to hear from you!