January 12, 2012
Why I Won’t Be Watching “Are You There, Chelsea?”
Last night, I decided I would check out the new show “Are you there, Chelsea?” It comes on right after “Whitney,” one of my new favorites. As I watched it, I was thinking that the humor was really dull and the subject matter not all that great either. However, I’ve thought this about other new comedies and then fell in love with them. Take “Whitney” for example. I didn’t really care for the first episode; but if you haven’t watched the episode where she goes all “Uh-huh, you know what it is. . . ” on her boyfriend on the basketball court, you haven’t lived.
I decided I would keep “Are You There, Chelsea?” on and keep an open mind. Then, one of the characters began talking about how her mother got diabetes after eating some cupcakes. She then made a joke about how she ran off with her diabetes doctor and it all worked out ok because he was able to catch it early, before she “lost her feet.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard comedies make “jokes” like this about diabetes. But it’s been a while since I’ve heard one this blatant and stupid. When you have a Type 1 Diabetic mother who has had the disease for over 30 years, it’s no laughing matter. In fact, I can’t think of a single person on the planet who thinks that having to get your feet amputated is funny. It’s not.
What also drives me insane is that these so-called witty comedies perpetuate the myth that sugar causes diabetes. It doesn’t. Diabetes is an aut0-immune disease that attacks the t-cells that make insulin. Sugar has nothing to do with it.
My Mom has adult-onset Juvenile diabetes. She got gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with my sister. It never went away. She is constantly attached to an insulin pump and a sensor that beeps when her blood sugar starts to drop or rise. She hasn’t slept through the night in years because of her sensor. She has had blood sugars so low that she has woken up to find herself in the hospital, or unaware of what she was doing. One time I came home from school to find my Mom unconscious due to a low blood sugar. It is a serious disease and is no laughing matter.
I had just a small taste of what my Mom’s everyday life is like when I was pregnant with Sassy and had gestational diabetes. I have never been more miserable. It gave me a whole new respect for my Mom and what she deals with every day. It gave me an entirely new appreciation for how much diabetes is a constant part of your life when you have it. Your fingers start to hurt from all the pricks. You have to think about everything you eat and drink all the time. There is no escaping it, not even for a minute; which makes me wonder even more why comedic writers find diabetes so very funny. It’s not funny at all, and perhaps they should find better writers for these shows if all they can come up with is tired “humor” about maladies that affect people’s everyday lives.
This is one show I won’t be giving a second chance.
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Glad I never bothered checking out this show. You are dead on; diabetes is not a laughing matter. I hope the show gets a flooded with complaints about this.
I sent NBC an email today. I hope they get flooded too.
I didn’t find ANYTHING about the show to be funny. Even worse, this kind of lame crap is exactly the kind of stuff she makes fun of on her talk show. Irony can be so ironic sometimes.
Agree completely!
BBM…
In HS, I had a friend with diabetes. I remember when she told me that if she ever started acting funny, what I should do. It was kind of scary and you are right…no laughing matter. I don’t watch a whole lot of tv…Sons of Anarchy is my guilty pleasure. Otherwise, cooking stuff. (It hasn’t inspired me much, but I like it!)
I also just sent NBC an email about their “jokes” and wrote a blog post about this very topic.
Seeing this in the media and tv is so frustrating! Thanks for posting and sharing your thoughts on the topic.
Most people don’t understand the difference between juvenile diabetes and type 2 or adult onset diabetes. While the first isn’t related to too much sugar, isn’t the link between type 2 and diet pretty overwhelming?
That said, the show does sound stupid, but I feel the same way about Whitney.
When are you going to head back to the dojo? 🙂
Actually, that’s not always true of Type 2. I have an aunt, skinny as a rail, who was just diagnosed with Type 2. And I wasn’t your typical gestational diabetic when I was pregnant with Sassy either. I’ve always been under-weight for my height and I got it. While loading up with sugar certainly isn’t healthy, it’s not always the cause of Type 2. Sometimes it can be related to insulin resistance, which is what they think my gestational diabetes was from.
Going back to the dojo? I’ll tell you, it’s going to be tough. Now that I have not one, but two kids, swimming competitively, I have no time to get there. Practices are every night for them and meets are on Saturdays. And with a baby on top of that? I keep telling myself that it’s their time and I need to support what they’re doing. I had my school years and a lot of time as an adult. Right now, I am super busy being a swim mom. As my one friend who has three swimming daughters says, swimming is a lifestyle. It really is and right now it’s not one that allows me dojo time. Maybe someday I’ll get back there. Here’s hoping.
I’m sorry I wasn’t clear. I wasn’t saying that a poor diet was the only way. Just that there is a known link and for what it’s worth, the whole school lunches, sugar in everything diet most of our kids eat is only going to make diabetes more common in the future. My wife wrestled with gestational diabetes while pregnant with our 3 year old. It was a pain, but fortunately it resolved after she gave birth. I’ve heard about situations where it doesn’t.
Regarding the lifestyle thing, I completely understand. I know that with my wife travelling most weeks for work, and two teenagers in JROTC and band, and a toddler, it’s tough to get to class myself. My older kids help a lot, and my wife does as much as she can when she’s around. A friend opened up a BJJ school just a few minutes from my house, and now that my son is bigger than me, I can roll the mats out in the garage and work out with him in a pinch.
Take care. It sounds like exciting times in your family! 🙂
Ugh. I would have changed the channel as well. The cruelty of people can be amazing, can’t it? My mom had very mild type-2 diabetes, meaning no medication, she just controlled it through diet. But it affected her every day and every meal. No fun at all. And I deliver meals on wheels once a week, and a couple of my clients have diabetes. They all have their feet, though one has lost some toes and her sight and a few other yucky issues as well. NO FUN. NOT FUNNY.
Actually, I’m pretty tired of fat jokes as well. I will not watch a show or laugh when someone makes fun of fat people, or puts on a stupid fat suit and dances around. It’s cruel and insulting. Maybe I’m too sensitive, but my mom was fat for most of her life, and she tried every diet and plan that you’ve ever heard of. She fasted once for a month. A MONTH with no food. Can you imagine? People say that fat people have no self control, but that shows that they really don’t understand the issues at all. I’m not saying she ate well and it just happened to her. I’m not. But it was much more complicated than thin people think.
I don’t know anything about diabetes, thankfully. I’ve never been in that position. Also, I’ve never seen an episode of Chelsea, or most other TV shows that are out now, other than Sons of Anarchy – and with that, I watch it on DVD and avoid commercials and the other useless nonsense that TV brings into our homes. But that isn’t my point.
I think that sometimes we get a little too wrapped around the axle. A previous commenter noted being tired of fat jokes. As a fat guy, I can agree with that. However, I’m reminded that there’s a difference between the way I’m looking at it and the way the jokester is looking at it. In a way, this eases my unease at the jokes; I can’t expect someone else to share my private angst about being fat (bad example, I know). Another example might be when the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy happened, back in the 80s, and a lot of people were making jokes about dead astronauts. It’s not itended to be hurtful, it’s just insensitive.
With the diabetes jokes, it may be helpful to remember that the people making the jokes may not be going through what you and your mom are going through. We can’t always expect them to feel your struggle the way you do.
That said, I do hope NBC gets the message and corrects their insensitivity. I enjoy your blog, by the way. 🙂