I'm always very interested when I see not only Multiple Sclerosis but any chronic illness, in entertainment. I'm not talking about celebrities that suffer from the illness, but rather, how it's portrayed in things like movies, TV shows, books, comic books, etc. The way MS is shown in entertainment can have a big impact on our lives. For many people, that's their only real exposure to the disease, so when they encounter people like us, that's what they think about. Also, I would imagine, the more a disease is portrayed in entertainment, the more likely research gets funded, the more donations that the MS society gets. On top of all that, hey, I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel good to see an accurate portrayal of MS in entertainment. It makes me feel seen and like I belong. Obviously a poor portrayal will have negative impacts.
One of my favorite (and recent) stories that involved MS has been the Marvel character Darkhawk: https://multiplesclerosis.net/living-with-ms/darkhawk-marvel. Now, a caveat, I spoke with the author as he was in the process of writing it and discussed my life with MS with him. So I have a little self interest there but I have been so happy about the way the character’s MS has been illustrated.
There are numerous episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that feature a character with MS. All with varying degrees of accuracy. Much of the time, it serves as a convenient plot point to demonstrate why something happened or to make a victim more of a victim.
I think it’s always important to not only look at MS in entertainment, but chronic illness in general. I want to give my favorite example, the two part episode of The Golden Girls entitled “Sick and Tired”. Now, and this may be one of the stranger things about me, I am a massive Golden Girls fan (like I have seen every episode many many times and own Golden Girls memorabilia), it is a show that is funny, I grew up with it, and it was wildly progressive for its time. SAo this episode is extra special to me. Basically, Dorothy is fatigued all the time and has other health issues. She sees doctor after doctor and no one can help her. She is constantly dimmissed and told it is all in her head (really talking on a common issue for women that is still prevalent today: https://multiplesclerosis.net/living/gender-bias). I’m trying not to give a full summary but she does eventually find a doctor that diagnoses her (with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, however, MS is mentioned at one point). My point is, her experience throughout the two episodes feels so much like what many of us have experienced trying to get diagnosed. If you have any sort of chronic illness, I cannot recommend the episode enough (and again, this was aired over 30 years ago and they nailed the experience, which says a lot, not only about the show but how far we have come).
What other examples of MS or chronic illness in entertainment have you seen? How did it make you feel? What are your thoughts?