(not about diabetic retinopathy)
UGH UGH UGH
So this weekend Middles was watching Looney Tunes. I love Looney Tunes. Bugs is my favorite – laid back and witty. So after an episode Middles called for me. Told me I had to watch something, “it was so funny” he said “it says diabetes” he added. He rewinded the episode and shared a little ditty with me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j_65lYDFYU
Sweetstuff and Sugarboy were also watching. A minute into it I could see Sweetstuff’s anger rising. Sugarboy looked unimpressed. Middles was bouncing along with the tune.
Sweetstuff said “this isn’t funny. It’s wrong.”
I hushed her. I told her he doesn’t know all that she knows. Give him time. (This was said in a whisper to Sweetstuff to avoid Middles feeling ashamed or unappreciated.)
There are many things that upset me initially while watching the little cartoon. (not the least of which was the annoying sound of the singer’s voice, the fact that Bugs had to drink filtered water (tap water is just as good for us and doesn’t hurt the environment like bottled water), and the fact that few kids would know what a misua salad is.)
It reminds me of that famous meme about Billy and his candy bars.
It is wrong.
It is misleading.
It isn’t funny.
I considered the cartoon for a good deal of time – nearly 24 hours now. I’m not as angry or frustrated as I was initially because the producers/writers/illustrators have good intentions.
They want kids to eat healthy. That’s always good.
Encouraging healthy eating is something all parents should do with their kids and loved ones.
What I don’t appreciate is linking poor food choices to diabetes. Regardless of the type of diabetes (not that the writers differentiated) it is not necessary to use diabetes to discuss healthy eating. Encouraging our loved ones to make healthy food choices is not best accomplished with scare tactics.
I’m disappointed in you Bugs. You broke my heart.
Stick With It Sugar 
This isn’t Bugs. Even before I got to the diabetes-eyes part of the video, I kept saying to myself “WTF is this? Mel Blanc would be turning over in his grave if he saw this.”
Ordinarily, I’d give this a pass if it fell under the guise of “cartoons aren’t supposed to be educational”, except this one *is* intended to be educational. And the characters are…well, I’m not sure, but they’re not the Mel Blanc creations that I grew up and fell in love with. This is just awful in every sense, and the misinformation just kind of gets lost in the total awfulness of this cartoon (though I must admit, I didn’t see it through a present-day child’s eyes like you did).
To whoever decided to put this piece together, I have just three words: “What a maroon!”
LikeLike
lol “what a maroon”. You are correct cartoons aren’t normally designed to be educational but Im ok with main stream media trying to connect with kids and teach them to make healthy choices. You are also correct that Mel would likely be disappointed. I like the idea of teaching kids about healthy living via cartoons just disappointed with the misinformation.
LikeLike
Okay against my better interest I listened to the whole thing. Other than the “diabetes in his eyes” thing, I thought it was really good. They talked about good carbs and bad carbs and how the good carbs can give you energy. Bummer that they went for the easy rhyme with that one lyric!
LikeLike
I agree Sara much of the information was good, it was just sad the writers included diabetes and for that matter any chronic illness. I think we/they can talk about healthy choices without using chronic illness or diseases.
LikeLike
I really wish that these things were better executed. Think of how, the mention of any chronic disease in a tasteful manner within a cartoon COULD positively affect the kids–and adults–watching it. It makes me sad that instead of intersplicing moments for education, instead people living with and caring for people with specific diseases instead have to dig out of the bullshit all over again–which we [and especially people with diabetes] have to do all too often.
This is something that is, to no end, portrayed in movies with asthma–person gets anxious, panics, and whips out an inhaler–guess what? Society now attributes the lung disease that I live with to a mental health problem. Asthma does not equal anxiety, just like diabetes does not equal anything to do with candy.
I wish–especially for all the kids who live with diseases that ARE often incorrectly portrayed in the media–that content creators get their shit together. Imagine how awesome it would be to have a moment that a child with a chronic disease can IDENTIFY with, and sees it less as a “them vs me” scenario and more of an *US* scenario. Unfortunately, inclusion never seems to write comedy–only separation and misinformation. And that is bullshit.
LikeLike
you said it all so I have nothing to add. I am sad that asthma is often associated with panic type attacks. I hadn’t even thought about it until you mentioned it, but I too believed that a person could experience an attack in a high stress situation. When reading your words I had the scene from the movie ‘Signs’ in my head where the boy was attacked by an alien and thus had an attack with not medicine available – turned out in his favor in the film since he couldn’t get air therefor the poison the alien was trying to put in him via his lungs couldn’t penetrate and he lived. Still if people get their understanding of asthma from movies it is misleading.
LikeLike