SICK - The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

[qthewetsprocket]

Saw this movie at the local video store going used for six bucks, so I bought it. And I'm so glad I did.

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Nuthsell: Bob Flanagan became a "supermasochist" largely as a coping mechanism to deal with the constant pain of CF, a disease that usually kills its victims in childhood or by their early twenties. Another coping mechanism was his art, and a

Comments

[darthhellokitty]

I *love* that movie. Talk about making lemonade... there are definitely a few scenes I couldn't watch, but my god, what an amazing guy!

[qthewetsprocket]

Half an hour into it I was all "OMFG why have I never heard of this movie before?? This is amazing!"

Probably my favourite part was the extra feature "Sarah's Sick Too", where you get to see the young fan he inspired in the movie living such a kickass life in spite of her disease. As legacies go, Bob's is pretty damn awesome: giving a sick kid enough hope to be brave enough to think about her future, and setting her a goal: to live even longer than he did. You go, girlfriend! You've already got it beat; you just don't know it yet.

[crossbow1]

Fascinating. I may have to look for that. Although I find it painful just to hear him gasping for breath.

I have a friend with CF who, when we were in grade school, only had 1/4 of a lung. They kept expecting her to die but she's 42 now. Her screen name is "Wheezer."

I say friend, but actually I didn't like her at all back in school. She was one of those disabled people who bullies people and they can't fight back because you can't hit a disabled person. She'd go around pinching people really hard and they couldn't do anything about it. Now I only know her on Facebook but she seems nice.

[qthewetsprocket]

I definitely recommend the film. Amazon's got it, though I'm sure places like Ebay or Half.com have it for much cheaper. Heck, if you live in Mppls, I bet there's even several video stores that have it (I know of one near Dinkytown that definitely would, if it's still in business).

It is definitely hard to watch in places, though. Especially the end.

Re: your friend - I have to think that knowing you're likely to die before anyone else in your peer group wouldn't make you an especially pleasant child to be around, yeah. Glad to hear she's mellowed with age (and survival).

[crossbow1]

Unfortunately, knowing someone's in pain and likely to die soon doesn't make it hurt less when they pinch you.

[qthewetsprocket]

*nods* S'truth. That's actually one thing I thought the film captured really well - sick people aren't always the easiest folks to be around; they can be absolute bastards sometimes. And then what can you do? They're ill and miserable; you can't exactly snap back at them without feeling like you're going straight to hell.