First of all, it was the first time that I heard the word "Schwannoma" on television of any sort, i.e., movie, shows, etc. These tumors are almost completely unknown in popular culture - so when Will Reiser, who wrote the film, sought to make a film adaptation of his own experience with this kind of rare, malignant schwannoma - he was broaching something that popular culture has been completely silent about. We have all seen movies that depict a poor soul struggling with the scourge of cancer. We have seen movies where a loved one slips into those eternal mental fogs that envelop a person's mind as Alzheimer's disease progresses. We've all seen some character somewhere, whether tragic or funny - fall down gripping his chest in a heart attack on screen. I remember Fred Sanford in the comedy "Sanford and Son", grabbing his chest in a feigned heart attack and telling his long dead wife "Elizabeth I'm coming to join ya!" But the movie "50 / 50" broached a term that people like me know well - and much of society knows almost not at all - "Schwannoma."
Now, to be clear the main character in the film, Adam Lerner ( played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), finds that he has a rare form of Schwannoma that is malignant. And that is why the course of his treatment follows the course experienced by many cancer survivors. In the film Adam endures Chemo, and in the end, a dangerous surgery for the excision of the tumor. This form of Schwannoma is indeed more insidious and more rare than the more common Schwannomas, such as the one I had in my own thoracic spine. (Mine was removed in 2009, after near paralysis and terrible pain and debilitation) The larger majority of Schwannomas are benign, but their affects on our lives can be far reaching - and even lifelong. The story of Schwannomas is very much a story of pain, struggle, and often misunderstanding - for the fact that these tumors are rare, and most of us scarcely know what to think when we first hear of them.
So even as Seth Rogen (he play's Adam's best friend in the movie) makes his own brand of dark humor as he stands by his friend during his cancer treatments - there is something even more important being broached. Schwannoma being mentioned in popular culture. That's why many people who have had these tumors, are likely going to find ourselves feeling indebted to writer Will Reiser for creating this story, and to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen for bringing it to life on screen. And the other cool thing about this movie is that it reminds us of the power of a relatively simple, straightforward story with deeper significance. This movie doesn't need CGI or lasers - it is a simple story about a painful thing that actually affects people's lives in the here and now.
Having created the Schwannoma Survivors & Schwannoma Fighters support group and blog - I have actually worked with a small handful of people who have had malignant schwannomas - or tumors not known initially to be malignant, but which turn out to be. I think the film 50 / 50 does a certain service in highlighting the extreme seriousness of malignant schwannomas. And it follows right after that I think that there is an opening there that will remain, for all of us to learn about the daily struggles of people whose lives and loved ones have been affected by benign Schwannomas, as well as those afflicted with Schwannomatosis - the condition that pre-disposes a person to multiple Schwannomas along almost any nerve pathway in the body.
So I encourage you all to see the movie "50 / 50". It is a great human story...and it will be, as I have said, marked forever in my mind as the first time I heard the word "Schwannoma" being mentioned in film or television. How many more stories are out there? Stories of people who struggle with rare conditions - rare diseases and the like? Will Reiser, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Seth Rogen - and others, deserve a great measure of respect for putting this story on the screen, and maybe just broaching the first words of a conversation - a new and very necessary conversation, that has thinking people asking "What is a Schwannoma?"
-Neil
*Note, the film is available here in the states on Amazon.com as a $ 2.99 rental, or $13.99 to purchase - check your preferred movie streaming service. Here is the link to the Film's IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1306980/?ref_=tt_rec_tt
