I really dislike the way Spinal Meningitis is depicted in this movie. My brother passed away from Spinal Meningitis when he was 9 years old. It only took 3 days. He went from flu like symptoms to immense pain in his neck and back then he just passed away. It was so fast. This movie makes it seem like she had it for months.
shareI'm so sorry about your brother.
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Whether or not that's true, I don't know, but the person who posted seems very much alive.
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Very much alive, I also don't believe in heaven. So one thing I hate more than anything is people telling me that I should be "happy" my 9 year old brother died because he's "in a better place". So please dispense with your own personal beliefs, it's very condescending.
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You'd rather he'd still be in crippling pain?
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'Cause Napalm sticks to kids.
I'd rather he not have gotten sick at all. Why can't I be angry or sad that a nine year old CHILD had to experience horrendous pain and die before he was even old enough to know what he wanted to be or do with his life? Why do I have to celebrate? and pretend I'm so grateful he's "in a better place". I don't believe he is anywhere! I believe he is dead, his life is over. Thats it.
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He's not in pain anymore. That is what the underlying point of "in a better place" is. Albeit fantasized, it is the meaning of the expression. It's not celebrating. It's a way of looking at things.
It is quite sad that such a young child--hell, anyone--gets sick with such an illness, but they sometimes do. Sometimes death is a mercy. Not for the loved ones, but for the ill themselves.
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'Cause Napalm sticks to kids.
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He died 20 years ago, I'm not angry or even sad anymore. Is it still hard? yeah, but I'm fine with it. I just don't appreciate people telling me that I should celebrate/be grateful/happy that he is in "a better place" or "with Jesus" its condescending.
I felt the same way last year when my cousin fell 20 feet off a cliff to his death while his wife was pregnant. People said the same things then. Its just so rude. Keep your beliefs to yourself.
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Wow, even on a topic like this some people can't keep their *beep* stupid comments to themselves. Stupidity, thy name is IMDB message boards.
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I would seriously doubt anyone uses the actual words happy, grateful, or celebrate. Maybe that's how you take it but I would imagine that's not what they said. Saying he's in a better place now or with Jesus is not even close to the same thing.
People grieve in their own way. Some people believe and some people don't, but you can't choose to not believe and then get mad because other people do (in the way of telling you he's with Jesus and etc).
I'm so sorry, Penelope. I do believe in heaven, but you're more than entitled to both rage and pain exactly as I would feel (and have felt) when loved ones have died.
shareWhat a complete and utter *beep* you are, HOW DARE YOU tell someone how they should feel about a loved one, a loved child, dying. How dare you say it was a mercy, a merciful God wouldn't have allowed a child to get such a horrible illness in the first place. Giving a child a painful illness that eventually kills them is not what I would call merciful. "It is QUITE sad that such a young child gets sick and dies". You make me sick.
shareactually the only sickening person here is you richieoconnell.
shareTough s**t. Unfortunately for you this is a public forum. If you didn't want to read about peoples personal beliefs regarding your dead brother, you should never have brought him up. But, you did...so...me and anyone else is free to speculate whether he's in heaven, hell, limbo, or even The Pet Sematary.
shareHow could you possibly speculate whether or not someone is in Heaven/Hell or wherever if you don't know them or what kind of person they were? I don't know what was said, but that just makes people look tactless. I wonder if you would speak differently if it were a suicide.
shareI don't know what was said
That's other people's fault if they said anything insensitive or nasty.
shareYou are one uncouth *beep* Lee.
shareSo because the film upset you, you've come here to preach & complain to strangers browsing IMDB and let them know the error of their ways? Both of my grandparents on my fathers side died from cancer (colon & lung), but I can't even remotely fathom why someone would want to dwell on it and come to the IMDB boards to point out any inaccuracies in films/television in regards to cancer patients, cancer treatment, etc... You're like the person who sees a contradiction or error in a film then makes posts about it which help no one, but serve to (in your own mind) make yourself feel better and try to convince people that you're smart, but such people usually are not
shareActually, there are many conversations, online and offline, that aren't things that need to be dwelt on and are even completely ridiculous. Why, of all things, would talking about portrayal of illness bother you? You're just proving how uncivil you are with your personal presumptions and accusations.
shareWow Gossey, another sensitive remark. The jerkoff lottery must have been held today.
shareI really dislike the way Spinal Meningitis is depicted in this movie.
I agree, cinecephale.
The film doesn't really show it realistically & was meant to be viewed from Rachel's terrified perspective. And the film IS clumsy.
But it still bothers me, even knowing all this. Zelda REALLY looked like a monster!
People with this condition don't look like monsters.
Plus, why was she 'hidden away' anyway? Being sick is shameful?!!
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."
Plus, why was she 'hidden away' anyway? Being sick is shameful?!!
It's implied in the novel that Rachel's parents are pretty much snobs. Having a sick child like zelda was embarrassing to them so instead of getting her proper care they chose to lock her in the back bedroom and wait for eventual death.
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Eh, that's a little harsh, I think.
The novel conveys, IMO, the psychological effects of having someone wasting away and literally turning into a monster because of a painful, protracted illness. They become a burden, no matter how much you love them and a mutual resentment builds.
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"I'm a victim, ask me how." -- 21st Century America
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I think Zelda was bulimic too , that's what made her face change
you must do what you think I right of coarse
Fiat, it was probably bc the illness was stressful for Zelda's parents and they wanted to keep her comfortably away from both the noise of the front of the house and any speculation from visitors. However, the hideous choice of actor playing her WAS horrendous.
shareVery rarely do story lines follow real life situations, such as health issues.
Personally speaking, I am a kidney transplant patient (going on three, as I speak). I know what I have gone through receiving a kidney. I have seen a few movies in the past where a patient needs an organ, and, lo and behold, they received one ASAP.
No tissue testing, blood type testing, etc. Once a kidney is available, they get it.
I think it's humorous, however, I also realize that it is part of the story and it's only a movie. If they did it the proper way, the movie would be continued for......months (being kind) or maybe even years.
I waited only six months for the first kidney......nine months for the second.....and six years for the third. So, you never know.
Anyway, I enjoyed Pet Semetary, even with some of the quirks.
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That was the same response I had - "that is not spinal meningitis!?" She looked like she had severe scoliosis and cachexia from a malignant condition.
I am sorry about you're brother. That's awful. He had his whole life to live. Of course it's still hard, I can't even imagine.
I am so very sorry about your brother. You have every right to feel whatever emotion you feel about his death. I can understand how they portrayed Zelda in this movie could offend you. It's been a long time since I have read the book, but I am thinking the images of Zelda was from Rachel as a young child. I'm not sure if that helps or not, but again I'm sorry.
The beauty is I'm learning how to face my beast ~ Blue October
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we also see it from what she saw when she was a kid.
shareI came here wondering if the movie portrayed the illness realistic or not, you have a point that it was viewed from a child's mind.
I saw my great grandmother in a nursing home as a kid from the age of 5-7. My memories of the nursing home are dark, smelly and very scary. My memories of her are scary too. She was very thin, talked in a deep voice and it scared me. But looking at old photos show the nursing home as a very nice place and she was a pretty woman.
So if the movie was portraying the illness from a child's mind, it makes sense.
Oh wow Amy, excellent POV.
shareThe depiction of spinal meningitis was ridiculous. It actually didn't look like any real illness. And why would she be a dirty secret they kept in the backroom when they were a middle class family living in the city somewhere in the 60s? Wouldn't she be in an institution instead?
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