Red Band Society, developed
by Margaret Nagle, is an American comedy-drama television series on Fox. The
series premiered on September 17, 2014. The main characters include of Leo Roth
(Charlie Rowe), Nurse Jackson (Octavia Spencer), Emma Chota (Ciara Bravo),
Charlie (Griffin Gluck), Dash Hosney (Astro), Jordi Palacois (Nolan Stillo),
and Kara (Zoe Levin).
The TV show, which critics are calling House meets The Breakfast Club, takes place in an inpatient wing of the hospital and follows the lives of kids with a variety of illnesses. Almost every classic high school stereotype is met through the cast. There's the dark artsy girl with an eating disorder and the partying, mean cheerleader with an enlarged heart. Then there's the cancer patient who crossed the border from Mexico without his parents to seek health care. But it's really the narrator Charlie, a young patient in a coma, who draws you in. Charlie talks to the characters whenever they are unconscious, and it's his interactions that reveal the plot's most tender moments. He often gives his fellow patients advice, or tells them a message to pass along. In one scene he says, "When you're in a hospital the most important thing that needs to survive is you." And in another he offers, "Life is full of black holes and the only person who can pull you out is you." One of my favorite quotes said by Leo was, “Your body isn't you. Your soul is you and they can never cut into your soul.”
Kayla Reding, a popular blogger and cancer surviver had something to say about this new show, “As a patient it is so easy to find yourself lost in the shuffle of appointments, tests, and treatments; you become robotic at times. Finding ways to remember who you are outside of your illness is powerful and keeps your spirit alive. During my illness, I remember forcing myself to go to a concert with friends so I could have just an hour of something "normal." We all have times of struggle in life, cancer or not, and while there can be support from others, we have to find strength from within to endure, and this show reminded me of that.”
So to the question does “Red Band Society” get young-adult cancer right, at times yes but also no. Ocean Park Hospital, where the kids are all treated in Red Band Society, is as fancy as they come. The hospital setting is even distracting at times. I have never been to a hospital where there are schools, apartment-sized rooms, and living situations for young adults. The rooms have modern furniture, are covered in posters, with guitars and even have fairy lights hanging.
Despite this, so far, I’ve really enjoyed watching this show and will continue to tune
in every Wednesday!
The TV show, which critics are calling House meets The Breakfast Club, takes place in an inpatient wing of the hospital and follows the lives of kids with a variety of illnesses. Almost every classic high school stereotype is met through the cast. There's the dark artsy girl with an eating disorder and the partying, mean cheerleader with an enlarged heart. Then there's the cancer patient who crossed the border from Mexico without his parents to seek health care. But it's really the narrator Charlie, a young patient in a coma, who draws you in. Charlie talks to the characters whenever they are unconscious, and it's his interactions that reveal the plot's most tender moments. He often gives his fellow patients advice, or tells them a message to pass along. In one scene he says, "When you're in a hospital the most important thing that needs to survive is you." And in another he offers, "Life is full of black holes and the only person who can pull you out is you." One of my favorite quotes said by Leo was, “Your body isn't you. Your soul is you and they can never cut into your soul.”
Kayla Reding, a popular blogger and cancer surviver had something to say about this new show, “As a patient it is so easy to find yourself lost in the shuffle of appointments, tests, and treatments; you become robotic at times. Finding ways to remember who you are outside of your illness is powerful and keeps your spirit alive. During my illness, I remember forcing myself to go to a concert with friends so I could have just an hour of something "normal." We all have times of struggle in life, cancer or not, and while there can be support from others, we have to find strength from within to endure, and this show reminded me of that.”
So to the question does “Red Band Society” get young-adult cancer right, at times yes but also no. Ocean Park Hospital, where the kids are all treated in Red Band Society, is as fancy as they come. The hospital setting is even distracting at times. I have never been to a hospital where there are schools, apartment-sized rooms, and living situations for young adults. The rooms have modern furniture, are covered in posters, with guitars and even have fairy lights hanging.
Despite this, so far, I’ve really enjoyed watching this show and will continue to tune
in every Wednesday!