Ugly Betty's Portrayal of Food Allergies in Bad Taste
I'm disappointed... no, sickened at the portrayal of food allergies in Hollywood. From Will Smith slurping a bottle of Benadryl in Hitch, to the monstrously manipulative Monster-in-law, and now, the truly ugly behavior on Ugly Betty.
Does art imitate life or life imitate art? The sick part is that what happened in this episode, could easily happen in real life. We've already heard about mean kids throwing peanut butter sandwiches at kids who are allergic to peanuts. Or, parents who threaten to hide peanut butter in their kids lunches. I am all for food allergies being portrayed in movies and television... after all, it's a daily reality for more and more people. But an accurate portrayal, please. If any producer has ever witnessed anaphylaxis they will realize that they don't need to add anymore to the drama.
Here's FAAN's official report:
Ugly Betty Takes Food Allergies Lightly
As more Americans become familiar with the issue of food allergy, the condition is being increasingly portrayed on television and in the movies. The positive side of this is that it increases public awareness. But sometimes Hollywood forgets that food allergy is a medical condition and portrays it insensitively. One example of this can be seen in the 2007 spring season finale of the ABC television hit comedy Ugly Betty.
In the episode, which aired on May 17, one of the characters, a boy named Justin, is the understudy for a lead role in a school play. Determined to get the part, he slips walnuts into his own sandwich and then switches lunches with the boy who actually has the part – and who is allergic to tree nuts. Though Justin is not shown doing this, afterwards he gleefully tells his mother that the other boy is home in bed with hives, whereupon she realizes what he’s done, but does not scold him or even address the issue at all. Later in the show, Justin is shown successfully playing the lead part in the play.
The Ugly Betty episode incorrectly gives viewers the impression that an allergic reaction to food is merely a nuisance. In reality, one bite of the wrong food can cause death in a matter of minutes. Once a reaction begins, there is no way to predict how severe it will become.
Food allergies can be deadly and should be taken very seriously. We are grateful that ABC is helping raise awareness about food allergies and hope future shows will do a better job of portraying this condition accurately. FAAN has contacted ABC to educate the people there about the potential seriousness of food allergy.
You can do the same online by going to ABC's site and sending an email, or by writing to:
ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA, 91521-4551
Thanks to Gateway FEAST and FAAN for bringing this issue to our attention.
Does art imitate life or life imitate art? The sick part is that what happened in this episode, could easily happen in real life. We've already heard about mean kids throwing peanut butter sandwiches at kids who are allergic to peanuts. Or, parents who threaten to hide peanut butter in their kids lunches. I am all for food allergies being portrayed in movies and television... after all, it's a daily reality for more and more people. But an accurate portrayal, please. If any producer has ever witnessed anaphylaxis they will realize that they don't need to add anymore to the drama.
Here's FAAN's official report:
Ugly Betty Takes Food Allergies Lightly
As more Americans become familiar with the issue of food allergy, the condition is being increasingly portrayed on television and in the movies. The positive side of this is that it increases public awareness. But sometimes Hollywood forgets that food allergy is a medical condition and portrays it insensitively. One example of this can be seen in the 2007 spring season finale of the ABC television hit comedy Ugly Betty.
In the episode, which aired on May 17, one of the characters, a boy named Justin, is the understudy for a lead role in a school play. Determined to get the part, he slips walnuts into his own sandwich and then switches lunches with the boy who actually has the part – and who is allergic to tree nuts. Though Justin is not shown doing this, afterwards he gleefully tells his mother that the other boy is home in bed with hives, whereupon she realizes what he’s done, but does not scold him or even address the issue at all. Later in the show, Justin is shown successfully playing the lead part in the play.
The Ugly Betty episode incorrectly gives viewers the impression that an allergic reaction to food is merely a nuisance. In reality, one bite of the wrong food can cause death in a matter of minutes. Once a reaction begins, there is no way to predict how severe it will become.
Food allergies can be deadly and should be taken very seriously. We are grateful that ABC is helping raise awareness about food allergies and hope future shows will do a better job of portraying this condition accurately. FAAN has contacted ABC to educate the people there about the potential seriousness of food allergy.
You can do the same online by going to ABC's site and sending an email, or by writing to:
ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA, 91521-4551
Thanks to Gateway FEAST and FAAN for bringing this issue to our attention.
posted by Ria at 8:07 PM
3 Comments:
Hi,
Very insightful post, thanks for sharing.
I am new here wanted to say hi....well I have a blog on Allergies and Asthma please stop by and give me your valuable feed back...thank you.
Allergy Asthma Zone
I did not see that episode. It really is in poor taste. It doesn't surprise me that it came from ABC though. They also dropped the food allergy ball when they didn't do anything in the fall when Rosie went off on peanut allergic kids and their parents and how it's not fair to remove peanut butter from schools. She felt it is an inconvience to other kids because the allergy parents are over reacting. ABC needs FAAN to come in and give them some food allergy training.
I am bothered by the way Hollywood treated food allergies in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle". Before Meg Ryan meets her soul-mate (Tom Hanks), she must endure a relationship with a man who has food allergies. Meg's character flashes a tragic, hurt look every time her boyfriend expresses concerns about ingredients in various foods. I have lived with numerous allergies (including wheat) for many years and have always felt I deserved love and romance as much as anyone else.
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