The movie Five Feet Apart, a film about two teens with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), starring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson, will open in theaters nationwide on March 15.
A book based on the film was published in November. One of the main characters in the movie is waiting for a lung transplant; the other is on a clinical trial for a drug to treat a B. cepacia infection.
Both the movie and the book are causing concern in the CF communities, specifically revolving around the accuracy of the details surrounding CF. There are multiple themes in the movie including the 6-foot rule, cross infection, lung transplant, emotional wellness, and mortality.
One needs to remember that the movie and book are both fictional stories that have been sensationalized for the big screen in order to sell tickets. While there have been multiple documentaries about CF developed over the years, including; Take a Breath (currently in production), Living with CF, Three Lives and Sweat Test, (to name a few), there has only other movie to date, made for “entertainment purposes". The movie, Alex, the Life of a Child, aired only on TV back in 1986. The storyline was based on the true story of a young girl’s journey with CF. This is more than 30 years ago when the general public was only beginning to become familiar with cystic fibrosis and its devastating effects on the body.
I will go to this movie with a clear understanding that I am not going to a documentary. I am sure to find myself attached emotionally to the characters and their challenges.
However, it is my hope that the movie Five Feet Apart, while controversial because of its Hollywood glamorization, will be an opportunity to open the eyes of the general public about the day to day challenges one faces living with CF.
It is my hope that it will bring an overall all positive awareness to the greater community, that those living with CF or any debilitating disease, are not the disease, but should be viewed as people with the same life’s desires as anyone else.
It is my hope that viewers walk away with a feeling of connection and a new understanding of the lives of characters, even if for only a moment.
In the future, when those moviegoers hear of an event or activity that includes support for those with cystic fibrosis, perhaps that connection draws them to say yes, I will help others to #BreatheEasier.
