I’m usually a fan of SNL, but there were two diabetes-related skits this weekend that just made me sad more than anything. The jokes had to do with the old myth that “eating a lot of sugar causes diabetes.”
Did anyone else watch SNL and did you think something similar when you watched it?
I find it amazing how a large portion of the population just has no idea what diabetes is, how you get it, and how to treat it. It’s so sad.
I didn’t see the episode… and I hear where you’re coming from… but I still joke around about diabetes sometimes in the same way even though I have it myself… humor doesn’t always have to be accurate…
yes, I do try to limit my use of the phrase “sugar coma” or “this is going to give me diabetes” but I do occasionally let those slip. Never around Samson though and I’ll have to watch it more and more as he gets older.
I think that this type of humour will probably always be around. We have to combat it by using awareness campaigns and educating people a little bit at a time, so that when they hear the humour they don’t take it as fact.
I love humor…I love laughing – it’s why I love SNL. BUT, my problem with this particular humor is that it’s feeding into an already misunderstood stereotype. Maybe they don’t even realize it, or maybe they do and don’t care, but most people outside our world already doesn’t understand diabetes. Putting out humor that feeds into that kind of myth only serves to increase people’s misunderstanding and ignorance where diabetes is concerned.
Anyway, I know they were just skits, and it didn’t make me that upset…more, as I said, just sad because I want more people to understand diabetes, and what (is believed) to cause it, and with humor like this on such a widely seen show just doesn’t help with that. People really are ignorant where diabetes is concerned, so they walked away from that episode believing even more that diabetes is from eating too much sugar.
I see where you’re coming from. I’m also saddened by the same thing not just with diabetes but also celiac disease (and allergies, etc). You come across stereotypes/misunderstandings about many health issues, and it is frustrating to see TV/media furthering those misunderstandings. I try to laugh it off as much as I can, but sometimes it still bugs me. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if it was my daughter who had t1, wondering how people’s ignorant comments and judgment would impact her. 
Those mama/papa bear instincts make us want to protect our kids from everything, including the assumptions people might make about them due to this kind of misunderstanding.
People ignorant like that will always be around no matter how much you try to educate them. The best thing you can do for yourselves and your children is just too ignore this kind of ignorance, and not get into a pity party.
Spoiler Alert: Deadpool 2 makes fun of diabetes inappropriately, as well. Just went to see it for my 12th wedding anniversary.
Anyone know what show this is from?
"Nina, who is diabetic, develops retinopathy, which will make her go blind. Palmer refuses to let her know that there is a cure. Nina break up with Cliff, who she had agreed to marry, in order to not be a burden to him. Eventually, Cliff finds out about Nina’s condition, and is able to get her treatment. "
I was probably late-teens, with T1D about 15 years at the time when this was on TV. I think it was the first I learned that blindness could result from diabetes. It really scared me, but I did not raise questions with parents or doctor, or learn more until much later.
All my Children, 1980’s. 
Aaaahhhh!!! Never mind the stereotypes about diabetes, the stereotypes about blindness are also rampant! At least this was fro the '80s, but blindness is still portrayed this way all the time in movies and books today…
Just last week I was waiting for the bus and someone said, “Do you know what stop you’re getting off at?” (No. I just get on the bus and get off at a random stop and hope.) And a few days after that I was standing waiting to cross the street when someone said, “You’re at the corner of X and Y.” (As if I just appeared magically at a random street corner instead of, you know, navigating there myself.) And a few days after that someone came up to me while waiting for the bus and went, “Do you know which bus stops…” and after I turn around to face them, “oh, wait, I guess you probably don’t.” (When I asked what their question was, I did actually know the answer.) People just assume that I am wandering aimlessly through the city and life going from one helpful person to the next with no autonomy of my own just because I can’t see (much).
I should get outraged about inaccurate portrayals, especially because these things do impact people’s perceptions and form people’s conceptions, but it’s just so rampant. I’d literally be mad all the time if I let it bother me whenever I saw, read, or heard it. So now I mostly ignore it… 
They were awkward in what they said, but since they were trying to help you, it seems like it was nice of them. Just clumsy in how they expressed it.
A lot of people don’t know how it is done. You could tell them things like, “I count stops on the bus” or “I listen to the driver announce it” or however you do it, and that would help them learn a little more about it, if you wanted to do that.
I think sharing that kind of information is the best thing we can do.
I always tell people things about diabetes if they ask. I don’t mind helping to break the stereotypes when the opportunity arises.
I have gotten into a lot of conversations at races about the things I carry with me.
Oh brother! That T1D Mama sure is sensitive. Somebody should tell her that she is doing more harm to that beautiful little girl than any joke ever could.
But the joke is not that funny, keeping with SNL tradition
My problem is that they were assuming I needed help (or didn’t have knowledge). I have no problem at all, at any time, if people come up and ask if I need help. It happens every day. As long as they respect my answer (which is most often a, “No, thanks for asking,” but is sometimes a, “Yes, I’d appreciate that,”) and don’t go ahead and grab my arm to drag me across the street or physically try to force me to sit down on a bus despite my answer (which also happens not infrequently), then I don’t mind at all.
I do often explain how I do things to people. For example, I continued talking to that guy who asked if I knew what stop I was getting off at, becasue once we were on the bus he announced all of them to me. He didn’t realize that the buses have automatic stop announcements (and also announce the bus name and number to those waiting at stops). It’s amazing to me how many people don’t know this feature is there even though our city has had it for years and has minimum volume settings, so it’s always on and audible. I’ve talked to random strangers in coffee shops about how I’m reading, talked to random people who approach me as I’m walking down the street about how my white cane works, talked to people at street corners about how I’m able to tell when it’s safe to cross, talked to grocery store checkout people about accessible point of sales devices… These are all things people just don’t know about, and I’m happy to educate most of the time.
I think what makes me ignore it so much the rest of the time is that it happens every single day. All day, every day, any time I’m out in public, I have these interactions. A trip home from work or to the store could be one non-stop string of educating everyone I encounter, if I let it. It happens way more than with diabetes, I think because my vision impairment is much more visible than diabetes. So, while I do like educating, often I’m just tired of doing it constantly and want to get to where I’m going without having a string of education sessions along the way.
The one thing I never do is snap or be rude to someone, even if they assume something they shouldn’t. Even the few times people have approached me and literally tried to pray over me for a cure to my blindness in the middle of the street, I’ve stayed calm rather than snapping at or being rude to them. Actually, the last time that happened I found it so awkward that I didn’t know how to respond and stammered something and then practically ran away. Then I thought of how I could have handled it better in a way that would make the person actually think about their actions and assumptions. It hasn’t happened again for me to try out my education strategy, but it seems to happen ever five years or so, so I’m sure it won’t be too many years before I get another chance.
Says you (and probably most other hard-core Republicans)…it’s freaking HILARIOUS! to most other people.
I assure you I laugh when something is funny, and SNL has never been that funny. I think maybe my sense of humor is just more refined than that.
That must be it.
I understand what you are saying @Jen. Certainly it is not something I encounter with diabetes.
Part of it may be the extreme friendliness of Canadians that they just want to help and talk?
I was running in Toronto a couple years ago, and was low when I finished. I went into a Tim Hortons, but after ordering I realized I had messed up and didn’t have enough money on me. I think the cashier figured out I was American, and he said, “No problem, it’s on me.” 
Slim chance of that ever happening at a Starbuck’s.
Ha, I don’t know, I’ll have to pay more attention the next time I’m in the US. The one time I travelled in the US alone it was mostly through airports, and they were constantly trying to make me ride in wheelchairs (because it was supposedly easier and faster than guiding me) even though my legs work just fine. So I don’t think it’s a Canadian thing. 
It’s gotten a bit off-topic from SNL, but I guess I just meant it to illustrate that I’m not bothered by every instance of ignorance or humour, because otherwise I would be mad/annoyed/frustrated constantly between diabetes, blindness, allergies, all of which have ignorance everywhere and are frequently the subject of jokes. So instead, I educate when I feel like it, and ignore it (and by “ignore iit” I mean I just say, “Thanks,” and move on) when I’m not in the mood.
