Diabetes technology featured in latest pixar movie

[Amity Island]

Pixar’s “Turning Red” premiered this month on Disney+ with what looks like a fun take on adolescence; the main character turns into an adorable red panda when she gets excited. For me, though, the real stars will be two blink-and-you’ll-miss-them background characters. That’s because they’re both wearing visible diabetes technology. One girl has an insulin pump infusion set on her arm, the other wears a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).

Turns out, Susan Fong, the Dailies and Rendering Supervisor for Turning Red, lives with type 1 diabetes. Early on in production, she asked if were possible to show an insulin pump on a character. The team in the Characters and Crowds department immediately said yes.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article259358834.html

 

[Inka]

Ooh! I didn’t know that - thank you 😎

 

[trophywench]

Aaaaah!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I think it’s the first appearance of diabetes in a film or TV programme which hasn’t made me grind my teeth!

When used as a ‘plot point’ the writers always seem to make big factual errors while reaching for extra drama, but in Turning Red, diabetes is just there, and people get on with their lives while simply accommodating it. It doesn’t even get mentioned! No attention is drawn to it, it‘s just there 🙂

 

[Elenka_HM]

I watched this film last week, having previously read this thread, and was happy to spot the diabetic device in the girl's arm in the bathroom scene. I pointed it out to my friend all of excited! Though I assumed it was a sensor but I've read later that is an infusion set...

the writers always seem to make big factual errors while reaching for extra drama

In a crime drama episode, they had kidnapped a diabetic man and the wife was all "you have to find him quick, he needs his insulin!" . I was recently diagnosed and excited about the representation. Obviously, the main characters found the man at the end and saved him with an epic insulin jab. I had so many questions: why is the needle already in the pen? How can this work without selecting any units? Shouldn't someone check his BG first? Well, I guess the scene wouldn't look so fast and heroic if they stopped to do a finger prick and an insulin air shot...

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Obviously, the main characters found the man at the end and saved him with an epic insulin jab. I had so many questions: why is the needle already in the pen? How can this work without selecting any units? Shouldn't someone check his BG first? Well, I guess the scene wouldn't look so fast and heroic if they stopped to do a finger prick and an insulin air shot...

I penned this many years ago after a particularly silly news item, which got so many of the easy basics completely back to front.

But I agree, scriptwriters usually fall into the same traps.

Type 1 Diabetes - a 30 second guide for busy journalists and scriptwriters

I realise that journalists and scriptwriters are busy people, so I've put together this 30-second guide to Type 1 Diabetes. That's a full five seconds per bullet point and five seconds to rest at the end.

www.everydayupsanddowns.co.uk