The evolution of cinematic language in portraying cancer

Drawing inspiration from the sitcom Ho Preso un Granchio created by the young patients of the Youth Project at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan, this paper discusses how the depiction of cancer in film and television has changed over the years: specifically, how in 50 years society has gone from being unable to even pronounce the word “cancer” to being able to laugh about it, much like they did, telling their own stories with self-irony and even black humor.

These reflections are the result of meetings held with the Youth Project patients, who for this initiative reinvented themselves as authors, screenwriters, actors, and assistant directors.

This article serves as a reminder that film and television are a mass art form that acts as a mirror of our society, but at the same time can profoundly influence the collective imagination and the ways we express ourselves and think. Like other art forms, cinema can play an important role in narrating the illness of cancer, but it can also be used to support the disease journey of oncology patients, as in the creative laboratories of the Youth Project, where art becomes the tool to offer young patients a way to open up and tell their stories, their fears, and their hopes.