The reaction on twitter to this picture and tweet from @itvcorrie says it all.
The Independent reports that fans with personal experience of neuroblastoma have branded Coronation Street's treatment of the aggressive disease a “farce”.
Rob and Victoria Young, whose three-year-old daughter Ruby is a sufferer, wrote a message on their daughter’s fundraising page describing their “disgust”.
Coronation Street have issued a statement reading: “We have not at any stage said Hope is not cured at all. This is an ongoing story which has been researched throughout.”
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17 comments:
I have not enjoyed this storyline at all. Fortunately I do not have first hand knowledge of childhood cancer and my heart goes out to anyone who has.
My problem with the storyline is the characters I do not like either Fizz or Tyronne. They have no manners or class and certainly aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. Also, not to be unkind the little girl who plays Hope is not a very good actress. I'll be glad to see it wrap up I am so tired of listening to Fizz talking to Hope in that stupid babyish voice.
I have to agree with the above post, in part at least. This story didn't really work for me, mainly because the actress playing Hope is no actress at all. Let's face it, she can not portray any emotions whatsoever. This in turn makes Fiz and Tyrone over work some scenes, trying desperately to engage in something that is simply not there. They have had some great little actors on the show, like Simon and Amy when they were small, so it is possible. Unfortunately, this child's inability to even act scared or sad or happy has ruined this story line. When you couple the silliness of Tyrone and the whole Lapland ordeal, this story line has been doomed.
I also will be glad to see the end of this story.
In what universe is a child with cancer, entertainment?
I agree that this storyline hasn't worked. In fact, it was doomed to failure from the very start. It would have been too awful to let Hope die for the ratings, and would have been very distressing for parents of children with cancer. In fact, the producers were told to show that children could survive so it was more or less certain that Hope would live. Therefore, this storyline was not about suspense but about Fiz and Tyrone dealing with tragedy. Is nobody directing the actors in how to portray emotions? Tyrone comes across as stupid rather than heart-broken and Fiz is spiteful rather than stressed. Putting aside the child actor's limitations, the adult actors could surely have elicited some sympathy from viewers. Wrap it up as soon as possible.
Completely agree with your comments!
I can't really comment on how realistic the illness /cure was but it didn't work for me at all. I agree with Paul above, and I have hated any storylines over the years that have involved children's illnesses and deaths. So I was biased before it even started. The Christmas day thing and subsequent debt has been ridiculous. I don't believe everyone would do that. Even if the worst had happened they still had Ruby to look after.
I think this storyline would have been better if they had waited a few years and Hope was older. Then the actress who plays Hope would have been able to give more than her age currently allows and we would have seen more of the story. But this story ending in death would have been too much, and she isn't "cured" she is in remission which, in the only real-life example of childhood cancer I know, is realistic.
Corrie can't win. For many this storyline dragged out, now people are complaining it's not realistic or "disgusting". I actually enjoyed the storyline and thought it was very well done. I felt tremendously for Fiz and Tyrone and I didn't think the actress playing Hope did that bad of a job. It's very likely she was told "act sick" and to this little girl, sick is being tired and quiet, which, to be honest, is how a lot of little kids react to illness. Maybe it's a good thing this is the limit of her experience.
Neuroblastoma is a nasty form of cancer, but children do survive it if it is caught early enough. Remissions can occur within a few months after treatment is started, especially in the early stages of the disease.
As for Tyrone putting the family in debt. This didn't seem out of character for him as far as I'm concerned. Not everyone would react this way to the situation, but some people do. The contrast between Fiz's practicality and Tryone's tendency to panic and not think things through is an interesting dynamic in their relationship. I'm interested in seeing how they get through this.
I hate agree. Some things were a stretch forme. I don't know of any child who has gone through chemo who are not hospitalized. When hope was admitted for infection, no one seemed gone and she got a lot of visitors.Tyrone cried because there were hairs in the cap or brush or whatever and it wasn't followed up on.
The whole Lapland thing well, surely people on the street could see that it was expensive and helped out to make sick child's Christmas special.
I don't think the child is a bad actor. I don't think she was given anything to act. I think this could have been a poignant storyline, however seems like it was only the means to get to the debt story.
It just hasn't worked for me from start to finish. We hardly ever saw Hope before the cancer storyline so had nothing invested in her as a character. There are SO many loose ends on Corrie at the moment that I fear Tyrone and Fiz's debt will become another - forgotten in two weeks, making the whole Lapland Christmas storyline (in my opinion) a farce.
I Agree with your comments the little actress that played Hope clearly did her best - which wasn't quite good enough- and changing the subject - but relative to loose ends- I don't recall us being told that Dev invited Mary to live in his 3 bed house . That was referred to retrospectively . Where does she sleep? Surely putting her with Norris while Emily is away would bring the opportunity for some fun and distract Mary from her heartache. The last we knew Nortis had Emily's front room as his bedroom leaving a room upstairs for Mary and Emily, whereas Dev's is open plan !
I do recall Dev inviting Mary to live there but like all the other houses, I have no idea where she sleeps. That is the house that Curly lived in and built a little observatory in the loft so perhaps she sleeps there.
The cancer storyline failed in many ways and I agree, the child actor wasn't really up to the task which rendered the whole thing ridiculous. If Corrie, or any soap, is going to take on an issue as emotive as cancer, then it needs to be done with care and the storyline given to those who can express it the best.
I've just looked on Corriepedia and notice that Hope is played by five year old twins. It feels like the character was never meant to be central to this storyline but a catalyst (if that's the word) showing how Fiz and Tyrone cope under pressure.
I think it's unfair to pick on the little girl(s) acting - it's the issue based plotline that annoyed me. We never saw hope beforehand for a start, then they've confused it all and dominated it with the debt 'issue' which actually is far more credible and believable for Tyrone and Fiz's characters.
It's not the actress' fault but children rarely are up to a central storyline like this.
What bothered me most about the storyline was Fiz bullying Tyrone the same way Hayley did with Roy with her cancer storyline.At a time when they're supposed to united in the face of Hope's illness,Fiz accused Tyrone who was calm of not being 'upset enough'over Hope's diagnosis and that he would be more upset if it was Ruby who was ill even though Tyrone loved Hope as his own. She is now 'punishing' him for the debt incurred for Lapland despite the fact Tyrone was doing ir out of love because they believed it would be Hope's last Christmas.
I shudder to think how Fiz would've treated Tyrone and Ruby if her daughter had died of cancer.
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