Ostomy on the big screen - Ed Tummers

One of the main goals of our ostomy support groups is to help to eliminate the stigma surrounding wearing an artificial bowel on the outside of your abdomen after having had your large intestine amputated. 

The 2018 film White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt, is the first major Hollywood film that I know of that shows scenes of a person living with an ostomy.

Joy Hooper, United Ostomy Associations of America’s 2019 WOCN of the Year was enthusiastic in her response to the film and said of the screenwriter, “I appreciate his way of displaying life with an ostomy. He did a superb job. He was able to show what many consider a negative aspect of life respectfully.”

You can get details about the plot elsewhere.  The first scene including the ostomy is shown above when Rick arrives home from the hospital with his father.  Hardly anybody would notice, but we can instantly recognize the ostomy pouch hanging below his shirt as he makes no attempt to hide it.

The next ostomy scene is a normal bathroom event that all of us would recognize.  The camera shows liquid contents of an ostomy pouch being emptied into the toilet.  The camera then zooms out to show Rick kneeling next to the toilet.  When he finishes draining, he stands up and removes the pouch to replace it with a fresh pouch. 

The next part of this bathroom scene helps to make the point that these are medically-necessary life-saving devices and how people without insurance plans suffer unnecessary financial hardship.  Rick turns and asks his father for a replacement pouch.  His father responds by telling him to rinse it out instead because these bags are expensive. 

The third scene involving Rick and his father shows the emotional stress that some people suffer.  In this scene, Rick gets into an argument with his father.  His father responds that they are doing just fine as a family.  Rick replies “Oh, really?.  My sister is a drug addict and I sh*t in a bag!”

Andy Weiss, one of the movie’s screenwriters, spoke numerous times with Rick while working on the screenplay. When asked why the ostomy scenes were included he said, “The ostomy scenes are the core of showing Rick’s vulnerability and what I was hoping to get from it was the sympathy and empathy that he deserved but never received from law enforcement or the people around him at that time.” Rick insisted that his ostomy should be part of the movie saying, “We included the ostomy scenes because I thought it was important to show young kids and adults that you can go through this and still be ok.”

And get through it he did. Rick says that the ostomy proved to be no hindrance either socially or in his daily dealings. A year and a half after his original surgery, Dr. Bolz performed a successful revision.

I recommend this movie.  It can be found on Crave TV on demand and other streaming services.

Warning: Rick is a young teenager involved with drugs and guns.  The movie contains scenes of violence and includes profanity.

https://ostomyconnection.com/news-and-culture/white-boy-rick-movie-ostomy

https://www.ostomy.org/hollywoods-first-ostomy/

Ed Tummers

January 20, 2020