I watched a TV rerun of the 1999 film Green Mile the other night, and after watching it, and one sequence in particular, it got me to thinking about
something.
I suspect most of us, or maybe even all of us, have seen the film: about
a convict on a prison's death row, who has and uses miraculous healing powers to help those around him.
While the film's plot is somber and grim, it does offer something unusual, and of educational benefit to those who see the film.
Something especially interesting to us.
Early In the film, the chief guard, played by actor Tom Hanks, is portrayed as having severe dysuria (UTI? Kidney stone?), and is shown in one scene performing a very painful urination that is, in his words, like "passing razor blades."
This is noticed by the prisoner-healer, named John Coffey, who persuades the pain-stricken guard to come over to his cell. He then grabs the guard's crotch, and through some supernatural means transfers the pain and cause of the dysuria on to himself. Then the guard, at his next urination, discovers that he has been completely cured and is back to normal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o8urihtz6iWhile it certainly is unusual for a major Hollywood film to show a urination scene, although it is relevant to the plot in this film, there is something else remarkable about
it, namely the fact that showing it in the film at all may have provided a benefit for some in the audience.
Namely, that a likely common and sometimes serious urinary ailment in men is shown in this wide-reaching film: presented to a substantial audience, from those who saw it in its initial theater run in 1999, to those who have seen it over the years as a TV movie, and to those who have bought and watched videos of it.
A little web research gives an estimate of the number of people who have seen this film, Green Mile, since its release, including the urinary pain-and-cure scene. Whether in theaters or through other means such as those mentioned above, research indicates that the total is perhaps around 18,000,000.
So that's around 18,000,000 people whose attention over about
the past twenty-four years has been brought to the issue of painful urination in men. Perhaps some of that number were men with such an issue, and seeing the film convinced them that it was time to go and see a doctor? Perhaps some were wives who took from the film the message that it was time to insist to their husbands with such a condition that they needed to see a doctor?
While it seems quite unlikely that one of the film's original intentions was to perform some sort of public service announcement for the purpose of alert
ing movie audiences to the matter of painful male urination, dysuria, perhaps it in effect did just that through those urination scenes.
And if they were influenced enough by the film to pursue medical advice, of course they would have done so without expecting a miracle cure as in the film, but they still went.
So maybe seeing the Green Mile really has made a difference in the urological situations of some people and their loved ones.
Offhand, I can think of another big-time film in which a urological issue is part of the plot (post if you can think of one), although some TV medical dramas may have served to do this for their audiences.
But one would imagine the opportunity is there for future films to do so, and follow Green Mile's precedent.
It might be just enough to push some into finally taking the action of seeing a doctor, for symptoms they have had for a while.
So maybe such individuals will not merely be entertained by such a film, but also be inspired by it to seek medical help for a condition they have that is highlighted in the film, and now brought to their attention.