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Medical realism
May. 21st, 2006 09:55 amI've complained (elsewhere, quietly) before about the lack of medical realism in a lot of fics. For instance, people in comas have breathing tubes in and, no matter how nice the dramatic effect is, will not be able to suddenly wake up, say "Oh Giles/Buffy/Willow/Spike/whoever, my near-death experience has made me realize we are meant to be together!" and shag right there on the ICU bed.
Obviously this is not a problem unique to fanfiction, though possibly it's exacerbated there by a certain devil-may-care attitude to details. (I'm guilty of that on other fronts - I have only a vague idea of the layout of the Summers' house, the school, or Sunnydale in general, and I don't generally feel it matters enough to spend ages researching, but this may jar more conscientious or canon-savvy readers.)
And of course, Hollywood has medical advisers to help out. But I was intrigued to see this article on MSN today, arguing that inaccurate portrayal of medical events including comas can be harmful by giving people false expectations regarding outcome. (ETA: link removed as is now defunct.)
Obviously this is not a problem unique to fanfiction, though possibly it's exacerbated there by a certain devil-may-care attitude to details. (I'm guilty of that on other fronts - I have only a vague idea of the layout of the Summers' house, the school, or Sunnydale in general, and I don't generally feel it matters enough to spend ages researching, but this may jar more conscientious or canon-savvy readers.)
And of course, Hollywood has medical advisers to help out. But I was intrigued to see this article on MSN today, arguing that inaccurate portrayal of medical events including comas can be harmful by giving people false expectations regarding outcome. (ETA: link removed as is now defunct.)
