Netflix "Afflicted" - ME included

Agreed. He's just sorry that they've been called out for it. May the lot of them never work again, and be forced to retrain in an industry they hate.

 

I'd also be interested to get comment from Netflix. Do they think that they have any ethical responsibilities relating to the content they put out, and its impact on the lives of others?

 

This article was updated a couple of hours ago, and now contains a fair amount of new material. It's now entitled How Netflix’s ‘Afflicted’ Failed the Chronic Illness Community, with the subtitle "According to participants in the docuseries, producers promised compassion but delivered exploitation instead." The article is also listed as one of the main stories on HuffPost's front page, so it's getting lots of exposure.

 

Who funded this series?

 

It's a 'Netflix Original', so I assumed it was funded by Netflix?

 

Here's an article by Julie Rehmeyer posted on today's LA Times website:

Netflix is televising prejudice against the chronically ill

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-e...series-on-chronic-illness-20180917-story.html


Also today, I believe, Ben HsuBorger of #MEAction has started the following petition:

Remove "Afflicted" Docuseries from Netflix Now

https://my.meaction.net/petitions/r...tflix-now?bucket=&source=twitter-share-button

I'm not usually one to sign on-line petitions, but the message in this one is so clear and well-crafted, I just might. When I first viewed it, there were six signatures. Now approximastely half an hour later, 86 signatures.

 

It's available in Norway at least, but I think it's mostly in the US Afflicted has caused an uproar? In Norway, and maybe Europe in general, there isn't much talk about things like electricity sensitivity, lyme or mold. Or spending that much money om treatments, legit treatments or not. So someone watching it over here will likely just shake their head and think "only in america".

 

Same here. But, I discovered that if I try the Google Cache version, I can read it - the formatting is all over the place, but it is at least possible to read the article. See if it works for you (I use Firefox, am not sure if this will work for all browsers): http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...20180917-story.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

(Scroll down to get to the actual article.)

 

This was excellent!

For those who can't access it, here is how it starts off:

Ableism kills.

I’ve watched my fellow patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, suffer and even die from the ignominy of a suspect disease. Patients often can’t get effective medical care, their disability insurance applications are rejected, their marriages are torn apart, they’re abandoned by their families, they end up in poverty and food insecurity, and sometimes they die, occasionally from the disease itself, more often fromsuicide.

As terrible as this litany is, nothing has brought home to me the dangers of prejudice against those who are chronically ill like the new Netflix documentary series “Afflicted.”

She gives several good examples on how TV shows like this is harming patients and how "Skepticism chokes the flow of research dollars".

 

The Guardian -

https://www.theguardian.com/society...sorry-netflix-we-dont-need-another-freak-show

 

Opinion piece in the Guardian based on Rehmeyer's article:

Frances Ryan - Sorry, Netflix: we don't need another freak show
When groups are stereotyped on TV, it does not just reflect the prejudices of the time but can be key in perpetuating them. Distorted depictions can be particularly damaging for people with chronic illnesses – who are typically disbelieved and told: “‘It’s all in your head,” but this goes for many minorities whose lives are used as entertainment fodder for the majority.

 

It's also cached a little better here:
https://web.archive.org/web/2018091...series-on-chronic-illness-20180917-story.html

 

Further to who funded this docuseries, who provided the idea, and the list of diseases to cover?

 

https://my.meaction.net/petitions/remove-afflicted-docuseries-from-netflix-now?utm_source=#MEAction+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d94dc82b88-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_18_08_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c4e623c366-d94dc82b88-351571945&mc_cid=d94dc82b88&mc_eid=c1fdea04b1

nearly 4500 signatures now

 

Maya Dusenbery in Pacific Standard: An open letter accuses Netflix' "Afflicted" of abandoning ethics and science

It's hard to imagine that Afflicted would have turned out the way it did if chronically ill people had been involved at all levels of the production and editing process.

Instead, a show that had great potential to be a major step forward in raising awareness about the plight of patients unlucky enough to be suffering from conditions that medicine doesn't yet understand became, as one viewer put it, "every chronic illness patient's worst nightmare."

 

The media often generates interest through controversy, conflict, and sensationalism. Manipulating, or persuading their audience towards certain view points and emotions. "Afflicted" is one such example.


On a much smaller scale I have experienced the media whipping up controversy where there was none, misquoting statements, and misrepresenting an article as their own. Not all are like this, but I have been burned by some of my experiences with this profession.

 

Who are the medical advisers for this docuseries, and do they have ties to the disability insurance industry?

A crowd funded class action law suit about this issue might be a way to go. Some lawyers might do this on a contingency basis.

 

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/new...cipants-say-led-to-cyber-bullying-092818.html