Super-Scooper Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly reports that the Law & Order character Anita Van Buren – played by S. Epatha Merkerson – will be diagnosed with cancer this season . While I find this to be a rather distressing turn for the character, it provides Epatha with an excellent chance to bring some depth to the role.
You can read Michael Ausiello’s full column which includes information on other shows here.
Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.
Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.
So are they killing her off OR just giving her this "life's hurdle" to jump through??
ReplyDeleteI hope that Anita recovers from whatever kind of cancer they decide to give her. After having lost two of my siblings at a very young age to cancer, it's even hard to see fictional characters die from this horrible illness.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya.
ReplyDeleteI'll just leave my analysis and save my fingers. Heh. But, hey, at least, the woman finally has a subplot, again. Whoo.
ReplyDeletehttp://community.livejournal.com/same_law/660322.html
Knowing that Wolf occasionally uses the show to clue the general public into certain issues, my guess is that someone (possibly Merkerson herself) noted that black women tend to have poor outcomes from breast CA because they refuse treatment due to a bad meme that black women have mastectomies for cancer and that it leads to their deaths. This, sadly, makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy because many do wait until their stage IV to allow intervention and the prognosis is not so great. Merkerson/Van Buren is a role model so the storyline could have a positive impact
ReplyDeleteTo the last Anon: Good insight, as I didn't consider on the racial issues and how it can be instructive (SVU usually does the PSAs). Merkerson is a role model, so there is that factor.
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly sure she probably hinted at it, anyway. She's a confident woman, and speaks her mind, to be sure.
Off to credit you in my link.
I can remember Anita talking to the detectives about how concerned women are that they'll get breast cancer many seasons ago. I can't remember which season but it was when Logan was still on. And that's not to say that her diagnosis will be breast cancer but when I read this, that was my first thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info All Things... now, NBC, now about some promo pics from the Mothership to go along with the ones from SVU... lol...
Yeah, "Second Opinion," which was Jack's first episode. I did reference that in my LJ link. And, yes, it would be ironic and foreboring, as it was, already.
ReplyDelete