Miss Sharon Jones! Back at the Movies, The Cancer Edition

Tina 0:00

Welcome to episode 27 of the cancer pod. Today we're reviewing Ms. Sharon Jones, a documentary from 2015. I'm Dr. Tina Keer and one movie that will inevitably make me cry is the notebook.

Leah 0:14

And I'm Dr. Le Sherman and one movie that always makes me cry is El.

Tina 0:20

And we're two naturopathic doctors who practice integrative cancer care

Leah 0:24

But we're not your doctors

Tina 0:26

This is for education entertainment and informational purposes only

Leah 0:31

do not apply any of this information without first speaking to your doctor

Tina 0:35

The views and opinions expressed on this podcast by the hosts and their guests are solely their own

Leah 0:41

Welcome to the cancer pod

Introduction: Ms Sharon Jones, a documentary

Tina 0:55

Hey Leia,

Leah 0:56

Hey Tina.

Tina 0:57

we're back at the movies.

Leah 0:58

Yes we are. And this is a good one.

1:00

Yeah, I hadn't heard of this. So, uh, thanks for introducing me to, Ms. Sharon Jones.

Leah 1:06

Yeah. And I know that you're not one to watch films that potentially can make you cry. So I'm curious to, to hear your thoughts on this movie.

Tina 1:16

From the opening. I thought it was gonna be, you know, a real tear jerker, but it turned out to be more of a story of her life, which I think was well told. So today we're gonna talk about the movie itself, what it's about. Of course it's about Ms. Sharon Jones, but what we liked about it, what we might have changed or what we're curious about, what we didn't like about it, and then kind of talk about whether the movie's relatable on what levels and who might enjoy it.

Leah 1:40

And what part sticks out the most. And I, we can, that'll just kinda be interjected throughout because that's the way we do this

Tina 1:47

Yep. Unscripted.

Leah 1:49

semi scripted on my end. I have my notes. I do take notes. I didn't take a lot of notes on this one. And I know you said you didn't either. Cuz I just, I really wanted to watch it because I. Knew only a little about Sharon Jones before watching the movie. And so I, I really wanted to focus on it. I guess we could start by saying like the movie was filmed or it was released in 2015 and you can watch it on canopy. If you have a library card and you can watch, you could watch it for free on canopy. You could watch it for free on tuby, but they have ads. And then you can also watch it on Amazon prime for just a few bucks.

Tina 2:25

And I think you can find it on apple TV and there was maybe one other that was more obscure.

Leah 2:31

Okay.

Tina 2:31

Mm-hmm

Who is Ms. Sharon Jones?

Leah 2:32

That's where you can find it. So who was Sharon Jones?

2:36

She was, Anne R and B soul singer who got her start like back in New York, like in the 1980s.

Tina 2:43

Mm-hmm

Leah 2:43

So she was around for a really long time, but was kind of finding it hard to, to really make it.

Tina 2:48

Yeah. So for decades, she was singing any gig. She could find including weddings to make the bills, which was pretty profound. I mean, I, her story was kind of a rags to Rich's story, although we never really got a sense of how far she climbed her success level from a monetary perspective, we never got a sense of.

3:04

Right, right. and she says like one of the reasons that made it so hard because she. Like fireball of talent, um, was that she was told that she was too fat, too black, too short and too old. Yeah. And I think she might've been told that in the 1980s is what I surmised.

Leah 3:22

Well, yeah, no, it's ridiculous. And that's just kind of like, you know, that's, that's kind of like an aspect of the music business that is just really.

Tina 3:29

Yeah. Um, but she was kind of known as like the female James Brown Which was just, you know, that was her persona. I mean,

3:36

the music is very much of that era, that sort of James Brown era, but, um, just her persona on stage. I mean, she kicks off her heels and she's dancing and she's just like, That just watching her performances in the film. It's amazing. I mean.

Tina 3:52

Yeah. The amount of energy that the music gives her is amazing to watch. She's just under five feet tall. So she is rather short

Leah 3:59

Oh, that's what my note was four and a quarter.

Tina 4:03

mm-hmm and she would dance in bare feet. But man, she didn't look small on stage.

Leah 4:07

No, no. And I, and that comes up a few times. Like people just think she's a lo larger in person because she's so larger than life, you know?

Tina 4:15

Yeah.

The first sign: Jaundice

Leah 4:16

So they kind of introduced you to her music initially, and then it kind of cuts and they talk about how her eyes turn yellow and she ends up going to the doctor.

Tina 4:26

Yeah. So her symptom, her presenting symptom was jaundice, which shows up in the whites of the eyes.

4:32

Yeah. So. They, they go to the doctor and then the doctor says something and mentioned something about cancer and she's with her manager. And the manager was like, we hadn't been told it was like cancer at that

Diagnosis: Ampullary cancer

4:46

point. And it turned out to be what's called an ampullary cancer, which is right. The exit of the pancreatic duct into the small intestine. And then I remember like looking at the time. On the movie, because the next scene she's getting her hair cut off and that's four minutes in,

Tina 5:12

Yeah. Yeah. So they did kind of a, uh, almost like a little summary, like a fast forward in the beginning and then panned back and slowed us down and took us through what was going on month to month. So she was diagnosed in about, was it October?

Leah 5:25

I don't know. I didn't write down the months, but it just kind of starts off with, we don't see her get the surgery.

Tina 5:31

No.

What's a Whipple procedure?

5:32

She she's, she gets a Whipple.

Tina 5:34

She has a Whipple procedure, which is an intense and very extensive removal of basically the upper GI, right. It's usually half or so of the pancreas. It's the gallbladder, it's part of the small intestine. And sometimes it's even part of the. Lower aspect of the stomach. So there's a lot going on a lot is remove, it's a, it's a tough surgery to overcome. Usually intense nutrition has to be done. And, and sometimes even,

5:58

all of the calories are gotten directly into the bloodstream, through an Ivy

Leah 6:02

and that kind of brings us to like, she's really fortunate, right? Because she has this long time friend, Megan, who is a holistic nutritionist. And so she takes Sharon in. She actually brings her to her home and Sharon Springs, New York, and

6:19

takes care of her, like gives her, you know, prepares food for her and make sure that she's nutritionally sound.

Leah 6:24

and I think that's incredible what a gift to be able to. Offer someone she's a musician, you know, Sharon's a musician. It's not like she has all this, you know, health insurance. I mean, she's, she's been a working musician like her whole life. I thought that was like really incredible to have that available, you know, to have somebody take you into their home.

Tina 6:47

Yeah, just for the record. She doesn't. Have children of her own, she's got, you know, nieces, nephews, and even great nieces and great nephews. And she's close to her family who are apparently down in South Carolina.

Leah 6:59

Yeah. She went to Georgia

Sharon Springs & Cooperstown

Leah 7:00

and South Carolina at one point. So some family I think in Augusta. And then she's got family in South Carolina.

Tina 7:05

Okay. But she gets her actual treatment in upstate New York and Sharon Springs and in the Cooperstown area.

Leah 7:11

Yeah. In Cooperstown, I think because that's where the hospital is in Cooperstown.

Tina 7:14

Can I interject since we're talking about Cooperstown?

Leah 7:17

Yes.

Tina 7:17

Of course, one of my favorite things was to see upstate New York in the background of those pictures. Cuz I grew up fairly close to Cooperstown, New York.

Leah 7:25

Okay. So one of my favorite things, I really loved seeing the scenes around Sharon Springs and like when she goes to the farm, it's because, you know, you know me, I mean, my goal is to live in an area, kind of like that and to have animals and yeah. Upstate New York is like, it's on one of my. My lists and Sharon Springs is one of my places I really wanna visit. So I thought that was really neat as well. Cuz it's, it looks like a beautiful area.

Tina 7:52

Yeah, all upstate in central New York is quite beautiful. Sharon Springs itself is a little village. I mean, it's, I don't think it has more than a population of a thousand people. So it's this little tiny thing, but the fact that it's called Sharon Springs and this is Ms. Sharon Jones also didn't

Leah 8:06

I know that did not escape me either anyway. So it, it shows the time, you know, that that she's spending up there. It kind of cuts to the scene where. She's getting her port accessed and she makes this face and I actually laughed. And then she goes, I can taste it. And like I knew that's what she was gonna say. Cause it's like that certain face that like, whether it's disgusted or just like weird, it's such a strange taste when your port is flushed saline.

8:38

I think I've mentioned before. For me, it was, um, I tasted like garlic water.

Tina 8:41

Hm.

Leah 8:42

But yeah. I mean, some people are really like gross output, but anyways, some people really don't like the taste, but yeah, at that point, when I saw that face, I actually laughed cuz I was like, I know that face.

Tina 8:54

mm-hmm

Leah 8:55

And then she kind of goes into like some of the side effects that she's getting, where her, her, her nails and the palms of her hands and the souls of feet are all darkening.

Tina 9:04

Mm mm-hmm

Leah 9:06

which is something that, you know, I think we often talk to our patients about like, this is, you know, a potential side effect and then you see her putting her fingertips in the ice as well,

Tina 9:16

yep. Yep. Trying to lessen that delivery of the drug.

Leah 9:20

Yeah.

9:21

So, you know, w whether it's lessening any potential neuropathy, cause they don't talk about what she's getting.

Leah 9:26

I mean, it just, you know, it's a lot of stuff that I think some of us can relate to.

Tina 9:30

Yeah. And because she was given a stage two diagnosis and an aggressive surgery, we can presume that the chemotherapy was also somewhat aggressive because they were going for a curative effect.

9:43

as opposed to just a palliative effect where you're, you know, you're just suppressing a disease process that's present and you're not going to get rid of all of it.

Leah 9:50

Oh, for sure. And you know, and they talk about, you know, like, How it was an aggressive cancer.

The Dap Kings: The band family

Leah 9:56

So, you know, there are little interviews throughout their interviews with the DAP Kings, which that's her backup band and, they're all family like the, you know, Sharon's they're sister. I mean, they're just like, they're so close and you see the effect of what she's going through on not only emotionally, but their livelihood is the band. and she just wants to get back out there and perform because if she's not out on stage, nobody's making money.

Tina 10:28

Yeah, that was an interesting aspect on her shoulders was of course the band, because she's the front for that band and the DAP Kings rely on her for their own paychecks and also her family too. She's the youngest of six children. And she has supported everybody

Leah 10:42

Mm-hmm

Tina 10:43

that is included in the movie as one of her trials, you know? One of the things that was going on. And it's interesting. It's almost that her struggles. With relationships actually took precedence over her struggles with the treatment. The treatment happened in the, the context of all of those other struggles. I, it seemed like, so we didn't see her recovering from surgery. We didn't see the details there was no scenes where she was nauseous and maybe she never was nauseous. But what I'm saying is it felt like there was a lot of emphasis on the, the relationships understandably, and the challenges it brought to those relationships where she said, you know, what am I just. A money machine to everybody. Right. It was interesting to watch those dynamics of her, between her manager or the DAP Kings and kind of questioning, like, what is our relationship then if you don't allow me the space to be ill right now,

Leah 11:47

Yeah, no. And I think it kind of like,

Treatment: Groundhog Day

Leah 11:50

this is like what kind of struck me with this movie as well as the previous one TIG, which we talked about in the last episode is you get a cancer diagnosis. And for the patient in some ways, time stops and then you go through treatment and you know, this is my experience is it's like this Groundhog day, you're just kind of living treatment to treatment. You're just trying to get through it. And life goes on. Life is going on around you, whether it's, you know, you still have your family to take care of whether your family is, you know, Your spouse and your children or your family is your, your bass player and your drama player. all this stuff is going on. I don't know. It's a lot. It is in some ways, like we saw in the first movie, like life goes on and it seemed. To be both positive and negative. And in this movie, like life goes on, she's constantly thinking like this all has to end by this date because I've got an album coming out and I need to be on tour and I need to be on stage, you know, at one point they're like, she thinks she's getting her last chemo and they're like, no, we want you to keep getting more chemo. And she's still like, you know, like, She's got things that she's need, she needs to do. Life goes on. So in some ways where, you know, it feels like everything stops. It really doesn't. And if there aren't shows there isn't any money and, you know, there are insurance issues and all of this stuff. So that's like the negative part of how life goes on. And then there's like the positive part of going on of, we just got booked on Ellen. We're gonna do the. Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, you know, like all of that is also, yeah, life is going on and this is what's what, what continues. And it's, it's, kind of this reminder of,

Leah: The challenge of "normal life"

Leah 13:40

and I I'm talking about myself now. is remembering like when I went through treatment to continue to the best of my ability to live my life. We find ourselves in these situations where if you know, we do complete treatment, you know, then you get a scan in three months, living scan to scan. Don't make plans beyond three months because I don't know what the heck's gonna be happening in three months. Don't make plans beyond six months because I don't know what's gonna be happening. You know, it's like, it's this, it's, it's a hard thing to balance, right?

Tina 14:15

Yeah, her dealing with it was somewhat interesting because she had her crew and their studio down in New York city. She removed herself physically from that area and was in upstate in Cooperstown to get her treatment. And later in the movie at we find out that she ignored her reading of. Lyrics and memorizing them and all the things for when she gets back,

14:37

almost like she was trying to remove this segment

Tina 14:40

And she went through her day to day and it went, went from talk show to talk show, basically. Right. And like when she was laying down

Leah 14:45

Oh. And she went through her day about like, I start my day with this show and she goes like every single show, you know? And then she's watching like, You know the view and she watches the talk and then she watches Ellen and you know, like, yeah.

Tina 14:58

And there was a little sense of, although the band is

The Dap Kings: It's complicated

Tina 15:02

her family, there was a little sense of them not. Coming through for her, especially when she just wanted to celebrate and go out to dinner with the whole crew and that got rescheduled. So she was gonna celebrate, she's gonna be on the Ellen show. She tells her backup singers, they're all, you know, excited for her. And then she goes to tell, tell the band and she thinks they're gonna celebrate at a dinner. And they're like, oh, we'll celebrate. When we do the show in LA. And she was looking to it in a. I'm back here we go. Everything's normal. Let's just celebrate the normalcy of moving forward. And she took it really hard for just rescheduling of a dinner. She took it pretty emotionally and, and, and it was pretty big blow up. Right. But that's because it represented so much more to her.

Leah 15:42

right.

Tina 15:43

So I thought that was really cleverly done and it, it almost implied a, a bit. To me at that moment, I'm thinking to myself, where were they while she was up in Sharon Springs? Did they check on her? We, we don't have a sense of how often they touched base with her. You know what I mean? Like I kind of didn't, I didn't know. I mean, clearly the woman who she was staying with was. Instrumental and incredibly helpful in every sense of the word, a true friend. And then I wondered about the band. Did they check in? I mean, she said they all checked in and said, can you loan me some money? Which was a little bit harsh to hear. I thought, anyways, I thought that was kind of odd that they all reached out and said, can you loan me some money? Every one of them, they included that aspect of their, but they didn't conclude any other communication between the band members and her while she was there.

Leah 16:26

Yeah. And I guess I just kind of assumed that there were other communications too, but yeah, that really wasn't covered.

Tina 16:33

Anyways. It was just something I noticed. And I thought to myself, you know, when people are in that situation, checking in might be a good idea.

Leah 16:40

Yeah, no. And you know, it's like, and I, and I felt for the band, you know, it's like when this is how you make a living, I mean, it was scary for them and not to be crafts, but it was scary for them on I'm sure on, you know, multiple levels. I mean, this is their family. Who's going through this great unknown and it's also their livelihood. I can't imagine the pressure of that, that you know, of knowing that these people rely on you. I mean, that's, but I mean, that happens on so many levels with people going through treatment.

Tina 17:09

I always say what it takes when people are under the pressure of. Cancer, especially. And I, I always thought this of couples in my office, but maybe I could think of it in a broader sense of family dynamics. I'm not privy to what goes on in people's homes. Right. But generally speaking, it amplifies a lot of things that are already present in the dynamics of a relationship. So if I'm seeing a couple in my office and they're already rather close, I can see them come together and, and become closer. I've also seen couples sit almost back to back in two chairs in my office where they're clearly, this is not, not an easy time for them and their dynamics were already in place. And so what I'm saying is when she gets her diagnosis, there's already plenty of family dynamics in place with the band that probably just amplified with the diagnosis.

Leah 17:58

I mean, they do care about her, you know, she's out there and she's making plans and she's like looking to the future because that's what, that's what she needs. Right. And the band is worried, you know, she has that, that, that scare at one point where she goes in to get her CT scan and they think they see something. And then she has to get an upper endoscopy to, you know, further explore it. And, you know, you can see the concern of everyone around her thinking that this is done and it, you know, it turned out not to be anything at that time.

Tina 18:28

Yeah. And it's, it's, it's a really interesting kind of line for everyone to walk between. You're gonna be okay. She's the strongest woman. I know if anyone can do this, it's gonna be her to some level of denial that it could go a different direction. Do you know what I mean? So there was a, in my view, I, when I saw these people, they showed clips of band members. Sometimes I thought. Do they realize like this could go either way. I didn't have a sense that the band saw that except for, at the end, with the young woman who. Kind of hits her hard, like, oh my gosh, this could come back and we could lose her. Like she emoted and her manager also Sharon's manager also emoted. I think he knew the story the whole time, but I felt a little bit like the band members might have put on blinders to any other scenario, except her coming back. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they didn't include the footage.

19:19

I only have an hour and a half to make an assessment, but that's what I was left with.

Leah 19:22

I don't know. I, maybe I was just putting into what. They were saying, because the, the, I mean, the movie is filmed in real time. Like they're planning on releasing this documentary. They don't talk about it being a documentary, but you know, that, that is obviously there are cameras, places, and these aren't reenactments,

The show must go on

Leah 19:38

but I mean, eventually she gets her last chemo.

Tina 19:40

It was new year's Eve.

Leah 19:41

New year's Eve 2013, and then they flash back to 2006, new year's Eve and it shows her backstage. She actually went on stage after learning of her brother's death. Basically the whole thing was like, you know, the show must go on and she goes out on stage and she freaking kills it, you know? And, and she's had tragedy in her life. She at one point talks about her mom at that point. I think I, I did tear up a little bit.

Tina 20:05

Mm-hmm

Leah 20:06

Just because of the things that are happening in her life, you know, all of the, you know, the album being released and all of that.

Tina 20:11

She implied, her mom went through chemotherapy as well.

Leah 20:14

Yeah. Because yeah, there's that one point where she's like, you know, she looks in the mirror and she's like, I see, you know, my mom lost her hair, you know, and I like, she was seeing her mom. Looking at herself. So yeah. So early 2014, her album is released, right. This much anticipated album is released. She goes to LA and there are like on all the talk shows they're on Kona. O'Brien they're on Jimmy Fallon. All she wanted to do when she's on Ellen is she's like, can I dance with Ellen? And she gets to dance with Ellen. Right. And they show that clip. And then she goes for that CT scan that

The dreaded bell

Leah 20:45

I mentioned, and then she rings the bell, right? The dreaded bell.

Tina 20:51

why do you call it dreaded?

Leah 20:53

Well, there are many people who never ring the bell and you're sitting in infusion and you hear somebody complete treatment and you ring the bell. They ring the bell when they complete treatment and people sit there knowing that they will never. Reach that point in their treatment. I used to tell my patients who would express, you know, being upset with, with the whole bell thing. There was a bell at the exit to the cancer center. And I was like, what's stopping you from ringing that damn bell. Every time I leave the place, ring it. When you come in announce that you're here, I'm like, I, I mean it, you know, reframe the bell. And I, you know, my mom even than like, When she completed her treatment, she rang the bell. And then when she had to go back on treatment, she just, she hated it. She hated that damn bell.

Tina 21:38

Oh, it symbolizes the end of treatment and there are people who don't have an end to their treatment. Mm-hmm

Leah 21:46

So this is still January, 2014. I mean, she did a whirlwind of interviews and then gets the CT scan, rings the bell. And then February 6th, 2014, she sells out the beacon theater in New York city. You know, it kind of shows her, you know, getting ready to go out. And she said something that was something like, you know,

Comeback show: NYC

Leah 22:08

she's trying to keep going. And it's a lot, there was a lot writing on, on her and then, and then she goes out on agent. I lost it. I just burst out crying. that's, that's the, that's the moment that I, that I cried in the movie. Was when she, and just thinking about it, of her going out on stage and just, it was incredible to watch her. It really was. I mean, what a freaking was, one of her, um, one of the, the DS during her interview her voice as being like a train. I mean, it freaking comes at you and it just, yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing to see that performance.

Tina 22:48

Mm-hmm

Leah 22:49

So when she goes up on stage, She forgets the lyrics

Tina 22:53

Yeah.

Leah 22:54

for the fir you know, the song like she comes out. I mean, it's kind of like, it's really charming. Like she forgets the lyrics and, you know, she just finished treatment and she's dancing and she's just like working so hard. And in previous scenes, you see her like walking up the stairs to Daptone studios and she's just walking real slow. And I'm feeling like you're feeling it as she's going up those stairs. You're like, oh man, that's a lot of stairs. And, but there she is out on stage and it's like, everything gets left behind and she is just so present.

Tina 23:28

it's like, it's like, she's a woman possessed. I mean, and, and I think like in a good way, I don't even possessed by bad things, but a woman possessed in that, like it hearkens back to the scene where she goes into the small church makes it up the stairs, barely gets up the stairs, makes her way in and then else out a song, a solo to the group. And by the end of her song, you can't stop her. She's just, she's dancing. She's whipping around. She's just. Dry rating. She's got so much energy. She's going James Brown in the church, but it was similar. Right. That's what happens when she gets on stage.

Leah 24:04

Right. everything gets left behind and I mean, yeah, her energy just came through. Through the screen. I mean, it just was like, I mean, I was like on the couch and I'm like dancing and moving my feet and I'm like, totally like, oh my God. Yeah. That church scene was amazing.

Tina 24:21

Yeah. And that's all I can think of when she went on stage that time when she's what, five or six weeks out from her last chemotherapy And then she gets as much energy. It's just not even, I mean, it's amazing that she would have that much energy. So clearly it's coming from somewhere other than physical

Leah 24:36

Oh, yeah, no, I mean it, yeah, it, it was incredible. You know, it, it just kind of shows like how, how, like I said, like life goes on, right? I mean, you see her, she's working out, she's going to the gym, she's drinking her little green juices all throughout, you know, you see her with a cup, you see her, you know, with a jar, which I thought was really, really, cute And you know, that she got like her, her friend made a smooth of the, and put it in a little Mason jar. She goes off to treatment. So, you know, she's you see her, you know, it was January, 2015 and she's just doing everything she can to, you know, to, to keep going.

Recurrence of cancer

Tina 25:12

They cut to a newscast where the local newscaster is talking about how the, a small tumor was removed from her liver. So this is a recurrence that we know about at the very end of the movie.

Leah 25:22

Right.

Tina 25:24

And that's after that you see her drink in the grain drink and running on a treadmill and taking care of herself again and getting back out there.

Leah 25:30

Right. I'm assuming that, you know, she had some procedure to,

Tina 25:34

She had a surgery to remove

Leah 25:35

oh, she had the surgery.

Tina 25:36

Yeah. The I'm sorry. So the newscast talks about how she had a surgery to remove a small tumor that was on her liver. And at the end of the movie, we assume everything is gonna carry on and she will get back up on stage cuz that's what she does.

Leah 25:50

Right. And then the closing credit song is I'm still here.

Tina & Leah rate the movie

Tina 26:06

So that brings us to, uh, our rating overall rating.

Leah 26:09

Our rating system. Right? So our overall rating system, we're just, we're just doing Lotus pods on a scale of zero to five, five being the best. Tina, what's your rating

Tina 26:19

I'm gonna give it three and a half.

Leah 26:22

really?

Tina 26:23

Yeah, I liked her. I thought she was compelling, but I'm thinking of it from a documentary perspective. I feel like there was a lot left out in the various relationships that I was curious about and if they had a camera following them everywhere, I kind of wanted more. I wanted more in depth. Look at what was going on.

Leah 26:40

Oh, interesting. Yeah, I'm giving it a five.

Tina 26:44

wow. You liked a more than TIG.

Leah 26:45

There was just something about it. I guess it was the goats at Beakman farm in Sharon Springs. that? That's at least one Lotus pod. No, it's, you know, the music, the struggle that she had, like from the very beginning, like her story is just, it's an incredible story and yeah, I really, I really did love this movie because I, I went into it. I cried watching the trailer.

Tina 27:11

Mm.

Leah 27:12

But then when I watched the movie, the part that I cried the most at was the happiest point of the movie. Like the film by itself, I feel is kind of a feel good movie

Tina 27:24

Yeah.

Leah 27:25

with, like you said, with the cancer is kind of,

Tina 27:28

mm-hmm

Leah 27:29

I mean, it's there, but. It's about this woman that I wish I knew about more, you know, when she was alive, like I kicked myself, I lived in New York in the eighties and the nineties, like, I'm sure I saw the name of the band playing and I just going about my life. My life was going on. It wasn't something that was like on my radar. I love that this movie introduced me to someone who just sounds like she was just this incredible woman and made incredible music.

Tina 27:59

Yeah, her life gets five pods for sure.

Leah 28:02

Yeah. So, so I, I gave, I gave five Lotus pods and then, okay, so then our, our second rating is our tissue rating. Tina, on a scale of did not open that tissue box to, I don't know,

Tina 28:16

Honestly, I think the only time I got teared up was when she was standing up at a table and the entire band was there and she gave thanks to certain people. So it was a, it was a moment of gratitude that moved me in the whole

Leah 28:30

Yeah. You know what actually that part too, for me as well. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So the, the parts that kind of made us emotional were, were positive things, right?

Tina 28:42

Yeah. I'm thinking my three and a half is, I think I was very much curious about more family interaction. I guess I wanted more depth. That's what I left. I was left wanting for depth of relationships.

Leah 28:54

Oh, interesting.

Tina 28:55

So that tissue rating, I guess I give it, I gotta give it half a tissue. Because I, I probably got choked up around that moment.

Leah 29:03

And I think there were, there were three times that I got choked up at different levels. And so I'll give it three tissues. Yeah cause tissues. I mean, we could go over to a hundred, right. I mean, I don't know how many, how many's in a box. I got a box right here. I can't see. But yeah, I mean, my, this was a three tissue for me, but, you know, and it's, so it was like, when she talked about her mother, when she gave the speech and then when she went on stage.

Tina 29:31

Oh, okay. Which you went on stage.

Leah 29:33

Yeah, because it, they don't talk about it. At the end of the movie, the movie was released. In 2015 and when it was released, I believe I found an article in rolling stone that I can link to. But I think that it said that they announced that her cancer had come back at the, at the release of the documentary.

Tina 29:57

Oh, Okay.

Leah 29:58

So that's why it doesn't really say anything about it at the end. Right.

The unofficial theme song

Tina 30:03

Right. All right, Leia, this brings us to the moment, the moment everyone's been waiting for out

Leah 30:08

Oh, yeah, this is the whole reason people listen to this podcast is for the unofficial theme song. So we didn't have one for the last movie, but after watching this movie, the song is what's on the closing credits. I'm still here and that song is gonna be for the entire pod. So for all three episodes, that is our unofficial theme song. Sharon J. Jones and the DAP Kings. I'm still here. The minute that song came on, I was like, this is our song. I think that song also just kind of representative that whole life goes on. I'm still here, you know, like that whole attitude that she had throughout the movie.

30:43

And so we will put a link to it in our show notes, and we'll put link to the video on our website.

Tina 30:50

And it's interesting. It also represents the fact that when you do a, a documentary of a personal cancer story or any publication that goes on that lives, even after you're gone, whenever that happens.

Leah 31:01

Exactly. Exactly. So however many years, the movie came out in 15 that's was that seven, almost seven years ago.

Tina 31:10

Yeah.

Leah 31:11

I highly recommend this movie. If you are familiar with her music and her story, and you haven't seen this movie, definitely watch it. If you are not familiar with her music or her story, definitely watch it. I mean, I'd watch it again.

Tina 31:23

I also think if you like this genre of music, you'll like it a lot too. I mean, cuz the music is a big part of the movie.

Leah 31:29

Oh, completely.

Tina 31:31

I like soul and funk and such.

Leah 31:33

And I don't know anyone who doesn't like soul and R and B and funk. And so if you don't like it, don't tell me.

Tina 31:43

especially if you're a friend.

Leah 31:45

especially if you're a friend, because it's the foundation of rock and roll and, you know, I mean, it's the foundation of so much music that people listen to. And I think that that is another reason why their music is so important because it's pure, it's, there's no auto tune there's no, any of that, like fixing it up. I mean, it's just this raw, pure music and it's, I like a lot of different kinds of music, but so much is. influenced by R and B and fun and soul that, yeah, it's it has a special place in my soul.

Our next film: Life Itself

Leah 32:17

We've got one more episode coming up in this series it's life itself. And I think there are a couple movies out there called life itself. It's the documentary. If you're following along, it's the documentary about. Roger Ebert based on his autobiography. And so it is a 2014 film about Roger Ebert. And so again, I'm pushing for people to go out and get their library card, cuz they can watch it for free on canopy with a K. And then it's also on Amazon prime. If you don't have Amazon prime, you can always do the seven day free trial and then remember to cancel and there might be other ways of watching it as well. But yeah.

Tina 32:55

All right. That's our next one.

Leah 32:56

That's our next one. So

How to support the show

Leah 32:58

if you like these episodes, and maybe there's a series of movies, you want us to review a genre, cuz we're so good at this. Oh, our next movie's about a movie critic. Oh my gosh. Yeah. The, you know, send us a note. You can email us at the cancer pod, gmail.com. You can always leave reviews and rate us wherever you stream your podcast.

Tina 33:25

Yep. So like follow subscribe.

Leah 33:27

We're out there in social media.

Tina 33:29

what do the kids say? Smash that button.

Leah 33:31

Is that what the kids say? Oh, that's the YouTube thing. Oh, oh, that's what the YouTubes, that's what the YouTubers say. and then you can always buy us a coffee. that's a great way to support us as well.

Tina 33:41

all right.

Leah 33:41

So on that note, I'm Dr. Leis Sherman.

Tina 33:44

And I'm Dr. Tina Kaser.

Leah 33:46

And this is the cancer pod.

Tina 33:47

Until next time. Thanks for listening to the cancer pod. Remember to subscribe, review and rate us wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates, and as always, this is not medical advice. These are our opinions. Talk to your doctor before changing anything related to your treatment. plan The cancer pod is hosted by me, Dr. Leah Sherman, and by Dr. Tina Kaczor Editing by Brógan Molloy music is by Kevin McLeod See you next time.