I think the real problem I have with how the new Thor movie handled cancer probably boils down to the idea of toxic positivity, directed both at cancer patients and at caregivers.
It starts small, with Jane Foster's long term friend and colleague, Darcy, telling her that cancer is the universe telling her she needs to slow down.
No. Cancer is the universe telling you that you have cancer. If the universe were capable of "wanting someone to slow down" and capable of doing anything about it, it would probably find a way to do so that's not physically and emotionally torturous and, in Jane's case, fatal. Like sending them on a month long island vacation or something.
Then we mostly ignore Jane's cancer, because she's busy being The Mighty Thor and she looks fantastic.
And then we get to Jane's death. And she looks beautiful, and she saves all the children AND the universe, and she tells Thor to keep his heart open, so you see we all LEARN AND GROW from this, which means it was really all for the best. Especially for Thor, because he may have lost the person he loved, (and more importantly for Thor, the one who loved him) but it's okay, because now he has something to "feel shitty" about--as the movie tells us repeatedly. And that's better than having your heart closed off.
So he's all fixed now. Her death from cancer saved the kids, the universe, and MADE THOR A BETTER AND HAPPIER AND MORE COMPLETE PERSON.
I must be doing the whole surviving partner thing wrong, because losing my partner to cancer certainly didn't make me better or happier or more whole. It made me incredibly sad and angry for the whole time they was ill, and for a long time afterwards. And it will never, I promise you, be the thing that "heals" me of anything.
I realize that a movie that features a Viking longboat pulled by giant screaming goats is not reality based. But Marvel actually has a really good history of putting powerful, realistic human emotions into superhero movies.
Not this time.
Taika Waititi owes me $28