Project: News Video

A mysterious illness, known as BARS, has emerged. Women start turning invisible overnight without a known cause. In PNQ News’s interview with Dr Tang, the doctor describes the women who visit him as appearing to be in the pink of health and dismisses their concerns about their late period. The reaction of Dr Tang to BARS resembles the reactions of professionals to the Sick Building Syndrome in the 1980s. According to Michelle Murphy, “not only was a physical phenomenon imperceptible through their techniques, but the nonspecific phenomena officer workers complained of failed to fit the toxicological model of specific and acute chemical exposure and thus seemed outside the realm of possibility” (71). This shows that these professionals are ready to jump to conclusions and dismiss illnesses that indicate their limits of knowledge. Besides, Dr Tang’s use of the phrase, “in the pink of health”, is problematic because it is figurative, and therefore, vague and elusive. It assumes that there is nothing wrong with these women.

In another interview with the Chen couple, Raymond insists that his wife, Linda, who is diagnosed with BARS, should stay at home and avoid working on her daily tasks. He seems to contribute to the expectations of the sick role which state that “a sick person should be “[exempt from] performing his normal social obligations” (Parsons 455). Also, in assuming the role of the caretaker and maintaining that Linda should cooperate with him, Raymond places Linda in the role of the “patient” (Parsons 456), demonstrating that the experience of being ill is a socially constructed one. Three students have also voiced out their opinions regarding BARS in a video that they have created. Student one discounts BARS as a legitimate illness because there is no physical body to be examined, defending the biomedical model of illness which states that diseases have specific causes that can be located in an ill person’s body (Mishler 1981). Student two disagrees with student one, pointing out that invisible illness and disabilities (that are not immediately or clearly visible) exist so BARS is a legitimate illness. Student three points out the social and economic implications of BARS.

In the facebook mock-up that depicts the social reactions to BARS, Kate wishes that she contracts BARS so that she does not need to help out at her father’s shop. Her inability to afford the BARS sticker which, according to Jane, can help ward off BARS is indicative of her lower class. It also proves that medical consumerism has the potential to affect the lives of those who cannot afford its services. The stigma attached to BARS is also rather strong as observed by the jokes that Kate’s friends make regarding the illness, failing to treat it seriously.