Film Friday: Angie's Tits

First, it's remarkable in this social media age that Angelina Jolie could have major surgery like this and keep it secret.  Wow. 

Jolie's decision to have preventive mastectomies, based on her genetic history and a high probability that she would develop breast cancer, has been very much the subject of what I might call intellectual-tabloid discourse, as opposed to, well, anything to do with Kardashians.  Her choice brings up the issues of medical ethics: is it right to remove healthy tissue, and a substantial amount of it, as a preventive measure (and to put in implants that have also been the subject of controversy in terms of safety, at least in the past)?  The question of cost has also come up: who has the kind of money to spend on the sophisticated tests, and who can afford what her insurance company would call elective surgery?  Others have also questioned whether or not any lifestyle changes might prevent Jolie from meeting the same fate that claimed her mother. 

I would suggest that family history means only so much, that you are an individual and not defined solely by genetic fate. Then again, I'm also of the opinion that, in the words of Joe Jackson, everything gives you cancer.  It's gonna get us all one of these days, so why bother having the kind of surgery Jolie did?

Ultimately, when you have lots of money, you can afford as many options as there are.  Can the 99 percent get access to this kind of health care?