You may be wondering why i'm maybe about to talk about a classic 80's Eddie Murphy movie. But, as brilliant as that movie is, and as much as Lisa and I used to love watching it in our youth, I'm onto something much, much bigger and better than that. Recently, Lisa has made it known that she's still looking down and spreading her awesomeness. Those of us closest to her already knew that of course, as does anyone who has read this blog, read her book or watched "The C-Word" when it was aired in the UK in May this year. Now though, she's going international and spreading "The C-Word" to our friends over the pond in the USA. You read that right by the way, our bird, my sister, having her story shared with a whopper of a country.
So, America, on Wednesday (7th October) at 11pm on KCET, you will get to see just exactly how influential our Lisa Lynch still is. Just as with everything else that Lisa and "The C-Word" has achieved so far, i'm so bloody proud. To be honest, I don't really have much idea at all how it came to be that the USA will get to witness Lisa's awesomeness, and to be quite honest, I don't really care. What I do care about is the amazing impact that Lisa has had for people living with cancer through this blog, her book and "The C-Word" so far. The amount of messages of support we received in the aftermath of the UK airing in May has been well documented by me already on here and through my Twitter and Facebook feeds. As I've said before, we never really knew what to expect with regards to the public response to "The C-Word", but as soon as it aired and we saw #TheCWord going pretty much ape-shit on Twitter, we knew our girl was helping so many more people. To think that the USA will also benefit from this now is pretty overwhelming.
From what I understand, KCET (or @KCET for all you Twitter folk) is a Southern California-based independent public TV station, and has partnered with two US-based cancer charities in Beyond Boobs! (@BeyondBoobs) and Pink-Link (@PinkLinkTweets) with the airing of "The C-Word". Their timing is pretty impeccable too, with it being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As many of my friends will know, I'm a big fan of the work and awareness that is raised in the USA during the month of October. My friends will let you know that I have a pretty unhealthy obsession with the San Diego Chargers American Football team and I always seem to end up getting on my high horse during October when i'm watching the NFL games and all the players are showing support for Breast Cancer Awareness with their pink boots, mouth-guards, towels, gloves etc etc, whilst wishing our professional sports teams could do something similar. Having "The C-Word" being shown in the USA during this time is such a great idea, and with a bit of luck, it will have the same impact over there as it did over here.
It is obviously common knowledge that getting exposure for many things in the USA is a big deal. Of course, America isn't the be all and end all (we all know that that is obviously Derby!!!) but it's such a major milestone for many things. Think about it, lots of actors and actresses want to crack it in Hollywood, musicians always have an obsession with cracking America, boxers always want to fight in Las Vegas, I could go on. So, to think that my Sister is going to have her influential story shared in the USA is a big, big deal. As I've said before, the whole point of "The C-Word" is to raise awareness, and this is pretty much just another, albeit major, step in that process.
As a family, we're still in touch with many people who were involved in the creation of "The C-Word". Only this week I got hustled on the golf course by the better looking version of myself, Nate Fallows. It's so good to see how much pride everybody involved in the project has for Lisa's story. Everybody obviously has their own lives and jobs to get on with, just as we all do. But the odd message every now and then from members of the cast and crew is so thoughtful. Another proud aspect of this USA airing is that so many more people with get to see how bloody brilliant everyone involved with "The C-Word" is, and how phenomenal Sheridan Smith was as our Lisa. America is in for something special. That bird ain't half gonna break some hearts!
Some of our happiest family moments have actually been spent on our holidays taken in the USA. You could definitely say that (apart from Lisa being quoted an obscene amount of money to insure a proposed trip to New York City – all becomes clearer in "The C-Word") America has been good to us as a family over the years. I guess it is only fitting then that Lisa returns the favour, and helps to raise even more awareness over the pond. If "The C-Word" has a fraction of the impact in America as it has over here, it will be amazing. She just continues to make me so proud, every single day.
In closing this post, I should really post a direct message to the American-based blog readers. That message is very simple.
Ahead of "The C-Word" hitting your TV screens on Wednesday night, you're most welcome!
Big Love,
Arseface
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