Like regular movie, TV show, and book reviews, HA Reviews has students review pieces that interest them. This week, senior Esther Nahon reviews go90's Zac & Mia, a show that follows two teens that have one thing in common: cancer.
Zac Meier had everything calculated to a T, his future, career, and the perfect girl.
That was all before cancer.
While finishing his 100-day quarantine, Zach notices a new patient in the hospital room next door. She’s everything he ever dreamed of- blonde, beautiful, and totally out of his league.
Based on A. J. Bett’s novel, Zac & Mia, the TV series is much more than just another show about teenage romance. Through their complicated conditions, the characters enlighten audiences of the struggles and realities of cancer. Through watching the show, I learned more about the specifics of cancer patients’ treatments: how chemotherapy works, how physical therapy works, and all about the extra precautions cancer patients need to take to protect their health. Additionally, this show taught me that cancer patients who go into remission are restricted from certain activities in order to prevent them from relapsing.
The show inspired me to learn more about cancer patients, and to try become more cognizant and aware of their perspectives. Whereas I used to always feel pity and remorse for them being ill, I now understand the idea that cancer patients want to be treated like everybody else, and would do anything just to live a normal day.
The show also taught me to appreciate my sense of normalcy. Even in their unfortunate circumstances, Zac and Mia create a friendship that is normal: they bond over common interests, they confide in each other, and they motivate each other. In many other cancer movies like The Fault In Our Stars, the main characters’ love for one another is meant to overpower the struggles of their sickness. In Zac & Mia, though, the disease itself is what leads the two to love, as they battle their cancers together, taking care of one another and being always upfront with their situations.
Aside from the dramatic, intriguing, and entertaining aspects of a teenage romance, the Netflix show Zac & Mia mainly reminded me of how lucky I truly am for my health, and inspired me to be more appreciative of life’s little blessings that I too often allow to go unnoticed.
Zach & Mia is available for streaming on Netflix.
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