Houston’s Stanislaw Burzynski, who sells a so-called cancer treatment to patients who have had to mortgage homes to meet his steep fees, has found another major supporter: A NYC-based animator named Eric Merola has just crafted the hagiographic Burzysnki: The Movie.
Marketed as a documentary and entered into regional festivals (it won the “Humanitarian Vision” award at the Newport Beach Festival) the movie deals with Burzynski’s battles against the FDA, and it follows patients who have credited their longevity to Burzynski’s “antineoplastins.” (Hair Balls hasn’t seen the movie, but nowhere in the press kits or other reviews does it mention the good doctor’s pioneering work on anti-aging skin cream; hopefully that medical milestone will be addressed in the sequel).
The movie will be screened in New York and L.A. this month; you can also check out a closer screening at Austin’s Rollins Theater June 6.
Merola apparently did not interview any critics of Burzysnki, and he declined an interview with us, explaining in an e-mail that “based on your last article regarding Dr. Burzynski…[i]t seems that you are not educated enough, or perhaps motivated enough, to write an objective review of my film, much less conduct an objective interview with me.”
We’re not sure which dictionary Merola has consulted for his
understanding of the word “objective,” but hey — we don’t necessarily
think a puff-piece paean that cherrypicks facts and ignores any
criticism of a documentary’s subject is a truly horrible thing, as long
as viewers understand they’re just getting one side of the story.
(Merola has also attacked critics who have dared questioned his film’s
objectivity. Commenting online to Village Voice reviewer Ella Taylor,
Merola wrote “why is this movie review based on crystal ball
fortune-telling rubbish even being published?” Merola also
curiously pointed out that Taylor didn’t mention that Burzynski has
patented his antineoplastons; apparently Merola believes holding a
patent is scientifically remarkable. Just so we can’t be accused of
neglecting this aspect of Burzynski’s history, we’ll point out that Dr.
B. also holds a patent on cancer-fighting toothpaste, as well as patents
on antineoplaston treatments for AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and
neurofibromatosis).
In the meantime, Merola has had help publicizing the documentary with
help from doctors like Houston’s Steven
Hotze, who has raged against the Conventional Medicine Machine as
well — Hotze’s unique approach to science includes the sale of
anachronistic sideshow tonics like colloidal silver and the belief that
“all disease and disability is caused by the sin of Adam and Eve.”
If anyone out there has seen the movie, please let us know your
thoughts.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2010.
