It took courage for Florent Pagny to confide in his state of health. The French singer announced at the end of January to be suffering from a lung tumor. Last Thursday, he shared a new message with his fans, mainly to reassure them despite the bad news. Because his cancer is not operable, but he ensured on TF1 that he is doing “very well”: “I discovered it very early on, I am at degree 1. I only have one tumor, I have no metastases. I have nothing in other organs”.
Free speech on a difficult subject, which can be frightening. Before him, other celebrities had dared to speak openly about their cancer to the public, like Johnny Hallyday, Jean-Pierre Pernaut, Jean-Luc Delarue or Évelyne Dhéliat. The release of speech on this widespread disease in the population does not date from yesterday, but has experienced a real evolution over the past ten years. Bernard Tapie is the most striking example: the businessman did not hesitate to be filmed and photographed at different stages of his illness, appearing very thin and making his voice hoarse.
The rise of Instagram
Several factors may explain why celebrities are more successful in speaking out on this painful topic in recent years. The rise of social networks, and in particular Instagram, has brought stars closer to their audience, to the point of not being able to hide much from them. “Today, there is an obligation of transparency, we cannot disappear without the public being informed, explains to 20 minutes Odile Ambry, expert in consulting and communication strategy. So if the star is suffering from cancer, that she must undergo treatment, she takes the lead in the name of this obligation of transparency. Florent Pagny thus shared on January 25, on Instagram, a video in which he explains to his subscribers having to cancel his tour because of a cancerous tumor in the lung. A few weeks later, on February 5, he shared a photo with the caption: “Chemo started, but life goes on”.
Florent Pagny’s Instagram subscribers then follow the evolution and the stages of his treatment as closely as possible. He is the one who tells it directly. Because speaking out on this subject is also a way for celebrities to keep control over their personal history, what is called across the Atlantic, “storytelling”. “They thus keep control of the story of their illness, do not have the privacy of their bodies stolen, do not witness the display of their physical suffering by certain media”, develops for 20 minutes, Timothée Gaget, director of the Artcher agency, specialist in executive communication. We saw it in March 2017 with Johnny Hallyday who, then suffering from lung cancer, had tried to counter the leaks in the media castigating “the influx of lies circulating about my state of health. »
A disease less deadly than before
Progress in research on the disease also contributes to this freedom of speech among stars, as in the general population. Gilbert Lenoir, vice-president of the ARC Foundation who funds research against cancer, explains that the disease is less fearful today, because it is less deadly than in the 1950s, which makes it possible to talk about it more freely. “Currently, 60% of cancer patients are cured. Before, it was taboo because the diagnosis of cancer was synonymous with the announcement of imminent death. Because the disease is less fearful, it is more socially acceptable to talk about it “, he explains to 20 minutes.
However, lung cancer remains the deadliest cancer with 1.8 million deaths worldwide in 2020. In France, 46,363 new cases of lung cancer are detected and 23,800 deaths are recorded per year. An omerta then formed around this cancer in particular which remains a very sensitive subject, explains to 20 minutes Jean-Pierre Lassaigne, director of Air !, an association of patients, carers and carers “determined to improve the fight against lung cancer”. This taboo around this form of cancer is fueled by a form of patient guilt. Indeed, “it is still very socially anchored that lung cancer is a smoker’s cancer,” explains Jean-Pierre Lassaigne. There is a very high level of guilt and this contributes to the fact that patients do not express themselves very much. Moreover, lung cancer still kills a lot, so there are few people left to talk about it. »
Break a taboo and feel supported
Talking about this particular cancer is therefore very beneficial for other patients. “Florent Pagny dares to break this blanket of silence and for a celebrity to say that she has lung cancer, it helps to free speech, so it’s positive. I think it can give strength, and it puts humanity back into the subject, ”enthuses former patient Jean-Pierre Lassaigne. In general, it allows all cancer patients to feel less alone. “Any just cause needs incarnation and to agree to incarnate it is to help the cause. Accepting to be seen diminished is a lesson in courage”, abounds Odile Ambry. “Florent Pagny understood, like others in the general population, that we could talk about it and that when we are better known, it is good for society”, also agrees Gilbert Lenoir. Unfortunately, “the fact that celebrities are sick does not lead to an increase in screening, but it does make people think,” nuance the vice-president of the ARC Foundation.
And it’s a winning bet on both sides. Because the celebrity, by exposing himself, by thus exposing himself, also receives a consequent wave of support, which no other person can hope to receive. “The intention is twofold here, the celebrity, like any person, needs support in the face of his illness. When 200,000 fans tell you “courage, we are with you, fight”, it is not insignificant, underlines Timothée Gaget. And we know to what extent maintaining morale, remaining combative and optimistic, is decisive in dealing with cancer and supporting heavy and painful treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy”.