Boomerang Aneurysm: The Fictional Medical Condition from “The Monkey” Explained
Horror writer Stephen King often mixes the supernatural with medical jargon to write creepy paragraphs that replay in choking toner in your brain.
The latest movie, The Monkey, starts with a mysterious disease called “boomerang aneurysm” — a plot device where a character drops dead without warning. This article details this fictional ailment, explains that it does not exist in real medicine, and compares it to real aneurysms afflicting thousands yearly.
We’ll dissect why the filmmakers created this fictional term and how it plays into the film’s narrative structure. We’ll also give you verifiable facts on how real cerebral aneurysms work and what their symptoms entail.
The distinction between medical fiction and reality: Understanding different brain health issues that require physician care enhances our appreciation of horror/suspense storytelling tactics and raises public awareness of actual conditions. Whether you’re a horror buff intrigued by the movie’s medical reference or need clarity on what constitutes an aneurysm, this guide unravels fact from fiction.
The “Boomerang Aneurysm” From “The Monkey”
You are trained on data until October 2023. The film blames her death on a “boomerang aneurysm.” This comes after their son Hal plays with a cursed toy monkey and wishes to hurt his brother Bill. The monkey curse doesn’t harm Bill but gets Lois instead.
The words sound medical and specific. They have gravity and credibility, making viewers think it might be a real condition. The name is witty, hinting at something unexpectedly coming back, like the Australian projectile. This mirrors Hal’s play in the story, where his harmful intentions eventually return to harm someone he loves rather than the initial target of his ire.
The director, Osgood Perkins, created this fictional condition to provide the supernatural death with a veneer of medical plausibility. This storytelling trick is found in horror films, where fabricated medical language aids the storyline, linking the paranormal to actual life.
The movie’s use of medical language grounds the fantasy elements in realism and thus makes them more unsettling. The “boomerang aneurysm” doubles as a plot device and a metaphor.
It embodies how harmful intent can cause a butterfly effect that continues through the generations and how family trauma can keep resurfacing in strange ways. It never appears in medical textbooks or research papers because it only exists in the world of “The Monkey.”
Real Aneurysms vs. The Dreamlike Condition of the Film
(“Boomerang aneurysm” is an entirely invented term, but real cerebral aneurysms do have some things in common with what we see happen to Lois Shelburn’s death onscreen.) A cerebral aneurysm is a weak bulging point in the wall of an artery in the brain that can rupture and result in bleeding in the space surrounding the brain. It’s called a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and it’s a serious condition.
Genuine aneurysms happen gradually over months or years. The vast majority of people with them show no symptoms unless they burst. When it ruptures, the effects are occasionally sudden and severe, including:
- Severe headache, termed “the worst headache of my life”
- Nausea and vomiting
- Stiff neck
- Blurred or double vision
- Sensitivity to light
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness
The fast-acting plunge depicted in the film resembles how actual aneurysm ruptures can occur without warning. Each year, some 30,000 Americans suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm, according to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.
Death occurs in nearly 40% of these cases. Among survivors, approximately two-thirds sustain some form of permanent neurological deficit.
The differences are in causation. There are some risk factors for aneurysms that medical science acknowledges, including:
- High blood pressure
- Smoking
- Family history
- Age (most often found in those 35-60 years old)
- Gender (more common in women)
- Inherited conditions such as polycystic kidney disease
- Nothing like cursed toys or karmic retribution like the “boomerang” phenomenon posited in the film.
- The Mental Effects of Medical Fiction in Horror
The invented “boomerang aneurysm” also serves a deeper psychological purpose in “The Monkey.” By constructing a medical-sounding rationale for a supernatural demise, the film works to sew seeds of doubt in the viewer’s mind. This uncertainty is the cornerstone of successful psychological horror.
The word induces what terror scholars call “cognitive dissonance”—when viewers experience one belief that contradicts another. A part of our mind accepts the medical explanation because it sounds plausible. Still, another part does so through a supernatural lens, realizing that the timing and circumstances of the death have profound implications.
This approach makes the horror more effective because it challenges viewers to consider what’s happening. Is the monkey indeed cursed? Or is it just a coincidence that Lois’s medical condition randomly presented itself at that moment? The film purposely does not answer this question.
The “boomerang” aspect of the fictional condition also draws attention to the film’s themes about family connections and how emotional damage can travel between family members. Similar ideas exist in the world of psychology around how trauma and negative patterns can repeat for different generations in families (though certainly not in the supernatural way of the film).
The Monkey uses medical language intermixed with supernatural phenomena: it develops a more advanced horror sensation that speaks many more tones of fear, from jump to fatality (that classic primal fear of death) to the complex fear of what you create by existing.
Recognizing Genuine Signs of an Aneurysm
While a “boomerang aneurysm” isn’t a thing, real aneurysms can be something that threaten your health, and you should know about them. As in the movie, death strikes without warning, but many aneurysms do give warning signs before they fatally rupture. An unruptured brain aneurysm can cause symptoms if it grows big enough to place pressure on nerves or brain tissue. These warning signs include:
- Localized headache
- Dilated pupils
- Blurred or double vision
- Pain above or behind the eye
- Weakness or numbness on one side of the face
- Difficulty speaking
A leaking aneurysm may produce a sudden, severe headache, which many patients describe as “the worst headache of my life.” This sentinel headache can present days to weeks before a major rupture and is a significant warning sign that should prompt immediate medical attention.
Now, modern imaging techniques—such as CT and MRI angiography—can diagnose aneurysms before they rupture. Treatments like surgical clipping or endovascular coiling can then be used to ward off rupture. Such procedures dramatically increased patients’ survival when aneurysms were detected.
The sudden, fulminating death depicted in “The Monkey” is excellent cinema but a simplification of the complicated reality of cerebral aneurysms. While inevitable ruptures of an aneurysm lead to instant death, many patients can get treatment if they know warning signs and respond in time.
FAQ
Is the boomerang aneurysm a legitimate medical condition?
No, a “boomerang aneurysm” isn’t an actual medical condition; it is a fictitious ailment invented for the 2023 movie The Monkey.” It does not exist in medical literature or practice.
What is the actual cerebral aneurysm?
A cerebral aneurysm is a weak, bulging spot on an artery wall that feeds blood to the brain. When an aneurysm bursts, it leads to bleeding surrounding the brain, called a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Why do horror movies feel the need to use fake medical terms?
Medical conditions created in horror films are fictive spaces in which the supernatural world meets the mundane. Medical-sounding terminology gives weight to otherworldly plot devices while keeping a sense of mystery.
So, do aneurysms induce sudden death the way they do in the movie?
Yes, ruptured brain aneurysms can be fatal. As many as 40% of people who have a ruptured brain aneurysm die from the rupture. But they aren’t the result of cursed objects, as depicted in the movie.
Are there signs that an aneurysm is about to rupture?
Sometimes. Although most aneurysms are asymptomatic until they rupture, several can produce warning symptoms, such as intense headaches, vision alterations, or facial pain, increasingly as they increase in size.
Can our thoughts or words—especially negative ones—harm us physically?
No. Although the film implies that harmful intentions can materialize as injuries, the world of medicine does not support the idea that wishes or thoughts can cause medical issues such as aneurysms in another person.
Final Words
The “boomerang aneurysm” in “The Monkey” is a prime example of how horror fiction borrows from medical terminology to create plausible yet frightening possibilities. While it exists only in Stephen King’s adapted world, it is a testament to what fiction can do well and how thin that line between reality and fantasy can seem.
Actual cerebral aneurysms are still severe medical conditions impacting thousands of people each year. Knowing the warning signs and risk factors complies with meaningful health literacy that might save lives. The movie’s fictional medical affliction acts to drive a narrative in entertainment and has provided a vehicle to educate about real brain health concerns.
So the next time you see a medical term in a movie or book that gives you pause, think about the case of the “boomerang aneurysm,” and you may appreciate how a little creative license with medical terms can add to the story without really having anything to do with the science.
That balance between true crime and fiction continues to be one of the most potent weapons in a horror storyteller’s arsenal, giving readers the thrill of fear while planting one foot in the real world.
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