Laser Eye Surgery On-screen

Laser eye surgery is becoming increasingly commonplace, with most people now knowing at least one friend or relative who has had the procedure done. In addition, many celebrities, ranging from Tiger Woods to Nicole Kidman, have successfully had treatment. With increasing awareness of the procedure both at home and in Hollywood, what presence does laser eye surgery have on-screen?

In recent news, Final Destination 5 has gotten significant press after writer Eric Heisserer announced over Twitter that the film would feature a death scene involving laser eye surgery. The plot is otherwise being kept under wraps, however, and the film is set for release in 2012.

In a less morbid display of the procedure, Season 3 of Sex and the City features Miranda undergoing LASIK surgery to correct her short-sightedness. Though the procedure isn’t explicitly described in the episode, the “wow” factor that she experiences when she wakes up the morning after surgery is typical of LASIK. The treatment goes seamlessly, though Miranda finds herself less self-sufficient than she’d anticipated following surgery, and is forced to rely on her on-again, off-again, soon-to-be husband Steve to assist her in getting home. The segment ends with Miranda waking to see both the world, and Steve – as a genuinely good and supportive man – clearly for the first time.

After Marge notices him sitting too close to the television, Homer Simpson undergoes laser eye surgery in Season 11 of The Simpsons, at a mall eye clinic in the named “Eye-Caramaba.” Following treatment, Homer dismisses the optometrist’s attempt to give him eye drops as an unnecessary add-on, which results in his eyes crusting over, though his eyesight inevitably turns out fine.

Other television episodes highlighting laser eye surgery include the American teen sitcom Drake & Josh, where the boys agree to help a friend following laser eye surgery, and discover her condo is filled with a hot tub, plasma screen television, and dancing machine, which they quickly take advantage of. In King of Queens, Doug gets Carrie laser eye surgery for her birthday, but when she develops abnormal symptoms afterwards, she discovers that Doug chose a discount provider for her treatment.

In the reality genre, one episode of The Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica features Jessica Simpson and her personal assistant Cacee nervously undergoing laser eye surgery. Extreme Makeover, which ran from 2002-2007, regularly involved candidates undergoing laser eye surgery, in addition to other so-called “extreme” means of improving their looks, including cosmetic surgery, dental surgery, and strict diet and exercise regimes.

Finally, in a much more severe demonstration of eye surgery, Tom Cruise’s character John Anderton undergoes eye replacement surgery to avoid detection in 2002’s Minority Report. This gruesome display of eye surgery, performed in unsanitary and cringe-worthy conditions, thankfully bears no resemblance to the simple laser eye surgery procedures performed routinely today.

These examples of laser eye surgery on-screen underscore a widespread acceptance of the treatment, while betraying a bit of remnant fear of the potential dangers associated with the procedure, as will no doubt be exploited in the upcoming Final Destination instalment. The fact that treatment does typically go smoothly makes it a difficult situation to parody or dramatise, which might explain the relatively small number of procedure-related plotlines. As laser eye surgery continues to grow in popularity, however, it will no doubt be interesting to observe what Hollywood has in store.