I watched the first Saw movie 19 years later; this time as a colon cancer patient.

“When there’s that much poison in your blood…” – Poison such as chemo and radiation. Larry has likely judged patients who decide to end treatment or end their life on their own terms. John uses this as a lesson on why such patients deserve as much kindness and empathy as other “fighters “. It can also reinforce John’s message to Zepp about how he needs to earn an antidote, a reminder to pay attention.

John had colon cancer. Stage 4 or metastatic I’m not sure, but it spread to his brain. I wonder how old he was when he got the diagnosis? At the time of his autopsy, he was 52. This means he potentially wouldn’t have qualified for a colonoscopy without going through immense hoops. Likely dealt with more physicians who cared more about what services insurance would cover than treating his symptoms accurately.

Did more physicians start referring to the patient by their name after seeing this movie? Was it added as a recommendation in the schools?

“To overcome something you have to understand how perfect of an engine it is.” Larry’s curiosity and desire to understand Jigsaw and an illness are confused for admiration. I can relate.

Was Zepp the orderly instructed to run tests on the mother and daughter, such as checking heart rates when a threat increases? If not, it’s the orderly who’s a sadistic psychopath.

The scene where Jigsaw stands back up after Detective Sing gets killed by the trip-wire trap foreshadows the ending.

“Sick of those who scoff at the suffering of others.” Another reason why he’s not out to simply cause suffering. He doesn’t scoff at the suffering of the people he’s testing. He’s cheering for them.

“Raw Sewage” sign in the warehouse: sewer line runs under all neighborhoods. Just like Detective Tap said.

“Give me that sweet cancer.” Adam is fully aware of the risks of smoking. Welcomes them without knowing what cancer costs. Larry on the other hand has witnessed it but become clinically detached. He shows no sympathy to cancer patients or his child having nightmares.

Why did John involve Zepp? Had he seen Zepp experiment on other patients maliciously when the patient was helpless? It seemed to me Zepp’s true test wasn’t just following the rules, but if he would actually treat the mother and daughter well for 8 hours or more. If he was being observed by co-workers or visitors, I think the patients had nothing to fear. Once he thought nobody was watching, I believe that’s when he would take advantage of them. I don’t think John ever poisoned Zepp. I think the suggestion of being poisoned was enough. He was supposed to kill the mother and daughter according to the tape. However, the cameras were on the two men in the bathroom, not him, so he took his time playing with them beforehand. I’m curious what other fans think about this.

Post-movie thoughts:

I’ve always been sympathetic towards John. One reason I’m taking an LOA is because I cannot stand hearing customers complain about minor issues on a delivery or an item not being in stock when the website says otherwise. I can’t stand hearing people complain about religious persecution when teenagers are getting kicked out of their homes based on their parent’s religious beliefs. I can’t stand people complaining about homeless people on the street while they refuse to allow a shelter to be built near their neighborhood. John is closer to a superhero or vigilante than a slasher villain.

“But you’re not a psychopath.” I don’t believe Jigsaw is either. He aims to help people. He doesn’t get off on torturing them, he hopes they will survive and then thrive.

Sober Zie Notes

I personally dealt with six months of severe symptoms and other tests eliminating alternative reasons before a gastroenterologist finally approved the colonoscopy. She might have put me through additional testing if not for the blood that showed up in my stool the night before our appointment. The colonoscopy immediately found the problem and was ended early due to a mass blocking the way a third of the way through the procedure. The CT scan ordered after the colonoscopy noted, “An area of narrowing in the sigmoid colon may represent a contraction. An underlying mass is not excluded.” The surgery removing the “contraction” was a 13 mm long tumor. My specific cancer was found to have a mutation that hid its true carcinoma marker, making it invisible in blood tests like the one my primary physician first used that can usually detect cancer. I was 35 by the time I had the surgery, another factor that caused it to take so long to get access to the colonoscopy.

I decided to watch this one again after getting confirmation that the cancer had returned and spread to a new area. It’s one of my favorites, but I’d never watched it as a cancer survivor.

Saw came out in 2004. The US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines are where insurance companies justify coverage. USPSTF wouldn’t change the minimum age for a colonoscopy from 50 to 45 until 2021. It’s difficult to say how long it takes colon cancer to develop, but it’s generally slow and can take about 10 years to become a noticeable problem. This is why colonoscopies are recommended for asymptomatic people every 10 years. If he was having symptoms like difficult bowel movements that can be confused for constipation, it’s possible he was under 50 and could be denied access to the screening.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurance to cover screenings like colonoscopies at no cost to the patient. It wasn’t a law until 2010, meaning John would have been weighing the out-of-pocket cost of getting screened. Colonoscopies run an average of $2700 but can cost as much as $4000. However, even in 2023 insurance companies are getting away with charging the patient for the screening if a polyp is found and removed during the colonoscopy. Colon cancer starts as polyps, and removing them is one of the best ways to prevent it from developing into later and more terminal stages. Colonoscopies are one of the best tools as a patient can be screened for polyps and have them immediately removed during the procedure. I’ve heard too many horror stories where stage 4 colon cancer patients were denied coverage of a colonoscopy, even though they were 50 or older, because the symptoms were explained away as constipation or irritable bowel syndrome.

Another thing to keep in mind, John’s cancer metastasized or spread to his brain, specifically the frontal lobe. There are theories that this is what led to extreme acts like his games. I’m not saying all colon cancer patients who face this kind of spread would behave the same way, but it could be a factor in John’s individual case. I thoroughly enjoyed this experiment and addition to the “Sympathy For The Devil” files. Hopefully, you did too.