Roger Ebert's Cancer Surgery Won't Delay His New Movie Reviews

Movie reviews take courage to write. No matter how nicely they are written, they are bound to infuriate anyone who disagrees with them. Also, no matter how incisively they are written, their writers are saddled with the continual burden of gaining a wide-readership. Roger Ebert, more than possibly any movie reviewer of his generation, resolves this problem with ease. Week after week, with his Chicago Sun Times reviews, he shares with his readers a sheer love of the movies.

Up until 2006, he also appeared regularly on a nationwide program "At the Movies with Ebert & Roper," until he lost his voice after cancer-related surgery. Ebert had appeared on this program for over 20 years, originally alongside his friend/enemy Gene Siskel. (The two were famous for their childlike squabbles as they pitted their opionins against each other; arguing with intense passion about whether a movie like Robocop 2 was better or worse than the original Robocop.) While Ebert has not spoken to his viewers for nearly a year, he continues to influence a generation of movie-goers to not simply watch movies for their entertainment value but also to evaluate them for their strengths and weakness.

On Thursday, January 28th, 2008, Ebert underwent cancer surgery in Houston, Texas. Since 2002, when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Ebert has been forced to undergo multiple cancer surgeries, due to complications. Rarely seen in public in the last year, Ebert has nevertheless related news of his treatments with uncommon candor. Additionally, in April he was even able to attend his Ninth Annual Overlooked Film Festival, a gratifying event for his fans.

Popularly known as "the Fat Guy," as opposed to his colleague, Gene Siskel, who was referred to as "the Thin Guy," Roger Ebert appears much different these days than he did at the height of his popularity in the late 1980's and early 1990's on At the Movies. There are two clear reasons for this: one reason is due to Ebert's desire to be more careful about his diet (filmmaker Michael Moore credits Ebert as "the one who turned me on to the Pritikin Longevity Center."); another one is due to Ebert's illness following cancer surgery (his right lower jaw has been affected, and a portion of his mandible has been removed). Nevertheless, while he looks much different in person, he appears just the same in print. His movie reviews -- what has always made him exciting to his readers -- continue to satisfy, even in the midst of his health issues. Whether readers agree or disagree with his opinions, he is like a servant who tests his emperor's food to make sure that it doesn't contain any poison -- the duty he performs helps moviegoers to figure out what they think is in good or bad taste in films.

Like everyone, Roger Ebert will not live forever. However, while he's alive, Ebert is determined to make the best of the life he's given. Despite the difficulty of recovering from one cancer surgery after the other, Ebert states, "Being sick is no fun . . . But you can have fun while you're sick." As far as his work is concerned, Ebert has already written advance reviews which will be published even as he undergoes his most recent cancer surgery. The Chicago Sun Times will even print his Great Movies and Answer Man columns in forthcoming issues.