Michael's Diabetes

One of the great themes that runs through all three movies is Michael's diabetes. Throughout GF I he is drinking way more water than he should (everyone is invited to provide examples). Then in GFII when he is on the train after the failed hit on his house he is drinking water and taking pills. In Cuba he drinks club soda, not alcohol. Then in GF III the diabetes is more acute, obviously.

I never thought about that. It's a good observation. And welcome to the boards.

Also michael is shown to be under stress in all the 3 movies. In GF, during the scene where he says "tom is out", you see him very stressed and Vito comes and pats him on his cheeks. In GF2, we see him holding his fingers between his eyes(boat house scene with neri and tom) while talking, which I presume was indicative of stress. In Gf3, of course he collapses once in kitchen and again in church, though it is surprising how they had orange juice and candy ready

Why do you think he drinks too much water? Why shouldn't he drink water just because he's thirsty? I always thought that his diabetes was powerful invention of Coppola to have him somehow punished. There's no direct proof of his diabetes in GF1 and not a single word about such a thing in the book.

The standard treatment for diabetes ca. 1958 (when we see him and his bodyguard on the train) was insulin injections, not oral medication. I'm guessing that the pill he took was Miltown, the tranquilizer of choice from the mid-50's through the mid-60's, probably the most widely prescribed drug of that era (made famous by the Rolling Stones in "Mother's Little Helper"). Geary probably popped a Miltown just before he made his "oily hair" speech.
I think the purpose of FFC having Michael order club soda in Havana while Fredo ordered a banana daquiri was to point up Michael's discipline in the face of mortal danger, while Fredo, weakling, needed a drink ("Listen, Mikie, I'm a little nervous after the plane ride...could I have a...a...drink?").

i agree that the diabetes was just something brought in to punish mike in part three. ffc was so fascinated with the idea of having this character suffer so much that he needed infinate ways to make mike misrable.

I agree with you about nothing referenced in the first film that would lead one to know about Michael's diabetes. But in the second film, along with the alternate script of GFII , there is more direct evidence of the illness. In fact, the alternate script even says:
I would just add that, along with the illness, the stress of just having had Fredo killed was why Michael looks so despondant in the boathouse.

The only one who drank too much water in Part I was Luca Brasi.

Nah, I don't think the water drinking and problem with his eyes had anything to do with the Type II diabetes that Michael is afflicted with later. The pills he took on the train were probably to sleep or perhaps just an aspirin. For heaven's sake think about the previous twenty four hours Michael must have had before being on the train. The party, his whore sister and her beau, the greasy senator and his greasy hair speech ,and Kay's nagging. Oh yeah and don't forget the hail(sp) of machine gunfire coming through his bedroom window almost killing him and his pregnant wife. This is a man who is the head of the most powerful mafia family in the country so stress is bound to be a factor in this man's life. Besides my boyfriend of ten years is diabetic and while excessive thrist is one of the first signs of diabetes I don't think Michael actions in any way are related.

Yeah, I always thought he drank like a fish.

Luca didnt drink with the fishes, he sleeps with them.

Is there some reference in GFIII to indicate that Michael had/has diabetes? As I've said several times, I've only seen GFIII once, and that was enough for me, so I can't claim to know the movie inside and out. If there is no specific reference to it, then I don't know why one would bother to assume that this is some kind of underlying storyline. For what purpose? There doesn't seem to be any storyline, whether blatantly or underlying that doesn't have some specific purpose to it, that we learn about eventually and that ties some ends together. Michael having diabetes would be as significant as Kay having monthly cramps due to polyps! Neither does it tie anything together nor answer any questions about Michael's personality or problems. There just is no rhyme or reason for it.

I know this is asking a lot, but if you could, would you be able to type up a synopsis of what it says in GFIII regarding Michael having diabetes? If it is in GFIII, then I would like to research it for myself to see if I can find wha the author had in his mind at time time he wrote it. (I happen to be teaching this very subtopic in American Literature in my classes this week: determining the author's purpose! Pretty interesting stuff!)

~~ Lollie

There are many places in GF3, where it's positively said. I think it was Coppola's intention, to show him punished by God. You know - in those cheap detective stories of the worst taste the terrible murderer usually confesses in the end that he's mortally ill. Such a melodramatic way of Divine Justice.

JustMe: Well, that just validates even more my assessment of GFIII: that it was just a cheap shot at trying to squeeze another movie out of GFI and GFII. Had they taken their time and really thought it out carefully, and taken into consideration other options they could have taken rather than just another ongoing storyline, I think FFC is/was clever enough to come up with something that would have been very unique and very complimentary to the other two movies. Instead, GFIII, like you said, turns the story into a melodrama like you'd see on a soap opera in the afternoon rather than taken some interesting angle at the whole story. Maybe filled in a few gaps, taken some storylines and embellished them--perhaps answered some other questions. But, they were too much in a hurry. Well, this is what happens when you rush through things. (I try to tell my students this all the time!)

~~ Lollie

Take a look at the transcript of GF II which clearly gives a stage direction stating that Michael is on the train taking pills for his diabetes.