Awakenings

I truly believe that film can depict the seriousness and emotional gravity of medical ethics even better than a scholarly article. Even stories about animal experimentation make me cringe, but to actually see a human who has undergone some type of medical experimentation. . . it's a bit more harrowing. I think this is one of the strong points of film--it's visual aspect. The audience can connect with the actor on the screen, even if he's just an actor.

The movie Awakenings gets me every time. Here's this catatonic man who has no idea 30 years of his life have passed. Enter the hopeful doctor who wants to help his catatonic patients. Throw in the drug L-Dopa and you get a terribly heart-wrenching movie. What would it be like to wake up one day and see that you've aged 30 years overnight? Leonard handles it quite well in the movie. But what if you're more like one of the other patients in the ward? What if you're wife is dead? Your son is missing? I think I'd feel hostile and "swindled," as the man in the movie puts it.

Maybe you'd be like Leonard. You'd wade into the ocean with all your clothes on, you'd go dancing, fall in love for the first time. But then you'd notice that you have a tick. Eventually your head will thrash uncontrollably from side to side. You'll realize that the drug isn't working anymore, and you'll be afraid to close your eyes at night for fear of slipping back into catatonia. Is it worth it? I guess only people like Leonard can know.