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July 26, 2005
I saw Million Dollar Baby finally. I thought it was a great movie, deserving of its Academy Awards (unlike many), and it rapidly shot to one of the best movies in my book. I felt pulled into the movie and emotionally attached, which is something that happens pretty rarely - not even with LOTR.Praise aside, the movie is sad. It's not one to see if you need a pep rally (unless you want to be thankful for what you have).Spoiler Warning!
Do not read past here if you don't want to know about the end.You've been warned :). Anyway, I want to talk about what happens at the end. An increasingly disabled athlete wants to call it quits and exit the suffering she's going through. She's been on top and is now at the bottom with basically no hope of getting better. She's asked her friend and confidant to end it for her. What would you do if you were him?My faith teaches me to endure to the end, but what is "the end?" If you're being kept alive by machines, have you already reached the end? I think there's a difference here between being fully conscious (our athlete) and not (Terri Schiavo). I think Ms. Schiavo hit the end a long time ago and the prolonging was inappropriate. For a long while after the movie (I kept thinking about it afterwards -- another sign of a good movie), after seeing her suffering and pathetic state, I actually felt like it was ok to end it all -- that she couldn't live a meaningful life and therefore had reached the end. But then I started thinking that lots of people are quadriplegics and can still live a useful life. While the pain and pressure would be excruciating on the friend who is being asked to end it for her, I'm thinking now it wouldn't be right to do so. Her body may be ravaged, but her mind is still vibrant.So I'm curious, what do you think?
Posted by charr at 11:12 AM
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