Name:Mikaella Janice Ignalig Course and Section Movie Critique of “Awakenings” B.S PHARMACY 1-1 The Writer: Oliver Sucks Name of the Professor Director: Penny Marshall Ms. Peggy Ann Orbe This movie an epidemic of a rare disease occurred, springing up, as virus diseases sometimes do, seemingly out of nowhere. It spread over Europe and then to other parts of the world and affected some five million people. The onset of the disease was sudden and took different forms. Some people developed acute restlessness or insomnia or dementia. Others fell into a trance-like sleep or coma. These different forms were recognized and identified by the physician Constantin von Economo as one disease, which he called encephalitis lethargica, …show more content…
These awakenings opened his eyes to the tragedy: the passage of time that not all of the patients could admit to having lost. The dichotomy between the benefits and adverse side effects, however evident they seem, is a difficult area in the doctor-patient relationship. Both must accept the reality of the situation. The film is indeed a masterful depiction of medical ethics and of the value of existence. The mother of leonard and the doctor of leonard that is doctor sayer. Only Doctor sayer did a good job and her mother also it is because they do something to cure the disease. I like the part of the movie when leonard is already fine and he is happy to know that he knows it already how to walk and to eat not only leonard most especially dr.sayer and his mother. There is one scene I will always remember from Awakenings. It's when Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) sits on a bench at the zoo watching a large cat pace behind the bars, staring out at him but unable, of course, to leave its confinement. All it does is pace. And in a voiceover we can hear a Rilke poem, "The Panther," ("his gaze has been so worn by the procession...") And Sayer begins to understand what is going on in the minds of his catatonic patients; though their bodies are
There were many similarities between the short story “Flowers for Algernon” and the movie Awakenings. “Flowers for Algernon”, by Daniel Keyes, is about a man named Charlie, who has a very low IQ. Charlie gets an operation to make him smarter. It is a story about what happens to him during that period of time. The movie, Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, is about how some people, including Leonard Lowe, the main character, developed a disease and are now catatonic. Dr. Malcolm Sayer finds a drug that seems like a miracle drug. The movie is about what happens during the time that the catatonic patients are on the drug.
The Soloist (Foster, Krasnoff & Wright, 2008), is based on a true story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. who develops psychosis and becomes homeless. In the film, Nathaniel is considered a cello genius who is discovered on the streets by Steve Lopez, a journalist from the Los Angeles Times. Steve was searching for a city story and he decided to write a newspaper article about Nathaniel. Nathaniel always had a passion for music. He was a child prodigy and attended Juilliard School of Music. However, he faced many complications at Juilliard, particularly hearing voices speaking to him. Unable to handle the voices, Nathaniel dropped out and ended up living on the streets of Los Angeles. Steve and Nathaniel develops an unexpected friendship, in which Steve tries to help Nathaniel to live a normal life; having a home, treat his mental disorder, and to fulfil his dream of being a cellist again.
Wit sheds light on the problems within the American healthcare system regarding patient care and making decisions based on the well being of the patient, and not focusing on the scientific developments that can be made by studying the effects of certain drugs and illnesses on patients - this is done through the interactions between Vivian and her two doctors: Dr. Kelekian and Dr. Jason Posner, as well as interactions between Vivian and her nurse, Susie.
The Dying of the Light is an article by Dr. Craig Bowron that captures the controversy surrounding the role of medication in prolonging life. The author describes that many medical advancements have become a burden to particularly elderly patients who in most instances are ready to embrace the reality of death. Dr. Bowron believes that dying in these modern times has become a tiring and unnatural process. “Everyone wants to grow old and die in his or her sleep, but the truth is most of us will die in pieces,” Bowron notes (Bowron). The article does not advocate for euthanasia or the management of health care costs due to terminal or chronic illness. Bowron faults humanity for not embracing life and death with dignity as it was in the past. He blames the emergence of modern medical advances and democracy as the sole reason why everyone is pursuing immortality or prolonging of life rather than embracing the natural course of things. The article is very articulate and comes out rather persuasive to its target audience that happens to be health-conscious. Craig Bowron uses effective rhetorical strategies such as logos, ethos, and pathos to pass on his message. The article’s credibility is impeccable due to the author’s authority in health matters as he is a hospital-based internist. A better placed individual to dissect this issue by analyzing his experiences in the healthcare profession. The article incorporates a passionate delivery that appeals to the readers’ hopes, opinions, and imagination.
For countless years there has always been an urgent need for doctors. Different methods would be used to cure people from their sicknesses. However, life is given by God and it is he who can take it away. Doctors play the role of saving lives, but in the end, they are powerless because nature has to take its course leaving humanity at its limits. In Vincent Lams novel “Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures”, Lam challenges the myth that doctors are omnipotent by contending that “medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability”. Using Fitzgerald as a focal point, Lam debunks the myth that doctors are omnipotent through situations of medical failure, having a loss of power and control and by inhabiting deadly diseases. By showings his mistakes, Lam proves that Fitz is not perfect and God like.
This internal conflict is a result of the mistakes a physician makes, and the ability to move on from it is regarded as almost unreachable. For example, in the essay, “When Doctors Make Mistakes”, Gawande is standing over his patient Louise Williams, viewing her “lips blue, her throat swollen, bloody, and suddenly closed passage” (73). The imagery of the patient’s lifeless body gives a larger meaning to the doctor’s daily preoccupations. Gawande’s use of morbid language helps the reader identify that death is, unfortunately, a facet of a physician’s career. However, Gawande does not leave the reader to ponder of what emotions went through him after witnessing the loss of his patient. He writes, “Perhaps a backup suction device should always be at hand, and better light more easily available. Perhaps the institutions could have trained me better for such crises” (“When Doctors Make Mistakes” 73). The repetition of “perhaps” only epitomizes the inability to move on from making a mistake. However, this repetitive language also demonstrates the ends a doctor will meet to save a patient’s life (73). Therefore, it is not the doctor, but medicine itself that can be seen as the gateway from life to death or vice versa. Although the limitations of medicine can allow for the death of a patient to occur, a doctor will still experience emotional turmoil after losing someone he was trying to
Bearing undergoes a series of examinations, she comes across Dr. Jason Posner, who is a former student of Dr. Bearing’s. Dr. Posner, much like Dr. Bearing, is a complete scholar, motivated solely by the possibility of discovery. One can immediately tell from his interactions with Dr. Bearing, that Dr. Posner is not exactly the most hospitable physician. He asks Dr. Bearing how she is feeling today but he asks not because he is genuinely interested in her answer, but because by doing so he satisfies the need to empathize. In one particular scene, Dr. Posner is preforming a pelvic exam on Dr. Bearing and lets out an alarming gasp when feeling her tumor. He does nothing to console or comfort Dr. Bearing and upon finishing the exam, he leaves quickly and abruptly. This tense and uncomfortable situation is quickly contrasted with Nurse Susie Mohanan’s response. In this terribly awkward moment, Susie offers Dr. Bearing a tissue and sympathizes with her simply by being there. The contrast between Dr. Posner and Susie in regards to the way in which they treat Dr. Bearing is strikingly different. This juxtaposition is further exemplified when Dr. Bearing becomes ill from all numerous rounds of intensive chemotherapy treatments. Dr. Posner insensitively diagnoses Dr. Bearing with fever and neutropenia, but at the same time vehemently refuses to lower her treatment doses. Susie tries to argue that Dr. Bearing’s quality of life is clearing suffering, but Dr. Posner will have none
The psychological disorder that was illustrated in the movie Silver Linings Playbook is bipolar disorder. The main character is Pat Solitano and he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he nearly beat his wife’s lover to death.
From the beginning the narrator distinguishes himself as an older medical student and later it is learned that he was a teacher. He says, “the older you get the more you know, and after a certain point you know too much; you can envision the pitfalls.” In the first experience mentioned in the book, the narrator describes his hesitation in starting a conversation with a quadriplegic patient. He struggles to figure out what to say to the patient. However, when he observes a colleague he realizes that, “the doctor is not entitle to be reluctant,”
Throughout history and literature women are often referred to as birds, especially those of domesticated species. Women being referred to as a pet corresponded to the rise of patriarchal society, “… from this point, civilization has seemed to trap women in stereotypes related to nature which are domesticated, like caged birds” (Clark 342). Women had to fit into the roles society formed for them, trapping them in a lifestyle not appealing to all women. In The Awakening, Kate Chopin uses avian symbolism to emphasize Edna’s entrapment, so as to show the stages of Edna’s awakening.
Almost doctors and physicians in the world have worked at a hospital, so they must know many patients’ circumstances. They have to do many medical treatments when the patients come to the emergency room. It looks like horror films with many torture scenes, and the patients have to pay for their pains. The doctors have to give the decisions for every circumstance, so they are very stressful. They just want to die instead of suffering those medical treatments. In that time, the patients’ family just believes in the doctors and tells them to do whatever they can, but the doctors just do something that 's possible. Almost patients have died after that expensive medical treatments, but the doctors still do those medical procedures. That doctors did not have enough confidence to tell the truth to the patients’ families. Other doctors have more confidence, so they explain the health condition to the patients’ families. One time, the author could not save his patient, and the patient had found another doctor to help her. That doctor decided to cut her legs, but the patient still died in fourteen days
... important technique the other used in this book. She had used foreshadowing to tell us that Robert was going to go for Edna and that Edna was going to swim way too far out. For example, Madame Ratignolle was telling Robert that Edna was not one of them and Edna would take his flirty actions seriously. Chapter VIII, page 19.
One crucial point that Lipkin fails to recognize is that medicine is patient-centered. Even though medicine has changed via technological advances, healthcare coverage, and ethics, one thing has remained constant – medicine provides care for the patient. More than that, medicine (especially primary care) emphasizes treating the patient as a person, not a diagnosis. In the story Being Mickey’s Doctor, the pediatrician who treats ten-year-old Mickey learns valuable lessons about being humanistic and compassionate. Mickey was a talkative child who would let Dr. Morhimann (the pediatrician) know the good and bad things about her treatment. She would complain when the doctors had conversations right outside her door, and didn’t like when Dr. Morhimann talked to Mickey’s siblings about the disease in a way that made it seem like the disease had replaced Mickey. The main point...
Racial inequality is nothing new and neither is racism in the justice system. Racial injustice has played a vital role in the way people interact with one another as well as their views and behaviors towards the system. A tremendous body of research has been gathered on the topic of racial discrimination when it comes to sentencing. It has been one of the longest standing research topics in all of criminology. Bias representation and sentencing due to the color of one’s skin has been proved through real life case studies.
The movie Awakenings is a touching movie with an inspiring plot line and characterization. The movie tries to show how one doctor will do anything to help people who catatonic. Awakenings helps us understand why we must be willing to challenge conventional wisdom to help those in need. This movie which is based on a true story is an inspiring story about a doctor willing to push the limits, and it is best examined through the plot line, the characterization, and some of the drawbacks of the movie Awakenings.