Eastwood Continues Disability Vendetta with 'Million Dollar Baby' [Archive]

Max

01-22-2005, 07:23 PM

Disabled groups condemn Eastwood euthanasia film
By James Langton in New York
(Filed: 23/01/2005)

Clint Eastwood, the Hollywood screen legend, is under fire from disabled groups who say that his latest award-winning film is thinly disguised propaganda for euthanasia.

Eastwood is the director of Million Dollar Baby, a drama about a female boxer described as "Rocky in a sports bra," in which he also stars alongside Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman.

The film went on general release in the United States earlier this month and critics identified it as a leading contender for an Academy Award after Swank and Eastwood won Golden Globes for Best Actress and Best Director.

Ostensibly, the film is about a young boxer who turns to an elderly trainer to take her to the top. Yet audiences have been astonished by an unheralded plot twist in which a leading character becomes crippled in a serious accident and begs to be put to death.

The film's detractors accuse Warner Brothers, the studio that made it, of deliberately concealing the grim ending. A number of religious right-to-life groups are also upset because Eastwood's character is a devout Roman Catholic who attends mass every day.

Debbie Schlussel, a conservative television and radio commentator, described the film as a "million dollar lie" and a "cover story to suck moviegoers in for a nefarious message." She said that the film supported "killing the handicapped, literally putting their lights out".

The National Spinal Cord Injury Association, one of America's most respected organisations for disabled people, accused Eastwood of a "disability vendetta," describing the last scene of the film as a "brilliantly executed attack on life after a spinal cord injury."

Eastwood clashed previously with the charity when he spent $600,000 (Â£319,500) fighting a legal order to make his Mission Ranch Hotel in Carmel, California, accessible to handicapped people.

Marcia Roth, the association's chief executive, said the star was using the "power of fame and film to perpetuate his view that the lives of people with disabilities are not worth living."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/23/wclint23.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/23/ixworld.html

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chasb

01-22-2005, 11:47 PM

I think this topic is a little hard on Mr. Eastwood. I doubt he has a "vendetta" against anyone, infact quite the opposite.

Cris

01-23-2005, 06:56 AM

Hard to comment w/o seeing the film but I think it drops quality of life center stage and have no problem with it.

I'm not saying right or wrong but I imagine every Quad, if not every SCI, has faced this.
s.

Max

01-23-2005, 09:01 AM

Eastwood film under fire
By James Langton
New York
January 24, 2005

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Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
Photo: Supplied
Clint Eastwood, the Hollywood screen legend, is under fire from disabled groups who say that his latest award-winning film is thinly disguised propaganda for euthanasia.

Eastwood is the director of Million Dollar Baby, about a female boxer described as "Rocky in a sports bra", in which he also stars alongside Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. The film was released in the United States this month and critics have identified it as a leading contender for an Academy Award. It is about a young boxer (Swank) who turns to an elderly trainer (Eastwood) to take her to the top.

Preview audiences have been astonished by a plot twist in which one of the leading characters becomes crippled in a serious accident and begs to be put to death.

Detractors accuse Warner Brothers, the studio that made it, of deliberately concealing the grim ending to avoid upsetting audiences. A number of religious right-to-life groups are also upset because Eastwood's character is a Roman Catholic who attends Mass every day.

Debbie Schlussel, a conservative
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Film/Eastwood-film-under-fire/2005/01/23/1106415455797.html?oneclick=true#

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Max

01-23-2005, 09:05 AM

In my opinion -with all this controversy & publicity it all works to our advantagehttp://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Max

01-23-2005, 10:19 AM

Eastwood ripped over film's plot twist

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By United Press International
Sunday, January 23, 2005

Clint Eastwood is taking a few jabs for his latest award-winning film, "Million Dollar Baby," which was released in the United States this month.

The Warner Bros. drama about a female boxer who asks an aging trainer to help her become a champion takes an unexpected turn when a leading character becomes disabled in a serious accident and wants to be put to death.

Detractors say the studio, Eastwood and critics conceal a grim ending to promote euthanasia, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

"Warner Brothers never tells you the truth
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/entertainment/s_296072.html

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MrSoul

01-23-2005, 07:43 PM

A number of religious right-to-life groups are also upset because Eastwood's character is a Roman Catholic who attends Mass every day.

Well, so am I, and I can tell you, you just don't find Catholics who go to Mass every day who are pro-euthanasia. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif That's just ridiculous. And you won't find Orthodox Jews or Muslims who eat pork at lunch, either. I mean, it just DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY... http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

I find the whole concept as anti-Catholic as I find it anti-gimp, but then I admit the bias, in both directions.

Agree, Max, this has been a good way to get the message out. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.-- SÃ¸ren Kierkegaard

Max

01-24-2005, 02:45 PM

Million Dollar Baby Draws Flak from Spinal Injury Groups
By James Wray
Jan 23, 2005, 22:28 GMT

Clint Eastwood's boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby" is under attack from The National Spinal Cord Injury Association.

The award-winning movie, which is tipped for some Oscar gongs, follows a veteran fighter who works with a dedicated woman, training her as she attempts to establish herself as a boxer. Eastwood directed and stars in the movie along with Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank.

The part of the movie drawing flak is towards the end when one character suffers a spinal injury and pleads to be allowed to die.

The association says this last scene is a "brilliantly executed attack on life after a spinal cord injury."

Eastwood himself has kept pretty quiet on the matter and Warner Bros. has certainly not highlighted this part of the movie.

The veteran actor said he was not pro-euthanasia and the movie just reflected some of the dilemmas people face in real life.

You can find out more about "Million Dollar Baby" and read a review in our database.

Million Dollar Baby Draws Flack from NSCIA (http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_3792.php/Million_Dollar_Baby_Draws_Flak_from_Spinal_Injury_ Groups)

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

edited to fix URL/resize page

[This message was edited by cheesecake on 02-01-05 at 07:47 AM.]

Max

01-26-2005, 09:43 AM

Censure for Eastwood's euthanasia film

Staff and agencies
Wednesday January 26, 2005

Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated film Million Dollar Baby has come under attack from far right and disabled groups in the US for its treatment of euthanasia.
The boxing drama, which has seven nominations and for which Eastwood has already picked up the Golden Globe for best director, along with best actress for Hilary Swank, shows its leading character begging to be put to death after becoming crippled in a serious accident.

Conservative television commentator Debbie Schlussel has described the movie as a "million dollar lie". She said it was a "cover story to suck moviegoers in for a nefarious message which supported killing the handicapped, literally putting their lights out."

America's National Spinal Cord Injury Association accused Eastwood of a "disability vendetta". A spokesman labelled the film's final scene "a brilliantly executed attack on life after a spinal cord injury."

Eastwood himself is nominated for best actor and best director for the film, which is based on a short story by the former fight manager and cutman Jerry Boyd, writing under the pen-name FX Toole. The veteran actor also took on producer's duties.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1399040,00.html

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

brocko

01-27-2005, 08:34 PM

Originally posted by fuentejps:

nothingwrong w/ that. he helped die, i hope if the time ever comes and i cant do it myself, someone i luv helps me go.

Don't worry fjps, I get the impression you wont have any trouble finding someone to help.

Max

01-28-2005, 11:56 AM

Mercy me

By Scott Galupo
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

"For the last seven years, I have not been able to eat, wash, go to the bathroom or get dressed by myself," said Christopher Reeve in dramatic testimony before the Senate in 2002. "Some people are able to accept living with a severe disability. I am not one of them..."
Stop after that ellipsis, and you might read a validation of the pro-euthanasia ethos embodied - perhaps even espoused - in two critically acclaimed films both nominated for Academy Awards on Tuesday.

http://washingtontimes.com/entertainment/20050126-105159-3121r.htm

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Max

01-28-2005, 12:08 PM

"Piss on Pity"
Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar" Snuff Film
by Mickey Z.
www.dissidentvoice.org (http://www.dissidentvoice.org)
January 24, 2005

Fresh off some big Golden Globes wins, "Million Dollar Baby" seems poised for Oscar success...but not everyone is pleased with the boxing flick-cum-snuff film. If you haven't already seen the movie, be warned: The surprise ending is revealed in the next paragraph.

Hilary Swank goes from trailer trash to number one contender in the first two-thirds of the film. Her relationship with her trainer (Eastwood) and her drive to succeed makes this part of the film enjoyable for anyone who happens to like boxing parables (as I do). Then it all changes. Swank gets her title shot and ends up paralyzed. After a long, horribly drawn-out series of hospital scenes, she convinces Clint (star, director, producer, and he even wrote the damn score) to disconnect her breathing tube. Clint, of course, obliges.

"This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," writes Steve Drake in The Ragged Edge. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: non-disabled) audience member."

It will likely come as a bit of shock to those unfamiliar with the disability rights movement, but not every disabled person would rather be dead (or even non-disabled). Dead people, you see, can't fight the power and raise hell. Thanks to activists from Lizzie Jennings to Rosa Parks, African-Americans can not only get on the bus, they can sit anywhere they damn please. "Folks with disabilities," says Lucy Gwin, founder and editor of Mouth Magazine, "still can't get on the bus."

And here's a newsflash to those who think Christopher Reeve represented the disability rights movement: The crips weren't impressed with Superman's search for a cure -- in fact, they're not pacified by Jerry Lewis' telethons or legislature that honored more in the breech, and they want freedom for the two million Americans imprisoned in nursing homes against their will. Now. Those are among the many reasons Gwin started Mouth and, as she puts it, "lowered the level of discourse on the subject of the helping system." As the crip mantra goes: "Nothing about us, without us."

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Jan05/MickeyZ0124.htm

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

MrSoul

01-28-2005, 03:47 PM

Someone sent me some blog entries on this, that are pretty good.

(NDY is NOT DEAD YET)

Now that the issue of spoilers has been done to death, I think I'll throw in a few comments about what a crap movie Million Dollar Baby is.

Basically, it's the "Wallace Beery wrestling picture" that Barton Fink never got around to writing. Part of the reason for Eastwood's ridiculous and vile depiction of quadraplegia is that he's making a 1930s movie. He gets love from the critics for throwing in two "twists": the boxer's a woman, and Eastwood dares to be dark and kills her in the end.

Let me point out a couple major points that Eastwood invents for this movie. First, it's been settled that people on ventilators have the right to demand the machine be switched off; we all have the right to refuse medical care. Second, bedsores are not exactly unknown to modern nursing. I imagine there are places where someone might end up losing a limb due to neglected bedsores within a few months of becoming paralyzed, but I'd say that doesn't speak well of Frankie's paternal care.

Obviously enough Eastwood has artistic license to tell his own story, but there is a point to the changes he makes to reality, just as there is a point to the story he's telling: disabled lives are not worth living.

Of course, you can tell me that that's not the point of the story - the important thing is the (creepy) fatherly relationship between Frankie and Maggie. That's what really pisses me off. Endorsing the death of disabled people isn't a point to be made for this movie - it's a cliche to be exploited, something that the movie simply takes for granted as true.

FYI, I was actually at that little Chicago protest. It was a fun little event - very meta. Protesting film critics for praising a movie. It is a silly idea, but, of course, it worked; it got attention. Nothing the media like like a media story.

Posted by Brian Zimmerman Â· January 25, 2005 03:43 AM we see eastwood creating a character that begs to be killed once she becomes a quadriplegic. i am asking the question about why eastwood made a film where a quadriplegic is killed, about a man that kills a disabled woman. the entire film eastwood constructs is brimming over with the belittling of women: "i don't train girls" (note, he calls women "girls", that maggie is the titular "baby", i suppose both because she is a she and because she becomes a quad); "you punch like a girl"; the issue of frankie's "daughter" - are we to believe that she is a fiction of the fiction? is it merely a plot device so that we see frankie recieving letters "from his daughter," through himself, of course, but in light of the daughter role that maggie takes on, that say "return to sender" - obviously telegraphing that maggie should be "returned to sender" thus frankie's arrival at the killing, out of the light, into the foregrounded darkness into maggie's room, and back into the light. here we see disability played to emphasize the devalued female.

the film's other disabled character, danger barch, why "danger"? clearly it is meant to be ironic, he is only dangerous in the sense of a cautionary about "letting disabled folks live"; i could go into the "savings" that eastwood's frankie espouses every 15minutes, to emphasize the construction of "social dead weight", but you get it. danger is played for laughs, and a bit of sympathy. laughs because he is disabled, his sympathy through his maleness. so not only are disabled characters used by eastwood for their associations with "weakness" and "unworthy life" but also to refiy male privilege.

i don't disagree with realish that this is a story, well acted and directed, but choices were made about which story to tell. had eastwood made a film valorizing a different "white trash" character, perhaps a member of the kkk, with certain moral conflicts, but killing a black person in the ring, i imagine the film would easily be read as racist - though it would still be "about indivdiuals, individual relationships, and individual choices."

still, i can hardly believe that the film would have us believe that yeats wrote in gaelic.

Posted by jonk Â· January 27, 2005 05:01 PM Crooked Timber/blog (http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/003134.html)

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.-- SÃ¸ren Kierkegaard

Max

01-31-2005, 04:25 PM

Film Critics at Center of Controversy Over Eastwood Film
credit: Aya Kawano

By Brian Orloff

Published: January 31, 2005 4:00 PM ET

NEW YORK Clint Eastwood's drama "Million Dollar Baby" may be racking up the critical praise and plaudits -- including seven Academy Award nominations -- but it's what critics aren't saying that has become the real story, according to some. Critics' silence over the film's final emotional/ethical twist, is sparking ethical debate among activists and film critics alike. A group called Not Dead Yet has sponsored protests and picketing.

"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the American National Spinal Cord Injury Association.

Thanks to the publicity, by now most readers should know that the film eventually raises serious issues surrounding assisted suicide or "mercy killing." Moviegoers, of course, like most Americans, split on how they feel about it. Was it wrong, in this case, for film critics to refuse to give away the ending? Are they taking too much of a pro-euthanasia stance? Can they even seriously review this movie if they don't discuss its key component?

"I get angry when I feel that I'm getting told too much," Michael Miner, editor of the Chicago Reader, who wrote a column about this centering on local critic Roger Ebert, told E&P. "But in a case like this it's quite a bit different from the surprise in 'The Crying Game' or the surprise in 'The Sixth Sense.' You find yourself not able to talk about the philosophical core of the movie. This is not just a twist at the end. This is everything about the movie that makes people walk out thinking they've seen something wonderful."

"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a struggling boxer, Maggie (Hilary Swank), who convinces hardened trainer Frankie (Clint Eastwood) to coach her. He reluctantly agrees, and she becomes a success and a surrogate daughter. But after a brutal punch leaves her paralyzed, the film's final one-third takes place in a hospital where Maggie confronts her future and Frankie decides she wants to die.

Miner wrote about Not Dead Yet, which has protested critics' lack of disclosure, and the film's ending, commenting, "Thanks to the star power of Swank and Eastwood, the film was an endorsement of Maggie's death."

He told E &P: "I think that's a flaw of the movie that stars ... tend to sweep argument away. What they do seems to be the right thing to do because they're doing it. But this can be said about a lot of movies."

Ebert fired back, filing a column this past Saturday with the headline "Critics have no right to play spoiler." He wrote: "The characters in movies do not always do what we would do. Sometimes they make choices that offend us. That is their right. It is our right to disagree with them. It is not our right, however, to destroy for others the experience of being as surprised by those choices as we were."

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000780626

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

01-31-2005, 07:27 PM

I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not in a position to make a comment on the believability of this actress, Hillary Swank, who appeared on "60 Minutes" last night.

PN

Faye

02-01-2005, 10:51 AM

I think a movie like this makes a case for more CURE research.

If Clint dislikes "disability" that much maybe he should donate money towards the ultimate solution.
That ultimate solution being CURE not Death.

Ramps and other adaptations wouldn't be such an issue if there were a CURE.

~ Choices Are The Hinges Of Destiny ~

Max

02-01-2005, 06:46 PM

'Million Dollar' storm
By Sharon Waxman The New York Times Wednesday, February 2, 2005
NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist group called Not Dead Yet, which picketed the film in Chicago this month. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: nondisabled) audience member."
.
Eastwood said in a telephone interview that he was not surprised at the protest, but that the film was not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life. Every story is a 'what if."'
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist group called Not Dead Yet, which picketed the film in Chicago this month. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: nondisabled) audience member."
.
Eastwood said in a telephone interview that he was not surprised at the protest, but that the film was not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life. Every story is a 'what if."'
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist group called Not Dead Yet, which picketed the film in Chicago this month. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: nondisabled) audience member."
.
Eastwood said in a telephone interview that he was not surprised at the protest, but that the film was not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life. Every story is a 'what if."'
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/01/features/eastwood.html

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

fuentejps

02-02-2005, 05:27 AM

Originally posted by Max:

'Million Dollar' storm
By Sharon Waxman The New York Times Wednesday, February 2, 2005
NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist group called Not Dead Yet, which picketed the film in Chicago this month. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: nondisabled) audience member."
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Eastwood said in a telephone interview that he was not surprised at the protest, but that the film was not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life. Every story is a 'what if."'
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See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
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< < Back to Start of Article NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
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Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist group called Not Dead Yet, which picketed the film in Chicago this month. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: nondisabled) audience member."
.
Eastwood said in a telephone interview that he was not surprised at the protest, but that the film was not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life. Every story is a 'what if."'
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist group called Not Dead Yet, which picketed the film in Chicago this month. "It plays out killing as a romantic fantasy and gives emotional life to the 'better dead than disabled' mindset lurking in the heart of the typical (read: nondisabled) audience member."
.
Eastwood said in a telephone interview that he was not surprised at the protest, but that the film was not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life. Every story is a 'what if."'
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article NEW YORK When the Clint Eastwood film "Million Dollar Baby" came out, critics praised the film for its subtle power, moving performances and the quiet confidence of its director. But not wanting to give away its ending, few mentioned that a controversial social issue was buried in its plot.
.
But now that it has been nominated for seven Oscars, social activists and conservative commentators have emerged to criticize the film, which they say sends a message advocating assisted suicide.
.
Defenders of the film say its intention is not to make a political statement, and that it is the filmmakers' right to tell the story he or she chooses. (Those who have not seen the movie and do not wish to know the plot may not want to read further.)
.
"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of a young woman (Hilary Swank) who strives to be a champion boxer, being groomed by a crusty old trainer, played by Eastwood. But when her character is badly injured and paralyzed, Eastwood's character must decide whether to help her die.
.
Both Swank and Eastwood were nominated for their performances, along with Morgan Freeman, playing an ex-boxer, who is up for best supporting actor. Eastwood was also nominated for his direction, and the film is up for best picture.
.
Some conservative critics have criticized the film widely, but advocates for the rights of the disabled are also taking aim, saying the character's decision to die gives the wrong message.
.
"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, executive director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. She cited a letter from a mother with a paralyzed son, who said the film had made it more difficult for her to keep hope alive in him.
.
Others are angrier still. "This movie is a corny, melodramatic assault on people with disabilities," wrote Stephen Drake on the Web site of an activist
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/01/features/eastwood.html

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

ppl always find something to whine and bitch about, then call it social activism. unbelievable , its a freaking movie

Chris Chappell

02-02-2005, 06:29 AM

Fuente - agreed, its only a movie.

However, movies often do reflect a culture's perceptions, interpretations right or wrong.

Many people blindly follow what the media spoon-feeds them. Prior to any of our accidents did any of us really know and understand the details of sci?

Instead of the disability community pursuing its own vendetta against Eastwood and the movie we should see it as an opportunity to continue to educate people as to the errors and mistakes made in the film.

Just as the makers of the film made mistakes we are just as guilty in making those our sole focus. The movie wasn't about sci and I sincerely doubt that Eastwood purposely misrepresented it.

Max

02-03-2005, 02:08 PM

Conservative activists among those knocking Oscar-nominated film
Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version

LOS ANGELES If "Million Dollar Baby" wins the Oscar for Best Picture -- there won't be any applause from some activist groups.

A warning to those who haven't seen the movie -- we're about to give away the ending, so we can say what the fuss is about.

It tells the story of a female boxer played by Hillary Swank, and her trainer, played by Clint Eastwood. They develop a father-daughter relationship.

Swank's character is blind-sided by a vicious opponent, and ends up paralyzed. She decides she doesn't want to live that way, and asks Eastwood's character to help her die. After much agonizing, he does.

Detractors say the movie rejects the idea that people with paralyzing injuries can lead lives that are worth living. And they the film is little more than propaganda supporting legalization of assisted suicide.

Eastwood -- who also directed -- says that's not what it's about.

The head of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association complains that people "still think having a spinal-cord injury is a fate worse than death."

http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=2898181

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

MrSoul

02-03-2005, 04:59 PM

Originally posted by Faye:

I think a movie like this makes a case for more CURE research.

If Clint dislikes "disability" that much maybe he should donate money towards the ultimate solution.
That ultimate solution being CURE not Death.

Ramps and other adaptations wouldn't be such an issue if there were a CURE.

Faye, there will always be OLD PEOPLE in wheelchairs, unless you are talking about a cure for death itself. Making buildings accessible isn't just about people with SCI or other diseases/conditions. That is one of the things the disability rights movement should ALWAYS emphasize: this is about YOU, your parents, your grandparents. It's not just about being nice to "someone else"...my grandmother used a wheelchair for 7 years before she died.

Thanks for the NY Times link, Max. Had not read that one.

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.-- SÃ¸ren Kierkegaard

MrSoul

02-03-2005, 05:02 PM

Down for the Count

Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood, USA, 2004

Rating: 2.6 (out of 5)

Posted: January 29, 2005

By Laurence Station

(Editor's Note: Spoiler Alert: Major plot points are revealed in this review. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. If you're upset that you won't be able to figure out whether you'd like the film without reading the review, well, the rating up above pretty much says it all. -- Kevin Forest Moreau, Editor-in-Chief)

Finally, a boxing movie Dr. Jack Kevorkian can love. Obviously, everyone has the right to die. But what if a person who wants to die is physically incapable of terminating his or her own life? Well, that's when you need a little help from your friends. Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby is far more interested in saying something about living and dying than it is with examining the game of boxing. Instead, it uses the ring and the gym as staging points for director Eastwood to mediate on the choices people make, for better and worse, that define who they are and what their lives have meant. Boxing is a sport where one bad blow can kill a person -- that's part of the thrill, for spectators and participants alike: There's a grim finality to pugilism, and that's what draws people to the matches.

In Million Dollar Baby Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, a veteran trainer who owns a gym and watches his heavyweight protÃ©gÃ© walk out on him (and subsequently win his coveted title with a new manager). Frankie is considered a great teacher, but too cautious to coach a fighter all the way to the top. Enter Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), a 31-year-old, dirt-poor waitress with aspirations of becoming a great fighter. She wants Frankie to train her, but he doesn't "train girls." Naturally, Maggie sticks around the gym anyway, and Frankie ultimately gives in and takes her under his wing.

Morgan Freeman plays Scrap, a retired boxer and, seemingly, Frankie's only friend. Scrap manages and lives at the gym, and offers an omniscient voice throughout, clueing us in to private details about the other characters: Maggie knows she's trash; Frankie is scared of success, always pulling up short with his fighters when he should be urging them toward bigger and better contests. How Scrap attains such wisdom is a mystery, but his narration does slot in cozily with the multitude of clichÃ©s plaguing this movie.

From the old trainer taking on the untested newcomer, to the Irish Catholic priest Frankie confides in and argues with, all the way to the big fight itself, Million Dollar Baby regrettably holds to the traditions of predictable plot turns and ham-fisted messages about life and loss -- a tradition which has followed boxing films since Wallace Beery's Depression-era The Champ. Yes, Maggie goes from neophyte to contender in a relatively short span of time. Yes, she breaks through Frankie's gruff exterior, becoming a surrogate daughter to a man who's (no, really?) estranged from his only child. And yes, her opponent in the big title match is a thoroughly unlikable cheater who's also much bigger and stronger than she is.

But there doesn't have to be anything wrong with all of that. Honestly, if Million Dollar Baby were just a boxing movie most of this could be forgiven -- all of the above falls right in line with the genre's conventions and expectations, and that's hardly a capital offense. But Baby aspires to be so much more than a mere boxing picture. All of the pugilism is just setup for the last third, when Baby morphs into a "dying with dignity" flick.

And that's where it craters. Following Maggie as she rises through the ranks is at least entertaining. Though she wins her matches with credulity-straining ease, it's still exciting. It's when Maggie suffers a paralyzing injury in the ring and asks Frankie to end her life that Million Dollar Baby shamelessly manipulates its audience. And it doesn't let up, piling on emotionally devastating moments like when Maggie's embarrassingly stereotypical trailer-trash family arrives at the hospital and attempts to force Maggie to sign over her winnings to them. And then an infection sets in, and one of Maggie's legs has to be amputated. It's just ridiculously excessive. Why does it have to be so catastrophic? Ah, but there's a reason. Eastwood can't justify snuffing out Maggie's life just because Maggie can't face living life as a severely disabled person. No, it has to be because she's suffers so enormously that we, the audience, will actually be rooting for Frankie to pull the plug on his plucky prizefighter. So to make sure we do, the hardships must multiply.

If you've got to bend over so far backwards to justify a person's right to die, then maybe you shouldn't be taking a stance on such an inflammatory position at all. Million Dollar Baby might have made a decent addition to the boxing-film genre, had it not gotten bogged down by weighty pretensions regarding fate, choice and empty resolutions. Eastwood should have never left the boxing ring.

ShakingThrough reviews (http://www.shakingthrough.net/movies/)

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.-- SÃ¸ren Kierkegaard

SWild

02-03-2005, 06:11 PM

Hey, maybe somebody already mentioned it in another post, but Eastwood's message in "Million Dollar Baby" sounds to me like he's just using film to garner support for his previous stance that people with disabilitites are a drain on (his personal) economics and ought to be eliminated. When sued for not adhering to ADA accomodations at his Bed & Breakfast, he appealed to Congress to water down the ADA legislation. "Extortion" he called -- when a disabled person wanted to rent an adequate accessable room for the same price (not double) that which is charged for the other rooms in his Bed-&-Breakfast. C'mon, Clint, haven't you made enough $$$ off all your films??? People with an injury deserve to be euthanized? As if we are sub-human, imperfect specimens. That's pretty sick-o.

Max

02-04-2005, 12:19 PM

Death, not disability, is the end of the world
CBC News Viewpoint | February 03, 2005 | More from Disability Matters

This column will feature three writers, each with a different disability. They all have something to say about living with a disability and how they view awareness and attitudes toward disabilities in Canada. The column will deal with the rights of people with disabilities, eliminating inequality and discrimination, and issues of self-help and consumer advocacy. Our plan is to rotate among our columnists to have a new column each month.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed Smith is a retired educator and full-time writer. His humour column runs in several papers and magazines and he has had eight books published. He has been quadriplegic since 1998. Ed lives in Springdale, Nfld.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clint Eastwood just lost me as a fan, something I'm sure will keep him awake nights.

His latest movie, Million Dollar Baby, has won praise from everyone who's seen it, and perhaps a few who haven't. As a person with quadriplegia I see it as nothing more or less than a scurrilous attack on people with spinal cord injury specifically, and those with disabilities generally.

A couple of years ago I gave a keynote presentation to a conference on disabilities. It was meant to be an upbeat and "go get 'em" type speech and from the standing ovation at the end it seemed I had succeeded admirably. Less than an hour later one of the delegates to the conference (we'll call him Jack) button-holed me in the hotel lobby. He looked me up and down and then spoke in confidential tones.

"When I see you now," he said, "and remember what you used to be like, I think 'twould be better if you were dead."

Jack and Clint would have hit it off well. Million Dollar Baby, which Eastwood both directs and stars in, is the story of a fight manager with a promising young boxer. The fighter gets a spinal cord injury in a fall and at her request the manager (Eastwood) kills her as she lies in a nursing home. The film will likely win all kinds of awards.

Not from me, even if I had them to give. Eastwood has hardly been a friend of people with disabilities. He was sued in 1997 for refusing to include $7,000 worth of accessible bathrooms in his $6.7-million resort renovations. Caring chap, Clint.

So it's what the boxer wanted, right? It's what I wanted, too, when I discovered I was paralysed in almost 90 per cent of my body. I pleaded with my wife to have me shot or put down in some merciful fashion. At the time, I didn't even care if it was merciful. That was for the first two days. Now, six years later, I'm rather glad she didn't.

Actor Christopher Reeve had a similar experience. So did many people I know who have suffered from catastrophic injury.

Incredibly, a preponderance of the population, even in our "enlightened" Canadian society, agrees with Jack that we're better off dead.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_disabilitymatters/smith_20050203.html

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

MrSoul

02-05-2005, 02:51 PM

Last update:
February 4, 2005 at 12:10 AM

Million Dollar Baby' getting jabs from the right, disability advocates

by Bob Von Sternberg, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Million Dollar Baby" has become a million dollar brouhaha.

Clint Eastwood's newest film, basking in critical praise and its seven Oscar nominations, also has become ensnared in widening uproar among advocates for the disabled.

Nearly all critics have taken pains in their reviews of "Million Dollar Baby" not to reveal its wrenching plot twist, but the controversy has disseminated that twist far and wide.

(This story will do the same, so readers who don't want to know how the film unfolds should stop reading now.)

"Million Dollar Baby" tells the story of an aspiring boxer, played by Hilary Swank, who is taken under the wing of an aging trainer played by Eastwood. After an initial string of successful bouts, the boxer is felled by a sucker punch that leaves her paralyzed from the neck down.

She pleads with Eastwood's character to help her die, which he ultimately does.

Advocates for the disabled have called on moviegoers to boycott the film on the grounds that it is insensitive to the physically impaired and tacitly encourages acceptance of euthanasia as a morally justifiable act.

"Not Dead Yet," a Chicago-based disabilities advocacy group, has branded Eastwood a "Million Dollar Bigot" and has handed out leaflets outside some theaters where the movie is showing.

"A growing number of people with disabilities -- who are just now getting to see the movie as it is released nationwide -- are outraged by the factual inaccuracies and the praise it is receiving," the flier reads.

"Any movie that sends a message that having a spinal cord injury is a fate worse than death is a movie that concerns us tremendously," said Marcie Roth, CEO of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. "I'm saddened but not surprised that [Eastwood] uses the power of fame and film to perpetuate his view that the lives of people with disabilities are not worth living."

No protests against the film have been staged in the Twin Cities, where the movie is showing throughout the metro area, but angry disabled people have been calling the Minnesota State Council on Disability.

"They're mad as hell about it," said Margo Imdieke Cross, an accessibility specialist for the council who uses a wheelchair herself. "If this was a movie about any other category of minority, you'd have rioting in the streets."

She said the advocates' protests "are absolutely on target. It's an incredibly insulting film. It's an incredible film until she breaks her neck. Then it goes right into the toilet. Sure, you could see if your whole identity was wrapped up in being a boxer, you might be depressed. But that doesn't mean pulling the plug."

For his part, Eastwood said last week that the protests don't surprise him, but that the film is not about the right to die. "The film is supposed to make you think about the precariousness of life and how we handle it," he said. "How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it, if I were in that position in real life."

He added: "You don't have to like incest to watch Hamlet. But it's in the story."

Spoiling the story

The controversy intensified after conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved revealed the plot's secret on nationwide broadcasts. That prompted the Chicago Sun Times' Roger Ebert, the nation's best-known film critic, to blast Limbaugh and Medved in a column last Saturday.

"They object to it," he wrote. "That is their right. To engage in a campaign to harm the movie for those who may not agree with them is another matter. ... To actively attempt to sabotage a movie with its intended mainstream audience, as Medved, Limbaugh and others have done, is not justifiable."

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which regularly reviews movies, branded "Million Dollar Baby" with its harshest rating: "Morally objectionable."

The review says, in part: "The [assisted suicide] itself is presented as an act of reluctant heroism. And given the dire circumstances, our sympathies and humane inclinations may argue in favor of such misguided compassion, but our Catholic faith prohibits us from getting around the fact that, in this case, the best-intended ends cannot justify the chosen means: the taking of a life."

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has stayed out of the fray, but the outgoing chair of its commission on bio-medical ethics said the condemnation of the film squares with the Catholic belief that "any direct attack on innocent human life is morally reprehensible."

Paul Wojda, a theology professor at the University of St. Thomas, also said disability advocates "are scared to death -- literally. ... Disability advocates see the writing on the wall, when a loved one is in intensive care, or terminally ill, the response can be, 'Let's get it over with.'

"It's a cultural convention to think the way to end suffering is to end the sufferer. That's deeply disturbing to members of the disabled community."

Protesting and calling for boycotts of films are as old as "Birth of a Nation" in 1915 and as recent as "Fahrenheit 9/11" last year.

"It's part of our system, to advocate boycotts," said Clay Steinman, chair of the Humanities, Media and Cultural Studies department at Macalester College. "It's not censorship, because you're not asking the state to step in. It's a good way to begin debating an issue."

And while the protests illuminate an advocacy group's cause, "even while it gets the group's issue aired, it paradoxically tends to increase a film's box office," Steinman said. "At some level, it just provides free publicity."

Minneapolis Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/5222003.html)

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.-- SÃ¸ren Kierkegaard

Faye

02-05-2005, 02:59 PM

Thanks MrSoul for posting.

I give Clint credit for NOT shooting another "triumph over adversity" sci story.

We could exploit the publicity he is getting to demand more CURE research. As I said a couple of days ago in this thread:

I think a movie like this makes a case for more CURE research.

If Clint dislikes "disability" that much maybe he should donate money towards the ultimate solution.
That ultimate solution being CURE not Death.

Ramps and other adaptations wouldn't be such an issue if there were a CURE.

~ Choices Are The Hinges Of Destiny ~

merco

02-05-2005, 10:34 PM

Hey guys,

In Clints defense:

The movie is just another drama. We can't carry a chip on our shoulders because we are quads or have some sort of SCI. I don't think Clint intended on making people believe that this was based on a true life story with the murdered victim singled out as a quad. I don't doubt for one minute that one may feel he would rather be dead than alive like this but that is the true reality of life. It kind of gets under your skin when you see where she was coming from in asking him to kill her. It's not the fact that Clint killed a quad in a movie. And by the way, she isn't a real quad. Again just another movie. Heck, I've seen all his movies and he has killed many people on his movies. It was just another part in a movie. If you want to believe he really meant this as a slap in the face to quads then I guess we should all meet down by the river with our chaps on with pistols in hand and start shootin the bad cowboys just like Clint did in all of his westerns. I've never heard that Clint ever shot anyone in real life. We gotta lighin up. Roll with the punches. Honestly, how many people have been killed in a drama? Does it not matter because they wern't quads. Think about it.

MERCO

Princess "Leia"

02-06-2005, 06:19 AM

I agree Merco, I do not think Eastwood had any intentions to harm the SCI community, he hasn't a clue of what the SCI are all about.. I posted in another thread (cure forum) that I thought the film was smaltzy and predicable. Although it was not the standard "triumph over tragedy" it still was very Hollywoodish to make the movie palatable to the audience. Eastwood is good at that. Most people do not what to see the realities of the SCI, don't ya think. My gripe is in the inaccurate way it portrayed a SCI womem and what it left out.

However, as Faye and Big Bob have discussed, we can take this opportunity to use the film to our advantage . I agree, it really is just another movie. But this movie may help us expose and educate the public on SCI. Maybe even Mr Eastwood can learn a thing or two.

Leia

"Ani't no stopping us now!"

Max

02-06-2005, 10:18 AM

Life's worth more than a 'Million'

By Ann Neville-Jan

Warning: Reading this will spoil the 'surprise' ending to the movie "Million Dollar Baby.'
AS a person with a disability, I cannot ignore the message inherent in the Oscar contender for best picture, "Million Dollar Baby.' Society needs to hear another voice.

The main theme depicted in the movie for me, and many disabled people like me is that you are better off dead than living with a disability. How do we come to that conclusion? Let's take a look.

The film chronicles the rise to fame of a woman boxer Maggie (Hillary Swank), and her coach, Frankie (Clint Eastwood), who reluctantly takes her to a career pinnacle, only to witness his protege becoming a quadriplegic. Frankie takes her to a rehabilitation facility where she develops pressure sores and eventually requires an amputation. She asks Frankie to euthanize her, which he does by turning off her oxygen and giving her an IV dose of adrenaline.

Steven Drake, research analyst for Not Dead Yet, an organization that opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia, says "This is, in reality, a recipe for an agonizing death, combining suffocation with your heart feeling like it will explode.'

I went to the movie with my husband and was shocked by the depiction of rehabilitation and the result euthanasia.

Were we to assume that Maggie had already participated in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and psychological counseling? And that, despite this, she made her decision?

I don't think that was Eastwood's intention. He cut to the chase of his underlying message: that life is not worth living with a spinal-cord injury.

To the contrary, many people with a spinal cord injury participate in society despite widespread discrimination.

Eastwood has a history of fighting the Americans With Disabilities Act after being sued as owner of a hotel resort found not in compliance with accessibility standards.

In a recent press release issued by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, CEO Marcie Roth said she was "... saddened but not surprised that he uses the power of fame and film to perpetuate his view that the lives of people with disabilities are not worth living.'

The press release questioned whether this movie was Eastwood's revenge.

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1413,206~11851~2694689,00.html

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Max

02-13-2005, 09:01 AM

What 'Million Dollar Baby' says about disability and death

SUSAN M. WOLF

"Million Dollar Baby" is Clint Eastwood's provocative movie about the relationship between a crusty trainer named Frankie and Maggie, a determined woman boxer. (Caution: plot details revealed below.) The film is drawing flack for raising serious questions about euthanasia. Conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh and disability rights organizations such as the National Spinal Cord Injury Foundation charge that "Million Dollar Baby" advocates assisted suicide and euthanasia while perpetuating the stereotype that life with quadriplegia is not worth living.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/10879335.htm

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Max

02-27-2005, 12:18 PM

Million dollar question

Spoiler alert: This story gives away the ending of the
Oscar-nominated movie "Million Dollar Baby."

By Elizabeth Jardina

CLINT EASTWOOD'S "Million Dollar Baby" - up for seven Academy Awards at tonight's ceremony - has already won plenty of accolades and prizes. But it's also stirring up controversy.

The film about a female boxer was well regarded by critics, including this newspaper's own Barry Caine, who called it "Eastwood at his finest."

But "Million Dollar Baby" - along with Best Foreign Film nominee "The Sea Inside" - has enraged some disabled-rights advocates. Responses to the film's shocking ending have ranged from head-shaking and disappointment to protest Web sites such as www.milliondollarbigot.com (http://www.milliondollarbigot.com).
Clint Eastwood plays Frankie, a boxing coach and retired manager.

Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald, an almost-too-old woman from Nowheresville, Mo., who dreams of being a boxer. Frankie resists training her, but then acquiesces, and Maggie proceeds to knock the daylights out of everyone she fights.

Then the plot abruptly turns. Maggie is attacked by an opponent after a round ends and falls hard onto a stool. She's paralyzed, unable to move any part of her body below the neck, unable to breathe without a ventilator. She begs Frankie to kill her, comparing herself to a crippled German shepherd her father had when she was a child, saying she has no reason to live.

After some tortured deliberation, Frankie does kill her, sneaking into the nursing home, disconnecting her ventilator and shooting adrenaline into her IV line.

"Million Dollar Baby" has political and social implications. The state Legislature is discussing a law that would allow doctors to give terminally ill patients a life-ending dose of medication, similar to the assisted-suicide law in Oregon.

To the film's admirers, Maggie's injury and death are dramatic plot turns, a chance to plumb the depths of moral decision-making.

For disabled rights advocates, Maggie's situation isn't a plot twist. And the way Maggie's injury is portrayed - no rehabilitation, no counseling, no support - is inaccurate and misleading, playing into stereotypes of disabled people warehoused in hospitals and left to die, they charge.

As soon as word about the film's plot got out, disabled advocates sprang into action.

"It taps into and reinforces the notion that it's better to be dead than significantly disabled," says Paul Longmore, a disability advocate who teaches history at San Francisco State University. "And that's a very widespread prejudice," he says. "(The film) doesn't present any of the alternatives, any of the options, that a real person with disabilities would have. It doesn't present any of the real obstacles that a real life person with a disability would have."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_2588447

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Wise Young

02-27-2005, 01:02 PM

In an article posted below, there was a link to the web site that protests the movie. It doesn't go anywhere. The URL is http://www.milliondollarbigot.org/

Max

02-27-2005, 01:10 PM

Originally posted by Wise Young:

In an article posted below, there was a link to the web site that protests the movie. It doesn't go anywhere. The URL is http://www.milliondollarbigot.org/

I agree Wise -it does'n go anywhere!

But this "scandal" makes ordinary people think about what lives we live being paralysed.

As exposure, in my opinion, it works to our advantage

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

kay_79

02-27-2005, 04:02 PM

Originally posted by merco:

Hey guys,

In Clints defense:

The movie is just another drama. We can't carry a chip on our shoulders because we are quads or have some sort of SCI. I don't think Clint intended on making people believe that this was based on a true life story with the murdered victim singled out as a quad. I don't doubt for one minute that one may feel he would rather be dead than alive like this but that is the true reality of life. It kind of gets under your skin when you see where she was coming from in asking him to kill her. It's not the fact that Clint killed a quad in a movie. And by the way, she isn't a real quad. Again just another movie. Heck, I've seen all his movies and he has killed many people on his movies. It was just another part in a movie. If you want to believe he really meant this as a slap in the face to quads then I guess we should all meet down by the river with our chaps on with pistols in hand and start shootin the bad cowboys just like Clint did in all of his westerns. I've never heard that Clint ever shot anyone in real life. We gotta lighin up. Roll with the punches. Honestly, how many people have been killed in a drama? Does it not matter because they wern't quads. Think about it.

MERCO

I totally agree with you! I sa the movie and I must say I got a lil bit of sad, but it's just a movie just another drama. We shouldnt see it with different eyes.

cass

02-28-2005, 12:32 AM

did you notice he just had to mention Mission Ranch before he left stage?

Shaun

02-28-2005, 03:30 PM

Originally posted by Kay79:

I sa the movie and I must say I got a lil bit of sad, but it's just a movie just another drama. We shouldnt see it with different eyes.

Ya,i agree with you...and maybe im missing something here,but Eastwood only directed this movie,right,he didnt write it!...So wouldnt it someone else with the ''Disability Vendetta''

~~If it feels good do it even if ya shouldnt,dont let people mess you around~~

cass

02-28-2005, 08:21 PM

clint produced, directed and starred in it. i really think he chose the script...don't you?? http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

steveg

02-28-2005, 08:26 PM

Shaun

You are right. I saw the movie and read the short story by FX Toole. He was an cut man in the boxing world and Clint adapted his story. Toole was finally published at 70 and died 2 years later. The Morgan Freeman charecter wasn't even in the Million Dollar Baby short story but in another one. I didn't see it as a disability vendetta (I don't think you are saying that either). It was...well you know the story and I'm not going to get into it. I really thought it was a good movie and was glad Swank won.

Steve

CowboyCrip

02-28-2005, 08:57 PM

I think Hillary Swank is ugly.
Seriously, what is all the fuss about her?
I wouldn't hit it.

Christopher Paddon

02-28-2005, 09:09 PM

The suicide rate amongst sci people is higher than the normal population

In NZ an ex lawyer got his friend to kill him after he became quadraplegic

The guy was let off and not convicted of murder

cass

02-28-2005, 09:30 PM

newsflash: the leading killer of teens in the u.s. is suicide. hmmmm. i don't see many movies addressing that.

and chris2, source please?

for the record, i tend to believe old clint is not on a vendetta. i supported him when he was sued as i think it was a bogus lawsuit. but he is showing a lack of sensitivity (or downright stupidity) in making a movie that doesn't portray disability accurately. but, hey, he's a man... http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

btw, in the States, you don't need "a friend" to disconnect you from a vent. it's legal to ask for it yourself.

and look at hollywood falling all over him. a man they once made fun of for spaghetti westerns. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

one more comment: hollywood sure didn't give any nods to CR (a man who chose life) on oscar night, did they? fickle, fickle hollywood. too bad their movies can carry so much influence.

ok...one more. hey cowboycrip...this award is for acting, not looks. jamie foxx doesn't do much for me either, but he can act.

[This message was edited by cass on 02-28-05 at 11:40 PM.]

[This message was edited by cass on 03-01-05 at 12:07 AM.]

adiejai

03-01-2005, 10:19 PM

Just another movie and done very well. Clint gets my vote.

MERCO

mattblan

03-02-2005, 02:49 AM

Good movie. In the very least it focuses attention on how bad a spinal cord injury can be. She actually loses a leg due to a pressure sore.

kay_79

03-02-2005, 06:47 AM

Originally posted by Shaun:

Originally posted by Kay79:
I sa the movie and I must say I got a lil bit of sad, but it's just a movie just another drama. We shouldnt see it with different eyes.

Ya,i agree with you...and maybe im missing something here,but Eastwood only directed this movie,right,he didnt write it!...So wouldnt it someone else with the ''Disability Vendetta''

~~If it feels good do it even if ya shouldnt,dont let people mess you around~~

I agree with you, he was just the director. The writers were FX Toole and Paul Haggis

*~*~Kaisha~*~*

Shaun

03-02-2005, 08:54 AM

Originally posted by Kay79:

I agree with you, he was just the director. The writers were FX Toole and Paul Haggis

*~*~Kaisha~*~*

''HAGGIS'',did someone say Haggis? Will baby fire up the piper,pass me a fork and stand back http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

~~If it feels good do it even if ya shouldnt,dont let people mess you around~~

Max

03-02-2005, 01:54 PM

The Million Dollar Interview
Mickey Z. talks to Mary Johnson about Clint Eastwood,
Hunter Thompson, and the "right to die"
by Mickey Z.
www.dissidentvoice.org (http://www.dissidentvoice.org)
March 2, 2005

"Does anyone need another million dollar movie?
Does anyone need another million dollar star?"

-- Lou Reed, "Straw Man"

Journalist (and crip) John Hockenberry recently wrote that the same critics heaping praise on Clint Eastwood and "Million Dollar Baby" have "failed millions of Americans with disabilities by accepting as utterly plausible the plot-twist that a quadriplegic would sputter into medical agony in a matter of months and embrace suicide as her only option in a nation where millions of people with spinal cord injuries lead full long lives." Thus, as the Oscars threatened to become a lovefest for Dirty Harry, I posed some questions to Mary Johnson, editor of The Ragged Edge.

"I started a little publication back in 1980 in Louisville called The Disability Rag because one of the big problems locally was you couldn't get crips in one place to do consciousness-raising," Johnson recalls. The Rag became The Ragged Edge because of a successful anthology by that name and is now totally digital and online only.

A self-described "garden-variety non-disabled person," Johnson got involved in disability issues in the 70s. "I got hooked," she says. "What I've learned and seen over the years reporting on this stuff has convinced me that disability rights issues are the quintessential rights issues for this nation. We all face disability issues sooner or later. Hiding our heads in the sand just leads us to the sad conclusion Hunter Thompson drew. Tragic to have that kind of fear."

Mary replied without hesitation to my questions...but did make one agreeable request: "Let us not bring up Christopher Reeve in this article, okay? I am really tired of him being brought up as the sine qua non of cripdom."

Mickey Z.: The response of some to the recent suicide of Hunter S. Thompson got me thinking: How is it that the 67-year-old Thompson (or anyone non-disabled who exercises their right to die) can be seen as having "so much to live for" but it's so readily accepted by critics and audiences alike that the character of Maggie (half HST's age) in the film, "Million Dollar Baby," had nothing to live for?

Mary Johnson: George Tobia Jr., the lawyer who has represented Thompson for the past 15 years, told the Boston Globe that Thompson's suicide was "definitely not spur of the moment.... He arranged to have things dealt with, and he wanted his family close by, but he didn't want anyone to know. He didn't want anyone to try to stop him....The best explanation, perhaps, is that in recent months Thompson had chronic pain from back surgery and an artificial hip. He also broke his leg on a recent trip to Hawaii and was limping, which made it difficult for him to travel. He didn't want to waste away. He did not want to exist as an invalid or as someone who needed constant care. It wouldn't suit his sense of self."

The Not Dead Yet folks say: when someone who's not disabled wants to die, or actually commits suicide, everyone thinks it's such a tragedy-but when a quad does it then it's "understandable" and the death is "a blessing" rather than "a tragedy." No one ever stops to think what this might be saying to the crips who don't decide to off themselves, do they? What it says is that non-disabled people, who control the standards in society, think unequivocally that life with a severe disability is a fate worse than death, i.e. death is preferable. And it also is at the root of all those "brave" and "courageous" monikers that routinely get applied to crips who don't kill themselves, who just keep plodding on.

MZ: What's really going on in all this?

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar05/MickeyZ0302.htm

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

cass

03-02-2005, 10:03 PM

Originally posted by Kay79:

I agree with you, he was just the director. The writers were FX Toole and Paul Haggis

*~*~Kaisha~*~*

arrrgh. what this kind of comment fails to acknowledge is a director, and most certainly a producer (which Eastwood is of this film) CHOOSES a script out of thousands they see. so do the actors.

it really doesn't matter if they didn't write it. they CHOSE to finance it.

cass

03-03-2005, 12:35 AM

Originally posted by mattblan:

Good movie. In the very least it focuses attention on how bad a spinal cord injury can be. She actually loses a leg due to a pressure sore.

matt, out of curiosity, how many ppl do you personally know this has happened to?

Max

03-03-2005, 09:08 AM

Clint Eastwood's euthanasia movie

http://www.NewsandOpinion.com | Clint Eastwood is no Dirty Harry. Attentive and with a wry sense of humor, he has told me he made his living as a jazz pianist in his youth. So he understands the life force of that music. But in his acclaimed "Million Dollar Baby," he is cluelessly encouraging the euthanization of some of the disabled.

For many years, I have reported on disability rights, and have come to know people diagnosed as "vegetables" in their early years - or later as "hopelessly" disabled - who have become psychologists, corporate lawyers and even writers.

I have also learned from them that those of us who are not quadriplegic, or otherwise physically limited, may only be "temporarily able." Any of us can suddenly be disabled.

While gathering prestigious prizes, including Oscars for best picture and directing, Eastwood's "Baby" (with its no-longer-a-surprise ending) has attracted considerable criticism. For example, Lennard Davis, professor of disability studies and human development in the College of Health and Human Development Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, writes in the Feb. 2 Chicago Tribune about the ultimate message of the film.

By admirable determination Maggie (Hilary Swank) is successfully trained to be a boxer by Frank (Eastwood). But then, paralyzed by a spinal cord injury, she becomes a quadriplegic. Distraught after losing her leg to bed sores, she beseeches her trainer to euthanize her (also known as killing her). After some hesitation, he agrees. Pertinently, Professor Davis adds

"Since 1990 there are laws that allow (cognitive) patients to refuse treatment. A quadriplegic on a respirator could simply ask to be disconnected from the device. Doctors would have done so and administered a sedative so the person could die peacefully."

But Eastwood chose to have his character "illegally enter the hospital and disconnect the device."

That "would make her gasp like a fish on the shore," says Stephen Drake, whose mother was told he'd be a vegetable. Stephen is now research analyst for Not Dead Yet, a disability rights group.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff030305.asp

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Max

03-03-2005, 08:39 PM

And the Oscar goes to ... cruelty and conservatism Email this page Print this page
Posted: March 03, 2005
by: Scott Richard Lyons

Let Feb. 27 be remembered as a key moment in the culture wars. It was on that glittery night that ''liberal'' Hollywood bestowed its most hallowed Oscar to ''Million Dollar Baby,'' one of the most reactionary films to come along since Ned Beatty squealed like a pig in ''Deliverance.''

The film is about a plucky female boxer named Maggie (Hillary Swank), who through hard work and sheer spunkiness leaps from trailer park rags to Las Vegas boxing ring riches. Her meteoric rise to success is due in large part to the strict fatherly guidance of her tough-as-nails (but softie-on-the-inside) trainer, Frankie (Clint Eastwood). Relationships ensue.

The final third of the film takes a tragic turn - and here's the part where I give away the ending, so avert your eyes if you hate that - as Maggie suffers a paralyzing spinal cord injury and asks Frankie to kill her, which he does.

Directed by Eastwood, the film has been a critics' darling since its release. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four of them, including Best Picture. Before that, the film received scads of other critical awards, including top honors from the National Society of Film Critics. Roger Ebert called it a ''masterpiece,'' and the New York Times' A.O. Scott flat-out proclaimed it ''the best movie released by a major Hollywood studio'' last year.

Not bad for a flick whose title evokes an old Alice Cooper song.

But like most things in America these days, ''Million Dollar Baby'' wasn't immune to conservative criticism, and it quickly became controversial. Family values guru Michael Medved immediately assailed the film for what he called its ''sympathetic treatment of assisted suicide,'' and Rush Limbaugh dittoed the point on his radio program. Debbie Schlussel accurately predicted an Oscar night win for the film, not because she thought it was good, but ''because it's Hollywood's best political propaganda of the year.'' That is, ''because it supports killing the handicapped.''

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410463

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

Polett

03-04-2005, 12:06 PM

Hello people... long time no post...

I notice that somethings never change http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Lets kill the bastard that portrayed us in a sad way!!!!!!!!!!

Oh wait! Almost forgot... Lets kill the bastard that portrays us in a happy way!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, what the hell... Lets just kill all bastards that refer to SCI, that do not refer to SCI, that include SCI as part of a normal life, that excludes SCI, that speak about SCI, that ignore SCI Cause you know, after all, the only thing that matters in life is: SCI.

I have not seen the movie but heard of it and the ENTIRE story... Gee, did I say ENTIRE??????? Boy am I nuts, how dare I mention that they portrayed a woman who was on her own in life, her family didn't care about her until she started making money... did anyone comment here that after that injury, one of those <quote> dragged out hospital scenes <end quote> is when her mother n sister go "visit" (after touristing Disneyland) and try to force her into signing a whatever letter to transfer all her properties/money to them?

Now tell me, how many of us here that suffered a SCI got through not only being paralized but also being TOTALLY abandoned?????????

Flame away... for a change.

...and the soul afraid of dyin'... That never learns to live...

cass

03-05-2005, 02:57 AM

I'd settle for realistic, but hey, that might be a bit mundane.... http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

whatcha think, the rose?

btw, my family died within a few yrs of my injury. not exactly abandonment, but alone just the same.

mattblan

03-05-2005, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by cass:

matt, out of curiosity, how many ppl do you personally know this has happened to?

Probably about as many people you know that suffered an SCI in a boxing ring, what's your point?

cass

03-05-2005, 10:27 PM

Originally posted by mattblan:

Originally posted by cass:
matt, out of curiosity, how many ppl do you personally know this has happened to?

Probably about as many people you know that suffered an SCI in a boxing ring, what's your point?

i thought my point was obvious. you had stated the movie focused on how bad sci life can be, citing the amputation. so...i was wondering if you had ever run across that in your sci life.

amputation due to diabetes is more common. should diabetics kill themselves?

have you ever seen the movie, Whose Life is it Anyway? that movie had more of a point (for the time it was made) with regard to quadriplegia than this one.

in terms of real life sci probs, how bout pca help? or accessibility?? or pain??

or maybe, just maybe...the general attitude toward pwd?

03-06-2005, 10:21 AM

I watched M D B last night and I dont know why everyone is getting so uptight. So what if the pressure sores looked unrealistic or they got the details wrong.

Sure it peeves me a bit but most movies dont get technical details correct, whether it's phony accents or historical accuracy.

Bottom line is that it was well acted, directed and thought provoking. We can see the flaws in the movie, just as cops must laugh when they see cop movies or whatever.

--
How do you like them apples?

Herco16

03-06-2005, 05:23 PM

I saw the movie last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was ENTERTAINMENT, and that alone. On one good note it did show the world how this disability strikes many in the prime of their lives, doing what they loved. And the fact that there is no cure for such a disability.

I don't think most people went to see the movie to get an education in SCI's. Do any of you go to a Jackie Chan movie to learn martial arts?

Come on Cowboycrip, did you see Swanks body? YUMM. Oh if I was a single man, I'd love to get shot down by her.

Max

03-07-2005, 10:28 AM

Better dead than disabled?

By Nat Hentoff

An admirer of many of ClintEastwood's films, I found, when interviewinghim some years ago, that he has no resemblance to "Dirty Harry." Moreover, as a working jazz pianist in his youth, he felt the life force of that music. But in his current success, "Million Dollar Baby," he is tone deaf to the life force of the disabled as he encourages euthanizing some of them.
For many years, I have reported on disability rights, and have come to know people diagnosed as "vegetables" in their early years or later as "hopelessly" disabled who have become psychologists, corporate lawyers and even writers.

http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050306-100023-7502r.htm

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

mattblan

03-08-2005, 03:19 AM

Originally posted by cass:

i thought my point was obvious. you had stated the movie focused on how bad sci life can be, citing the amputation. so...i was wondering if you had ever run across that in your sci life.

amputation due to diabetes is more common. should diabetics kill themselves?

have you ever seen the movie, Whose Life is it Anyway? that movie had more of a point (for the time it was made) with regard to quadriplegia than this one.

in terms of real life sci probs, how bout pca help? or accessibility?? or pain??

or maybe, just maybe...the general attitude toward pwd?

It's not freaking documentary about spinal cord injury. As far as real life problems, how long are you willing to sit in the movie theater watching all that depressing crap? Sci is hard, so hard that is makes some people kill themselves. That is proof enough, don't you think?

Anyway, I still don't know why you asked me about the amputation, but here goes. I had a blood clot and a pressure sore while I was in the hospital. I could have lost a leg from either of those. They told me stories about people with pressure sores so big that you could stick your fist through them. It's not like it doesn't happen.

I'm not trying to start a fight, but I'm glad you didn't write the script.

kay_79

03-08-2005, 06:12 AM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by herco:

I saw the movie last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was ENTERTAINMENT, and that alone. On one good note it did show the world how this disability strikes many in the prime of their lives, doing what they loved. And the fact that there is no cure for such a disability.

I don't think most people went to see the movie to get an education in SCI's. Do any of you go to a Jackie Chan movie to learn martial arts?]

Exactly!!!! Is just a freaking movie, we'll know how hard SCI can be, Beleive me.... but is just a movie like any other...

*~*~Kaisha~*~*

cass

03-09-2005, 01:13 AM

yeah, but you didn't matt. as for those ppl you heard about w/big pressure sores, i've personally known several. at Rancho we called them the "gurney guys". in 19 yrs of sci i've seen a lot. known ppl in bed for months with an ulcer. friend has bladder cancer due to sci and many friends have had life-threatening blood clots.

my bro was diabetic. you wanna talk amputations, look at that community. or cancer. i know someone whose body is being amputated away due to that.

i'm damn glad i didn't write the script, too, but then...i tend to stick to the truth when i write. and my taste in books, movies, etc. tends to hold the same standard, when real life issues are addressed. i don't mind the sci in the script. i don't mind the depression. i do mind the gross inaccuracies involving her treatment and death. as a writer, i would be ashamed not to have done my research better.

metronycguy

03-09-2005, 05:36 AM

Far From Hollywood, a Boxer Whose Dreams Died in the Ring
By RICK LYMAN

Published: March 9, 2005
the real model? (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/09/national/09boxer.html?ex=1268110800&en=5d5861eba3c4b010&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo)

steveg

03-09-2005, 10:37 AM

cass

Just remember movies are an artform just like music, painting and some writing. Have you ever seen any of Picaso's paintings or sculptures? This wasn't suppose to be a documentary on SCI. I've been in a chair 26 years and missed the inaccuracies myself but thought it was a beautiful movie.

It seems like you don't get the point of the movie at all. This was about a woman who uses her physical skills and her determination to make something of herself doing something she loves. So how do you take away someone's physical abilitites in an instant? If you have a better idea let me know. You seem to go on about diabetes and cancer for some reason.

I agree with Matt - what is your point to him? He said that the movie showed how bad SCI was and gave ONE example. What if he used another?

Steve

cass

03-09-2005, 11:24 AM

Steve,

Actually I studied art for a time. So yes, I'm familiar with Picasso and a lot more. I prefer the Impressionists, though. Ok, I gotta add...I collect original artwork. And have traveled quite a bit to see the masters at the Louvre, all over Italy, well, all over Europe. Sorry for all this editing, but the more I mull this over, the more I think! Ok, I gotta add Aussie and the Aboriginal dreamtime art. And the Native Amer. art...oh geesh, I could go on and on bout this. It is a passion of mine. You actually made me chuckle, asking if I'd ever seen a Picasso...but you don't know me. My favorite of all time, in person, is Michelangelo's Pieta. The most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Have you seen her? It's so nice to see someone else appreciating all this great art. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Are you familiar with Chuck Close?

How about literature (all kinds)? I could go into volumes on that. Or the symphony, or Tom Petty. Oh my, I better go to bed. It's just I've been thinking of all this since I read your post.

SCI takes away everybody's physical abilities in an instant. Are you saying because the character was a boxer she somehow lost more? But, as I said, I have no problem with the SCI or the depression in the movie. However, I do have a problem with the gross inaccuracies of the depiction of SCI in the movie.

I never said or implied it was or should be a documentary. I disagree with Matt when he says it shows how bad SCI is. How can it do that when it doesn't portray SCI accurately? Wasn't a comment on trying to put Matt down. Just a disagreement.

btw, steve, I just noticed metro did provide "the real model" with a much more plausible injury for a boxer. have you read the original short story? just curious.

[This message was edited by cass on 03-10-05 at 03:43 AM.]

Max

03-09-2005, 12:05 PM

Clint Eastwood's euthanasia movie

By Nat Hentoff Wednesday, March 9, 2005 11:18 AM CST

Clint Eastwood is no Dirty Harry. Attentive and with a wry sense of humor, he has told me he made his living as a jazz pianist in his youth. So he understands the life force of that music. But in his acclaimed "Million Dollar Baby," he is cluelessly encouraging the euthanization of some of the disabled.

For many years, I have reported on disability rights, and have come to know people diagnosed as "vegetables" in their early years - or later as "hopelessly" disabled - who have become psychologists, corporate lawyers and even writers.

I have also learned from them that those of us who are not quadriplegic, or otherwise physically limited, may only be "temporarily able." Any of us can suddenly be disabled.

While gathering prestigious prizes, including Oscars for best picture and directing, Eastwood's "Baby" (with its no-longer-a-surprise ending) has attracted considerable criticism. For example, Lennard Davis, professor of disability studies and human development in the College of Health and Human Development Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, writes in the Feb. 2 Chicago Tribune about the ultimate message of the film.

By admirable determination Maggie (Hilary Swank) is successfully trained to be a boxer by Frank (Eastwood). But then, paralyzed by a spinal cord injury, she becomes a quadriplegic. Distraught after losing her leg to bed sores, she beseeches her trainer to euthanize her (also known as killing her). After some hesitation, he agrees. Pertinently, professor Davis adds:

"Since 1990 there are laws that allow (cognitive) patients to refuse treatment. A quadriplegic on a respirator could simply ask to be disconnected from the device. Doctors would have done so and administered a sedative so the person could die peacefully."

http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/articles/2005/03/09/news/opinion/editorial03.txt

http://stores.ebay.com/MAKSYM-Variety-Store

cass

03-09-2005, 11:09 PM

something more to consider.

http://bookcomplex.info/0375701214.html

word up, johnny depp is to star in this movie to be released in 2006. hope it's not too depressing for some to sit thru http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

bet clint isn't directing this art form. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif you know, i like clint, too. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif

[This message was edited by cass on 03-10-05 at 02:05 AM.]

Max

03-19-2005, 12:03 PM

Oscars for the Culture of Death

A "Disability Vendetta" Surfaces in Hollywood

HOLLYWOOD, California, MARCH 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The recent Academy Awards saw the triumph of two films that promote a favorable view of euthanasia. "Million Dollar Baby," a story about a female boxer severely wounded in a bout, won four of the top Oscars, including that of best director for Clint Eastwood. Hilary Swank won for best actress for her portrayal of Maggie Fitzgerald, who ends up prostrated with a spinal injury. Her pleas to be helped in seeking release from suffering by death are fulfilled.

The Oscar for best foreign film went to "The Sea Inside," which depicts the real-life case of Spaniard RamÃ³n Sampedro, who ended up a quadriplegic after a diving accident. His requests to put an end to his life met were turned down after legal battles, but he committed suicide by drinking a cyanide-laced mixture.

The awards won by the films have focused attention on the situation of severely injured or handicapped people, with many protesting that the cinematic versions so popular in Hollywood are both dangerous and demeaning.

The British Telegraph newspaper reported Jan. 23 that the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, one of America's most respected organizations for disabled people, accused Eastwood of a "disability vendetta." The association described the concluding scene of "Million Dollar Baby" as a "brilliantly executed attack on life after a spinal cord injury." Protesters in Chicago from the organization Not Dead Yet claimed that the film "promotes the killing of disabled people as the solution to the 'problem' of disability."

Matthew Eppinette, from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, pointed out in a commentary published by the organization Feb. 28 that the film portrays humans as if they were mere animals to be put out of their suffering.

On the contrary, he stated, "Euthanasia, suicide and assisted suicide are wrong because they deliberately end a human life -- a life that bears the image of God." Moreover, even being a quadriplegic does not prevent us from deepening our relationship with God.

People in this situation certainly suffer greatly, Eppinette pointed out. But, as the example of Christopher Reeve amply demonstrated, "even the most severely paralyzed can live a rich and vibrant life, given proper care and support."

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Max

05-18-2005, 02:14 PM

Million Dollar Babyâ–“ was Oscar-winning fiction; hereâ–“s the truth
By MICHAEL FUMENTO
Guest Commentary

IF YOUâ–“RE still planning to see the Oscar-winning film âŒ*Million Dollar Babyâ–* and donâ–“t know the ending â‰ˆ turn to the funny pages now! Iâ–“m giving it away.

Maggie, played by Hilary Swank, takes a massive blow in the boxing ring and is left a quadriplegic on a respirator. After she repeatedly pleads to her crusty (but loving) aging manager Clint Eastwood to be allowed to die he finally complies both by âŒ*pulling the plugâ–* and giving her a lethal dose of adrenaline.

Disability advocates claim the movie was a pro-euthanasia message. Certainly by law Swank could have simply asked her doctor to take her off life support. Instead, Eastwoodâ–“s character breaks the law in bypassing the doctor and changing the action from passive to active. That does sound like a message.

John Kelly of Boston calls the film âŒ*a lie.â–* Heâ–“s not a film critic, but he knows something about the subject. âŒ*When I was 21 I was sledding on a piece of cardboard down a hill and a tree jumped up in front,â–* he told me. Heâ–“s now paralyzed from the neck down. âŒ*Iâ–“m everybodyâ–“s worst nightmare,â–* he says chuckling.

Now 41, Kelly is one of the approximately 11,000 new spinal cord injuries in the United States each year. Of these, about a fifth lead to quadriplegia. But technology continually makes it easier for such people to lead enjoyable and productive lives.

Mobility is vital and at a single Web site you can find 55 different models of power wheelchairs, the descriptions of which resemble sports car reviews. They discuss horsepower, speed, turning radius and how high an object they can surmount.

One has âŒ*Six wheels on the ground (to) provide superior stability and a smoother ride,â–* while another has tank-like treads for off-road driving. The iBOT wheelchair climbs and descends stairs.

Communication is also vital, aided now by tremendously improved, voice-activated software. It allows writing books, surfing the Web, using the phone, and â‰ˆ O, joy! â‰ˆ even paying bills. Voice-activated e-mail allows quadriplegics the same opportunity to read and write letters and receive spam as the rest of us.

All of these technologies were invented or vastly improved since Christopher Reeveâ–“s accident. Moving higher up the tech ladder, new âŒ*functional electrical stimulationâ–* devices implanted in the body can restore some hand movement and allow those with spinal cord injury to feed themselves. Maggie could have used such a device that assists with breathing, freeing many quadriplegics from the ventilator.

Weâ–“ve also greatly improved our knowledge of physical rehabilitation for recently-injured persons. âŒ*If I could have talked to Maggie,â–* says Kelly, âŒ*Iâ–“d say â–’Weâ–“re going to take you to a real rehab center with other people with spinal cord injuries and a gung-ho staff to help with physical therapy as well as being able to treat your depression.â–“ âŒ*

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