A Discussion Guide for the Film My Life

by Matthew Eppinette, MBA, MA

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	Matthew Eppinette, MBA, MA, is Director of Research and Technology at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.
	Post Date: November 18, 2005

[Editor's note: This is the first in a series of discussion guides on bioethics in film.]

The purpose of this guide is to provide a framework for beginning to think about and discuss bioethics. Rather than seeking to review the movie in the style of Roger Ebert, this guide highlights specific issues raised in the movie in an attempt to encourage you to contemplate and talk about issues directly and indirectly related to bioethics. This guide assumes that you have seen the movie and thus provides minimal details about the scenes to which it refers. Also, note that a list of references for further study has been included at the end of this guide.

In My Life, Michael Keaton plays a successful executive, Bob, who find that he has terminal cancer while Nicole Kidman portrays his pregnant wife, Gail. The story follows Bob and Gail as they simultaneously prepare for Bob’s death and the baby’s birth. A key plot device involves Bob preparing video tapes so that his yet unborn child can know him.

General questions

• What is the overall message this movie is communicating?
• What does this movie say about traditional and alternative medicine?
• What does this movie say about humankind (where we came from, where we are, and where we are going)?
• What does this movie say about God?

Alternative Medicine

• The alternative medicine we see depicted in My Life generally consists of a practice known as Therapeutic Touch. Dónal P. O’Mathúna, who has written extensively on alternative medicine, classifies Therapeutic Touch as a ‘Life-Energy’ therapy connected to Eastern religions.
Examples:
• Gail: “Robin’s father had pancreatic cancer, now he doesn’t. That’s all I need to know.”
• Bob’s frequent visits to a “Chinese Healer” moves his hands over Bob’s body, and Bob sees flashes of light.

Discussion Points:

• Discuss what Matthew 18:8-9 says about our spiritual health vs. our physical health.

• How would you advise someone who mentioned to you that they were considering an alternative treatment such as Therapeutic Touch?

• How can a passage such as I John 4:1-6 help us to evaluate and advise others about alternative medical treatments?
  
  Birth/Death/Rebirth

• Throughout the movie, we are confronted with scenes that contrast the birth process with the dying process, and that attempt to show the dying process as really a rebirthing process.
  
  

Examples:


• Bob’s terminal cancer and Gail’s pregnancy.

• Chinese Healer: “The last second of your life is the seed for your next life.”

• Images of Gail’s labor and Bob’s suffering (ice on the lips)

  Discussion Points:

• What role does happiness play in the decisions people make regarding treatments as they approach the end of their lives?

• Evaluate the following statement in light of John 3:1-8: The concept of reincarnation is a perversion of the new birth.

• What implications does Christ’s death and resurrection (I Corinthians 15) have for Christians evaluating end of life medical options?

• Discuss ways that passages such as Philippians 1:21-24 and 2 Timothy 4:6-8 could help you talk with your family and doctor about end of life issues.

My Life. Written and directed by Bruce Joel Rubin. Staring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman. 117 min. Columbia/Tristar Studios, 1993. Videocassette and DVD. CBHD

Internet Movie Database: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0107630

Links to many reviews: http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?^My+Life+(1993)

New Age perspective: http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/moviereview/item_830.html

The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity Alternative Medicine Overview (http://www.cbhd.org/resources/overviews/altmedover.htm)

O’Mathuna, Donal P. "The Subtle Allure of Therapeutic Touch," [article online] Journal of Christian Nursing 15 (1998): 4-13;  (http://www.xenos.org/ministries/crossroads/donal/thetch.htm)

Stewart, Gary P., et al. End of Life Decisions: How Do We Know What’s Right? Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1998.

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Copyright 2005 by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CBHD, its staff, board or supporters. Permission to reprint granted as long as The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity and the web address for this article is referenced.