Movie Analysis Essay on Frontline

Introduction

"Frontline' is a film that explores the world of assisted suicide. As many people fight for their lives to survive, another group of people across the world view life from a different perspective and are open to self-death plans. The film "Frontline" explores assisted suicide by reviewing a couple of cases across the United States of people who chose assisted suicide as their exit plan. The field of assisted suicide is complicated and comes with its conflicts. "Frontline" gives accounts of planned assisted suicide success and complications, and a good example is the case of Joan Butterstein. The film also reports on people who help, for instance, family and organizations such as the Compassionate and Choices and Final Exit, and legal measures they take to avoid future convictions. The film also explores the role of government, investigation, and consequences faced by people who fail to observe strict protocols in the process of assisted suicide. Watching the different film emotion overwhelms as multitudes of thoughts crisscross trying to weigh whether it was right or wrong as each case is played.

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The movie starts with the description of a self-inflicted death by self-shooting. The lack of an introduction to preparing the viewer of the events throws me off. I wonder why a person would terminate life while others watch. The questions I have at first are there no other better methods that are slow and painless that the person could have taken. Another issue that closes is what transpired that the person found himself in suicidal circumstance. However, as the movie progress, better-explained cases from the start and turns of events are well presented. This gives a better understanding of assisted suicide. Joan Butterstein shed light on assisted suicide from a personal perspective. Joan is an aged woman who explains the good life she had but also accounts of the miserable days she encountered having to take care of his husband diagnosed with cancer. Joan accounts of the rays of hope his husband had and the many medical procedures he took to with the promise of a cure. Unfortunately, despite the many measures, drugs, and chemo Joan says he died painfully and miserably. Joan is in her late 70s, she is diagnosed with cancer, and she begins with seeking medical help, but as her condition worsens and the hospital prepares her for a hospice. She does not want people to struggle with her. Therefore she opts for assisted suicide. In her opinion, the process will be painless and less draining financially and emotional to her family and partner. The case of Joan is not different from other patient cases accounted for in the film. This brings me to wonder is assisted suicide advisable for the older adults who claim to have experienced the best and worst of the world. Should young and terminally ill people be advised to opt for assisted suicide or should they hope for a better day?

Apart from Joan, other cases are presented, for example, the case of George assisted by his sons and that of Jane from Arizona, among others. Examining these cases, the people had help through the process. Joan had sought help through the compassionate and choice group, George is said to have read about the assisted suicide from the book final exit that gives specific ways on how to die. George was pretty convinced that assisted suicide was her exit plan. He informed friends, family and neighbours. He drafted a suicide note indicating his time had come and took pills prescribed for his sons. Jane from Arizona had consulted with the final exit network. The film gives approval of existing documents, and the organization's that aid people through the process. The aim of the organization is to aid people through their final death by making the process less painful and dignified. It is essential to note in the assisted suicide cases; the person undertaking the suicide is not helped. However, the person terminates his or her life alone when ready. Although the act may be contested as unethical, these organizations have strict protocols to aide people through the process. The organization try to make the process as legal as possible by having their clients sign a legal document showing they consented to the act and as a result, rarely do the government come after them hard.

George assisted suicide raise eyebrows. To my thinking, his case would have been handled differently. George Son, Timothy is a physician. In the medical field, the question of assisted suicide and euthanasia is still not clarified and often it is discouraged. According to Banovic, Turanjanin & Miloradovic (2017), medically, Physician and other medial personnel role are to help relieve pain and prolong life. Therefore, it contradicts the ethics of medicine when a medic takes the route to assist suicide, and legal measures are always working against the practitioner. Timothy is not new to legal investigations on assisted suicide. When his father takes the route as his exit plan, the justice system, come after him. Though he claimed it was his father's plan, he was found to have prescribed the drugs his father used. In my opinion, I think Timothy should have let someone else help the father through the death who was not a family member like the Final Exit organization. His presence at his father assisted suicide plan makes me question his ethics as a physician and his lack of emotion bearing in mind his father was not terminally ill. Old age had caught up with George resulting to incidences of dementia a problem that could be solved by taking him to a home for the elderly or else have someone live with him for close monitoring as he waits for his death.

The government should, however, develop better policies around the question of assisted suicide since the available Human Rights Act remain vague and vary from one state to another. In the film, the justice system has featured, but they come in later when the person has already died to investigate whether the assisted suicide was justifiable and whether right measures. Although investigations are useful in giving legal accounts of when it happened, I would argue that the justice system should have better policies put in place like be involved in providing consents after reviewing the ethics behinds a person's intention. According to Downie (2016), the law would help remove civil and criminal liability to persons present in aiding the assisted suicide. Some people may give consent, not in their right mind but be presumed it was a willing exit. The government should provide guidelines such as age, illness and progress of the disease, e.g. is it terminal or life-shortening. Although the government has convicted some people who failed to follow protocols. I believe some deaths could have been prevented if a legal point of view was offered first.

Hearing Joan explain of her exit plan, I would say her case is justifiable in that at her age, cancer might not go away, and death awaits. Instead of her experiencing the worst of her last days, assisted suicide is recommendable. However, I have some reservation for other cases that would have been handled differently. Many of the presented cases were of younger people in their 50s with an illness that could be controlled. Such incidences got me thinking should not there be legal age and types of diseases that qualify for assisted suicide. Although I understand many of the people like Joan point of view, I struggle with the question of morality. Every human being has a right to life and death should come naturally. From a religious point of view, it is argued that God is the giver of life and only God should take away breath and in such ground assisted suicide is discouraged (Mason et al.,. 2017). Assisted suicide can it be viewed as an indicator of a broken medical system that people has lost faith in medical care, cure, and the system ability to relived pain. Despite the controversies surrounding the question, I also acknowledge the human right to decision making and freedom to a dignified death. People who have lived their best life should be allowed to choose how to die, but this could only be done legally to see to it that no ill intention and advantages are taken.

References

Banovic, B., Turanjanin, V., & Miloradovic, A. (2017). An ethical review of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Iranian journal of public health, 46(2), 173. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5402774/

Mason, K., Kim, E., Martin, W. B., & Gober, R. J. (2017). The moral deliberations of 15 clergies on suicide and assisted death: A qualitative study. Pastoral Psychology, 66(3), 335-351.

Downie, J. (2016). Permitting voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide: Law reform pathways for common law jurisdictions. QUT L. Rev., 16, 84. file:///C:/Users/Admin/Downloads/613-1-2250-1-10-20160311.pdf