After
watching the movie “Million dollar Baby” with my sister for one
of her school projects, I became much more aware to ethical delimas.
it
is the ethical dilemma of euthanasia that took over the movie. When
Maggie suffers a neck-trauma injury she is left paralysed from the
neck down. After leading such a physical, empowering life she could
not bare the thought of being physically restricted. Maggie dedicated
years of her life to perfect boxing as she strived to reach for the
top, and in seconds her career was over.
This
devasted not only her, but Frankie as well. She was also his ticket
to a championship title and was very proud of the progress
that the two of them made. Maggie simply can not bare the thought of
spending the rest of her life bound to a wheelchair. With that in
mind, she asks the closest thing she has to family for an unspeakable
favour. That family being Frankie, the favour being assisted suicide.
Maggie
reminds Frankie about the story of her father and their dog. She
says, “I can’t be like this, Frankie. Not after what I’ve
done…People chanted my name…I was in magazines…I got what I
needed…Don’t let them keep taking it away from me.” Frankie
tells her, “I can’t. Please, please don’t ask me.” Maggie
begs,
“I’m asking,” which
Frankie grudgingly responds
“I can’t.” It
may kill him to see Maggie, who he views as a daughter figure, not
fighting for the first time, but he has to assess the situation.
Frankie
can either assist Maggie's suicide and live a life filled with the
realization that he had in fact killed someone along with the legal
binding that come hand in hand with euthanasia. His other option is
watching Maggie waste away in a hospital bed, unhappy, without the
desire to live. He does not want to see Maggie struggling to live day
to day, but at the same time he does not want to be the one to end
her life. Frankie
views Maggie as not only as a boxer, but as a daughter. Although he
has tried to contact his daughter, she never reads his letter which
only makes his connection with Maggie that much stronger. Considering
the fact that he feels that father-daughter connection, he can not
imagine taking her life. The moral of family dynamic makes her
request a
devastating
thought.
Maggie
is not trying to burden Frankie with her troubling idea, she just
does not want to live an unhappy life. She sees that she has had her
fun, seen the world, and accomplished more than she has even dreamed
of. She does not want to kill her self to get away from her life, she
wants to die so she can value the times she good has had. Maggie
wants to die knowing she has lived life to the fullest, to the most
potential she possibly could have every single day. To her, forever
in a hospital bed would not be living at all. Dead or alive, she
feels as if her life is already over. Frank
looks past what society thinks is right, and does help her.
Socially,
this is a huge ethical delima, yet morally, I am team Frank. When
reflecting upon this I learned that sometimes what is viewed as
right, may not be what feels right.