This essay reviews the movie, My Sister’s Keeper, focusing on some of the ethical and legal issues which arise. To achieve this objective, a summary of the movie has been given detailing important scenes and events which augment the understanding of emerging ethical and legal issues.
Summary and analysis
My Sister’s Keeper movie commences with a narration given by Anna Fitzgerald as she explains the experiences between conception and delivery. According to Anna, life occurs through coincidences on earth. However, Anna is not a coincidence but a product of test tube cultivation carried out by her parents with an aim of saving Kate, her sister who is diagnosed with promyelocytic leukemia at an early age (Honeycutt, 2009). This compelled her parents to conceive a second baby who was to have identical genetic make-up in order to use the harvested umbilical cord tissues at birth for the treatment of cancer. It is however important to note that the idea was suggested to Kate’s parents, Sara and Brian by Dr. Wayne who was the family oncologist. This exposition is followed by a scene where Anna and her brother Jesse are on their way to a pawnshop with Anna carrying an ornament that is believed to be her mother’s property. She affirms that the locket had not been worn yet it was to be pawned off (Honeycutt, 2009).
Anna has an accumulated amount of seven hundred dollars, arising from her personal savings and the sale of the locket to a pawnshop. She decides to take the money to Campbell Alexander, a local hotshot attorney, who has a service dog. After a thorough session of interrogation, Alexander discovers Anna’s serious commitment towards medical emancipation from her parents who had conceived her for the sole purpose of saving her sister from leukemia (Scott, 2009).
The family joins Kate in her room with fun as Sara receives a court order. From these events, it is revealed that Sara had suffered emotional imbalance upon Kate’s leukemia diagnosis. In an attempt to give a hand to her daughter, Sara had resigned as an attorney to find time and look after Kate. When Anna refuses to leave her room because of her perceived negative image, Sara shaves her own hair in order to convince her daughter. This scene leads the family to a boardwalk where they spend time taking photos.
From the interactions between Anna and Kate, one would assume that their relationship was smooth and positive. It is revealed that Anna is not willing to donate her kidney to her dying sister. Due to the movement limitations caused by the illness, Kate has not been to any other place apart from Montana (Scott, 2009). This makes her talk about it continuously. She also believes that this was the most beautiful sight on the face of the earth.
Through a family flashback, Sara is seen imagining how cancer was to affect her daughter, they visit their oncologist and she declares late at night while with her husband in bed that she was ready to sacrifice everything to have her daughter’s health normalized. It is therefore clear that Sara is willing to go to any lengths, even at the expense of other members of the family like Jesse who sneaks to the city late at night without the response of any of his family members (Honeycutt, 2009).
In defending her reluctance to donate her kidney to her dying sister, Anna argues that she has a dream of becoming a soccer player, a dream that would go up in flames if she donated one of her kidneys to Kate. Sara does not conceptualize Anna’s stance, leading to a heated debate that culminates when Sara slaps her (Scott, 2009). When Sara is informed by Campbell that her daughter had the right to reject the kidney donation surgery, Sara argues that Anna was too young to decide for herself and that she was going to represent her in court since was only eleven years old. While in hospital, Kate apologizes to all members of the family for any inconveniences that arose because of her medical condition.
As the presiding judge, Joan De Salvo is moved by Sara’s question, she asks whether the judge understood the pain of losing a loved one to death. Sara’s stand is to have the case dismissed since her daughter is too young to make sensible decisions. Besides her plea, the judge allows the case to continue for a legal ruling to be made. In another episode of Kate’s memories and flashbacks, she remembers her friend Taylor, a cancer sufferer and first true love (Scott, 2009). They take care of each other and disappear to bed when the children’s dance is halfway. This gives Taylor an opportunity to admit his happiness for having met Kate in hospital. Unfortunately, Taylor succumbs to cancer three days after the dance, causing Kate to sob uncontrollably for the loss of a loved one.
During the case, several doctors are requested to make an appearance in court in order to witness. Equally, Sara is asked to give a detailed description of all the procedures that Anna had been exposed to. According to the judge, Sara had gone too far in compelling her daughter. Jesse is allowed to yell in court as her sister is testifying, noting that she was not being sincere with herself (Scott, 2009). From the case, it emerges that Anna’s decision to sue her parents was because her sister wanted to kill herself. Furthermore, the judge discovers that Campbell had taken up the case since he was epileptic and unable to take care of himself.
Like Taylor, Kate succumbs to leukemia. During her funeral, Sara affirms that the existence and death of her daughter had affected every member of society even though it had had no impact on hospital laws. As the film fades, Jesse reforms and wins a scholarship to study in New York, Sara resumes her job as an attorney and Brian retire.
My Sister’s Keeper is interlaced with flashbacks which develop its plot through different family relationships. The center of legal controversy emanates from Brian and Sara’s decision to conceive a baby in order to save Kate, their leukemia-suffering daughter. The issue raises countless moral questions which haunt the relationships among several members of the family (Honeycutt, 2009). Anna gets angered and decides to sue her parents for the rights of her body after learning that she came into existence to save her older sister by donating one of her kidneys. This forms the basis of Anna’s arguments as she defends herself in a court case in which the presiding judge makes a ruling in her favor.
It is clear that My Sister’s Keeper is a movie full of emotions surrounding the life of Kate, leukemia sufferer and ,Sara’s darling. Sara engages all that is at her disposal in vain to save her daughter. Their initial plan to conceive a test-tube baby, Anna does not materialize as she ends up suing her parents. This remains the unethical and legal aspect of the film even as it ends with a new dawn on the family.
References
Honeycutt, K. (2009). My Sister’s Keeper. The Hollywood Reporter. Web.
Scott, O. (2009). My Kidney, My Life: Siblings in a Tough Spot. The New York Times. Web.