Whose choice is it, anyway? Disability and suicide in four contemporary films.

The purpose of this aricle is to examine four contemporary American films--Whose Life Is It Anyway?; 'Night, Mother; One True Thing; and The Hours--that depict suicides of individuals with disability or illness, in an attempt to articulate how these images reflect, and influence, social perceptions of the worth of life in such circumstances. These films will be examined in light of dramatic structure, character depictions, and thematic intent. This review confirms the hypothesis that such films underscore our cultural tendency to view disability and illness as an experience that demands release rather than support.

**********

When my father committed suicide a few years ago, his note said that all he could foresee was "a miserable old age." He had just finished a course of chemotherapy for colon cancer, with a hopeful prognosis. More debilitating for him was my mother's recent stroke during neurosurgery; she had been left paralyzed with little speech. He told me that he could not stand to see her in such a condition. I knew at the time he was despondent; after repeated attempts, I procured a prescription for an antidepressant, which he refused to take. I even thought he might be suicidal but was unsure of how to help him or--perhaps more important--if I had the right to interfere with his decision regarding whether to continue living. When he was found, there was a copy of Derek Humphry's (2002) Final Exit on his nightstand.

Should I have been more aggressive in keeping him from taking his life, even if it meant psychiatric hospitalization against his will? Was it his right to die, or was he a victim of lack of sufficient education and support regarding his options? I was not sure then, and I am not sure now. What I am sure of is that, as a culture, we are committed to the concept that there are experiences--certain disabilities and illnesses--that are "worse than death." My father was a firm believer that independence is a virtue. He viewed the need for assistance as a sign of weakness. After all, the myth of the lone hero--gunslinger, superhero, rogue crime fighter--is central to American culture. As a society, we often view disability and illness as synonymous with powerlessness. Controlling end-of-life decisions, then, becomes what some view as a final opportunity for self-sufficiency.

Mythologically speaking, Western culture has characterized suicide as preferable to disability since Greece's Golden Age. Think of the myth of Oedipus. This is the story that informs our notion of tragedy and that inspired Freud's famous theory. Upon learning of her sin, wife/mother Jocasta hangs herself, and Oedipus gouges out his eyes and leaves his beloved city of Thebes. Jocasta has committed the crime of incest out of ignorance--not to be confused with innocence--as to her husband's true identity. In the classical worldview, the act of hanging herself is an appropriate penance, as she is neither allowed to live nor made to suffer. Oedipus, however, has actively made the choice to try to outmaneuver Fate. This sin of pride, or hubris, has caused him to disrupt natural order. While Jocasta simply dies, Oedipus punishes himself by becoming less of a man--both physically and by cutting his political ties to his city/state. He must spend much of the rest of his life as an outcast, in torment.

How far have we traveled since Sophocles's day, in terms of cultural sensibility, regarding our view of disability and suicide? The purpose of this article is to examine several contemporary American films that depict suicides of individuals with disability or illness in an attempt to articulate how these images reflect--and influence--social perceptions of the worth of life in such circumstances. It becomes difficult, when dealing with this subject, to know exactly how best to define disability and, for that matter, suicide. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it might be possible to argue that anyone who commits suicide has done so under the influence of a disability: a depressive disorder. The ADA states that "an impairment is a 'disability' ... only if it substantially limits one of more major life activities. An individual must be unable to perform, or be significantly limited in the ability to perform, an activity compared to an average person in the general population" (ADA Technical Assistance Centers, 2002, p. 2).

However, for the purpose of this article, representations of suicide will be included if the character has a disability or illness other than, or in addition to, an episode of depression. The term suicide will be used to refer an action done deliberately to cause or hasten death. The films analyzed here are Whose Life Is It Anyway?; Night, Mother; One True Thing; and The Hours. These movies will be examined in light of dramatic structure, characterizations, and thematic treatment.