Movie: My Sister’s Keeper
Their daughter dying of cancer, parents decide to have another child who will be able to provide various spare parts to keep her going. When the girl turns 11, though, she decides to sue for medical emancipation from here parents. Flashbacks, courtroom drama and – above all – a lot of sadness ensue.
This film has a telemovie aesthetic to it, with a highly watchable performance from Alec Baldwin, and a sadly miscast Cameron Diaz as the mother (to me she still seems too young to play this role). By all accounts (I haven’t read it) the book is better than the film, but nonetheless, if you feel like thinking through what it would be like to have a child with leukemia, this is as good a way as any to do so.
Watching a movie deal so closely with death, I was wondering what its worldview would be on the afterlife: it seems that it had a “everyone who dies goes to heaven” kind of mindset. If you find that idea troubling, it could be a deal-breaker for you.