How to Die in Oregon Premieres Tonight
MAY 26, 2011 TAGS:
The first thing to know about How to Die in Oregon, a documentary about physician-assisted suicide and end-of-life options in the first U.S. state to pass a "Death with Dignity" law, is that it's a tough movie to watch. The film premieres tonight on HBO. When it opened at Sundance this winter, festival goers didn't exactly line up around the block to see the movie. The parka-clad revelers of Park City, Utah must have sensed that a film about physician assisted suicide, even if presented through expert independent filmmaking, wouldn't be the sexiest ticket in town.
The topic is a stone-cold bummer: assisted suicide and terminal illness confront mortality head on. While ethical and political intrigue exist at the heart of the issue, individual stories of illness and the acceptance of death highlight loss, erasure and the cruel indignities of disease.
What's surprising then is the inspirational and empowering message that those who choose to end their own lives after terminal diagnosis invariably leave behind.
And that's what reviewers of How to Die find glimmering behind the veil of death.
Last year, PBS' Frontline aired The Suicide Tourist, a documentary about an American who traveled to Geneva in order to end his life. Residents of the Swiss city recently voted to continue to allow foreigners to end their own lives there. The Suicide Tourist similarly portrays the complex ethical, emotional and medical issues that surround assisted suicide, but communicates the point through a compelling and articulate main character, Craig Ewert, the titular tourist.
How to Die presents an equally lucid subject. Cody Curtis was a 54-year-old suffering from liver cancer. Writing in Salon, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter, who authored a book about her own mother's decision to end her life, calls Curtis, the warm, beating heart of 'How to Die in Oregon.'"
Curtis tells the camera: "I want to model for my children a kind of grace and acceptance because I’m really scared of being a coward at the end."
The film also offers counterpoint, according to author Zoe Carter. in the form of:
"Randy Stroup, a 53-year-old uninsured Oregonian with prostate cancer who was denied coverage for additional treatment by the state. In a letter to Stroup, they suggested he look into doctor-assisted suicide instead. Although the state reversed its decision after he went public, his understandable bitterness – "They’ll pay to kill me, but not to help me!" -- provides a disturbing counterpoint to the rest of the film."
The tragedy of Stroup's case is that he doesn't have a choice. Advocates for Death with Dignity emphasize choice as the foundational reason that assisted suicide should be legal, regulated and available as an option for terminally ill patients.
Compassion and Choices, an Oregon-based non-profit group that was instrumental in the 1997 passing of Oregon's Death with Dignity Law hosts resources, including information about advanced directives and access counselors, on its Web site.
The topic is a stone-cold bummer: assisted suicide and terminal illness confront mortality head on. While ethical and political intrigue exist at the heart of the issue, individual stories of illness and the acceptance of death highlight loss, erasure and the cruel indignities of disease.What's surprising then is the inspirational and empowering message that those who choose to end their own lives after terminal diagnosis invariably leave behind.
And that's what reviewers of How to Die find glimmering behind the veil of death.
Last year, PBS' Frontline aired The Suicide Tourist, a documentary about an American who traveled to Geneva in order to end his life. Residents of the Swiss city recently voted to continue to allow foreigners to end their own lives there. The Suicide Tourist similarly portrays the complex ethical, emotional and medical issues that surround assisted suicide, but communicates the point through a compelling and articulate main character, Craig Ewert, the titular tourist.
How to Die presents an equally lucid subject. Cody Curtis was a 54-year-old suffering from liver cancer. Writing in Salon, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter, who authored a book about her own mother's decision to end her life, calls Curtis, the warm, beating heart of 'How to Die in Oregon.'"
Curtis tells the camera: "I want to model for my children a kind of grace and acceptance because I’m really scared of being a coward at the end."
The film also offers counterpoint, according to author Zoe Carter. in the form of:
"Randy Stroup, a 53-year-old uninsured Oregonian with prostate cancer who was denied coverage for additional treatment by the state. In a letter to Stroup, they suggested he look into doctor-assisted suicide instead. Although the state reversed its decision after he went public, his understandable bitterness – "They’ll pay to kill me, but not to help me!" -- provides a disturbing counterpoint to the rest of the film."
The tragedy of Stroup's case is that he doesn't have a choice. Advocates for Death with Dignity emphasize choice as the foundational reason that assisted suicide should be legal, regulated and available as an option for terminally ill patients.
Compassion and Choices, an Oregon-based non-profit group that was instrumental in the 1997 passing of Oregon's Death with Dignity Law hosts resources, including information about advanced directives and access counselors, on its Web site.
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