Whose Life Is It Anyway?

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 The question in the title of the film Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) revolves around the question of suicide. It is considered a sin in some religions and against the law in many places because it involves the taking of a life. But, the counter argument is that it should be the choice of the individual, if that person is deemed rational, and if performed so no one else is harmed. This movie presents the discussion of whether or not to keep an individual alive artificially if the quality of life under those circumstances is intolerable to the individual.

 

The story centers on the character of Ken Harrison (Richard Dreyfuss, giving an Oscar-worthy performance). His young life is made meaningful by his work as a creator of modern sculptures. The first shot is of him putting the finishing touches on a large piece situated on a building. He is joyful and playful as his girlfriend, Pat (Janet Eilber), says he produced a big pile of “sticks,” and he jokes as he says he used her as a model. That ecstatic feeling is demolished in a moment as he drives away and a truck runs a traffic light, causing his sports car to crash under the massive vehicle. 

 

The ambulance evacuates Ken to a hospital emergency room. He has multiple fractures, a collapsed lung, and injuries to his spleen and kidneys. The attending physician, Dr. Michael Emerson (John Cassavetes), immediately yells at the almost unconscious Ken that he has to “Fight!” With that one exhortation the film establishes the conflict that will develop between Ken and Emerson as to how to deal with these tragic circumstances. As Emerson and the surgeon look over the x-rays, they conclude that the most serious injury is a neck fracture, and the surgeon says that realistically the best they can hope for is quadriplegia. Emerson’s primary goal however is that he wants the man “alive,” despite the immense deprivations involved.

 

Ken deals with his awful condition by using humor, which is many times dark, because it allows him and the audience to tolerate the situation. When the nurse asks if she can get him something, he asks for a “martini,” and says he thought everyone in intensive care got “gin” instead of water. He is brought into his room inverted and says he would recognize Pat anywhere by her “shoes.” He tells Pat that they’ll have to tell those holding a scheduled dinner-dance that the two of them will “be late.” Even though this joking is a safety device, it keeps him from facing the dire position he is in and does not allow him to confront his true feelings, at least not until later. 

 

The image of his recent sculpture is displayed and its physical completion contrasts with Ken’s current bedridden state which suggests that the piece of art will be the last work he will ever finish. Six months have passed. Nurse Rodriguez (Alba Oms) introduces him to a new nurse, Mary Jo Sadler (Kaki Hunter). He continues to make jokes, including ones that are sexually suggestive, such as saying he used to dream about “being massaged by two beautiful women.” He uses this humor to compensate for his current lack of ability involving intimacy. But his sadness creeps in when Rodriguez says they don't want him on the floor, and he says that being had on the floor would be “incredible,” but more likely “improbable.” He says that he went skateboarding with a lovely nurse the night before, but he was the skateboard. He is rolled over and hints how lovely it is that Mary Jo is rubbing his ass, but it’s really only his ankles. He kids about not wanting the fantasy destroyed, but the sad thing is that he can’t feel anything, so the only pleasure he can have is in his imagination. Pat visits, and we discover she also uses her body for artistic purposes since she is a dancer. She tells him she still loves him, but what joined them is no longer there. 

 

John, the Jamaican orderly (Thomas Carter), is compatible with Ken since John offers no sentimentality. While he trims Ken’s beard he says he wants to see him tap dance. Ken voices that he wished he could at least masturbate, let alone have encounters with women, which is what John can do. It shows how much we take for granted until we are deprived of those joys of everyday life. John has a band, and he mimics playing the xylophone, pretending Ken’s body is the instrument (artistic imagination stressed again). He says the patient’s knee needs some “tuning.” His playfulness is a welcome diversion for Ken, who vicariously enjoys hearing about another artist's pursuits. 

 Dr. Clare Scott (Christine Lahti) next visits Ken and she presents an upbeat demeanor as she talks about increasing his physical therapy so that he can lead a more “normal life.” Ken sees no purpose in her plan, and sarcastically asks if it will mean “I can resume my basketball career?” Ken realistically sees that he will never be able to regain what for him was “normal.” She is able to come up with a comical comment saying that he is too short to play basketball which makes him smile and pull back on his edgy attitude. Ken heard that Emerson was doing rounds and he asks if the doctor will be doing it while “walking on water.” Ken obviously thinks that Emerson makes god-like decisions that do not allow for the patient to determine his own treatment.

 

On his rounds with third year medical students, Emerson comes across a man of fifty-six years of age who just died. He questions the intern to make sure everything was done to save him. Emerson is an “extreme measures” sort of doctor. When one of the students yawns, Emerson is outraged that he isn’t sick that they lost a man under seventy years of age. He calls death the “enemy,” and that if they care more about patients than money then they should feel ill when the enemy has won. 

 

Nurse Mary Jo tries to give Ken a drink that he clearly doesn’t want, as he says it looks like somebody “already drank it.” He turns his head and knocks the liquid all over himself. He tries to kid about how a person “who can’t move a muscle” can still make a mess. She is flustered and embarrassed by her actions and moves him around quickly to end the incident. He says something about being like Charlie McCarthy, the puppet in a comedy routine, because that is how powerless he feels. He makes another dark joke by asking, “How did the quadriplegic cross the road? He was stapled to a chicken.” This gallows humor is the only way some can deal with the unthinkable. She then pushes him to the side too far and he almost falls off the bed. He keeps saying how it was not Mary Jo’s fault and it was “just an accident.” He is there because of an “accident,” but it doesn’t make what happens any easier to accept. Not only the patient but also those that care for him feel defeated by what has happened. 

 

Emerson shows up and the humiliated Ken doesn’t want the student physicians to see him so compromised. Emerson examines Ken’s neck movements and tells him “You’ll be fine.” Ken’s response is “Are you kidding?” These two are definitely not on the same page. Emerson says that he is approaching discharge, which Ken wants probably so he can have some autonomy, but then he finds out he will be going to a rehabilitation facility. Ken is sarcastic when he says, “You just grow the vegetables here. The vegetable store is somewhere else.” When he asks directly for the first time if he will ever regain the use of his limbs, Emerson says he will not. Despite the shock of this reality, Ken thanks the doctor for his “honesty.” However, the doctor says that people learn to accept things. But that generalization, like many, is not always true.

 

Dr. Scott and Dr. Emerson prescribe an increase in Ken’s sedatives, and when Scott brings the Valium, he says he doesn’t want it. He wishes to hold onto his anger and freedom which includes being noisy if he so desires. He tells her just because they can’t fix him that “does not mean I’m the one that has to get tranquilized.” It's as if they want to cover up their being uncomfortable with their lack of success by quieting him down. He says point-blank that all he has left is his “consciousness” and he doesn’t want “that paralyzed as well.” He is trying to hold onto what’s left of his individuality. 

 

At lunch, Scott is becoming Ken’s advocate and tells Emerson that Valium isn’t emergency medicine, and she questions how it will help Ken. Emerson, acting all-powerful here, says that Ken isn’t ready to accept his predicament yet, and the sedatives are to calm him until he is ready. He adds that it is their job to get him to accept his new life. Emerson, although meaning well, does not take into account the feelings, ideas, or wishes of the patient. He gets a syringe of Valium and prepares to inject it into Ken. Ken says he no longer wants to live, and Emerson, unable to accept that, says it is Ken’s depression talking. Ken specifically tells Emerson not to inject him, but Emerson ignores his request under the reason that it is medically necessary. Ken is outraged at this violation of his freedom. Emerson says he is just like Ken when he is sculpting, because he, too, refuses to give up on a project. But Ken rightly points out the difference between manipulating an inanimate object and a person, accusing Emerson of treating him like a “lump of clay.”

 

While he is sedated, Ken has memories of how he sketched and sculpted renditions of Pat. These images show how their lives intertwined and were full of movement, which just accentuates his current anguish as he looks at his unresponsive hands. When Pat comes the next day he refers to himself in the past tense, and says that he is no longer the person she loved. He wants her to leave and not come back because he wants her to have a real life with someone who can love her back. He says if their roles were reversed he would leave her “flat.” Most likely he is being cruel to be kind. He argues that when she visits every day it hurts him because it is a reminder of “what I will never do again.” Her presence is “torture” to him, despite her loving intentions. So, instead of providing him with positive feelings, her visits have the opposite effect. Ken will not even allow her to kiss him goodbye. She is upset and when she grabs her things to leave, she knocks over the vase of flowers she always brings and it crashes on the floor. It is a symbol of how their love has been dashed to pieces. 

 

Emerson scheduled Ken to see Mrs. Boyle (Kathryn Grody) and again Ken has no choice in the matter. He jokes that if he doesn’t see her, Emerson will “dissolve” the woman and “inject” her into him, as he makes a reference to how the doctor gave him the sedative without Ken’s consent. He tells Boyle he “used to be” Ken Harrison, as he now feels he is only a ghost of his prior self. She tries to counter his decision to not have any more treatment by noting how other artists who were nearly blind or crippled still did not give up. Boyle says he will be able to read and write with machines and express his artistic vision through teaching and creating poetry. He says you can’t just switch artistic abilities. He says his imagination “spoke” to him through his “fingers,” which cannot happen anymore. He is sarcastic and says he wants the first book he reads to deal with how to sculpt without hands, and be “Self-Taught.” She is ready to leave saying he isn’t ready for the present discussion, and he says she should treat him like a human being who wasn’t paralyzed and get angry at him for his rudeness instead of hiding behind professionalism. It is a form of condescension that makes him want to end his life even more.

 

Ken becomes so exasperated that he has a breathing spasm and John whisks him away to get some help. Ironically, he can’t die without the help of others, whose own impulses are to save him. John gets Ken to laugh at a joke, which allows Ken to enjoy living, if only for a moment. Scott shows up and Ken notes she has “amazing breasts.” She is a bit embarrassed, and he is funny when he says it isn’t the usual thing to say when only one of the persons is in the bed. He makes an interesting point about how relaxed a woman can be when there isn’t “a man around.” The implication is that he is not a sexual threat or someone to desire, so she is free to not be self-conscious. However, it just reinforces the loss of his own sexuality. He sees the sadness in his overcompensating with suggestive banter because of his body’s inability to perform sexually. He says the only reason her moral view of not letting him die bests his view is that “you’re more powerful than me. I am in your power.” It has nothing to do with the merits of the situation from his perspective. 

 

Ken requested the automobile insurance company’s lawyer, Carter Hill (Bob Balaban), to talk with him. He wants Hill to get him discharged from the hospital so that he can die by ending medical assistance. He can’t feed himself or drink without help, and it was noted earlier that he requires kidney dialysis. Hill is reluctant to accept the request, but Ken says that if lawyers represent those they know are guilty, then he should have the same rights of representation as “an axe murderer.” (It is interesting that Dreyfuss plays a lawyer representing Barbra Streisand’s character who is trying to prove she is mentally sound in the film Nuts).

 

The unsure Hill tells Ken that he wants to meet with Emerson first before representing Ken. But Emerson’s one-sided way of looking at things moves Hill toward arguing for Ken’s hospital discharge. Emerson says his duty is to preserve life which he feels outweighs Ken’s individual wishes. He says that Ken is in a state of depression and is incapable of making decisions about his life and death, and he shows hostility toward Hill’s participation in the matter. Hill says he will bring in his own psychiatrist to get an objective opinion as to Ken’s state of mind. Hill tells Ken that if Emerson can get two psychiatrists to agree that Ken is mentally unbalanced then Ken's hospitalization becomes an involuntary commitment. Others always seem to be deciding Ken’s fate.

 

Emerson meets with psychiatrist Sandy Jacobs (George Wyner) about Ken’s case as Scott walks in. Emerson’s old-fashioned belief is that wanting to commit suicide automatically means that a person is of unsound mind. Scott is outraged and she says, “Aren’t we talking about his life here.” Emerson says Ken’s decision violates medical responsibility. Thus, we have the basis for the title of the movie. Scott argues that Ken has lost his “privacy” and his “dignity,” and she wonders if she would want to go on living if she was in his position. So, she says just because Emerson disagrees with Ken it doesn’t make the patient mentally incompetent. She says that Emerson is not just acting like a doctor but also like a “judge.” The film does show how the legal and the medical worlds are sometimes at odds with each other. Seeing that Scott is partial to Ken’s thinking, Emerson threatens Scott with an autopsy if Ken dies and Emerson suspects there was an assisted suicide.

 

In the dialysis unit, Ken jokes with a young girl named Lissa (Abigail Hepner), saying he will be playing for the Boston Red Sox at the shortstop position. He then says actually he will just be wearing red socks. He is thrilled to hear that her treatments are being cut back and he probably sees a full life ahead for her. The short scene contrasts how medical treatment for some is hopeful and for others, hopeless.

 

Jacobs meets with Ken, who is very clever as he points out that medical knowledge about his condition helps him make a decision, but it’s still his decision. He likens doctors telling him what to do with a sculptor trying to determine what a client should buy. Jacobs says that Ken’s intelligence works against him because it shows he has more reasons to keep living. Ken points out the Catch-22 aspect of Jacobs’s argument, noting it states because he is intelligent enough to make decisions it shows he is too smart to warrant death. While they talk, Jacobs tidies up and folds a towel, and Ken points out the man’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies. It is funny, as the layman Ken becomes the diagnostician. 

 

Ken then has an interview with Hill’s psychiatrist, Dr. Barrows (Mel Stewart), and he continues to demonstrate his wit (as to tests, Ken assures him he is “rotten” at running the hundred-yard dash) and anger (mad about how conspiring doctors stick together while requiring him to prove he is sane, a difficult task for anyone). Barrows, like the other “professionals,” retreats when Ken responds in a perfectly normal emotional way instead of dealing with him on a basic human level. 

 

Scott goes to see Pat and observes the works of art Ken has created, which most likely makes her understand what he no longer can accomplish. Statues are immobile, but they can capture a moment of movement which Ken has done concerning Pat’s dancing talent. Pat holds up a piece of a hand. In a way it symbolizes his situation. Ken’s body is now like one of his works, frozen in time. Scott says that she is there to talk about a way to help Ken. But Pat has taken Ken’s words to heart. She talks about him as the “late Ken Harrison.” She is wrapping up his business affairs concerning selling and storing his work, as if it is part of an estate of someone who has passed away. She is also getting ready for a date, so she has accepted his demand that she move on. To Scott, Pat seems cold at first, but Pat says the real Ken is in his art, not in what remains in the hospital. She respects Ken and that is why she honored his wishes. She says if Scott respects the man, “Then just let him do what he wants to do.” 

 

Scott visits Ken after hours and she tells him that she went to his studio and admired his sculptures. She was going to place one of the works in his room but he says that instead she can have any one of the pieces she wants. She just so happens to really like the hand and she brought it with her. Ken says it is the best one, but not his. It is a representation of Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel of God creating life. While they laugh because Scott is embarrassed about not recognizing the piece, the incident points to how the creation of something out of imagination is how an artist is god-like. She points out that he seems to be enjoying himself and he admits feeling human for the first time in a while, but he is sure he wants to end things. The film implies that there may be moments of enjoyment, but in the long run, such an extremely limiting life would be intolerable to someone who experienced existence so completely.

 To provide him with one of those fun instances, Orderly John and Nurse Mary Jo sneak Ken into the basement where John’s Jamaican band, The Rebel Rockers, perform for him and he smokes some marijuana with them. When a security guard hears them and the band runs out, the stoned Ken asks the guard, “Isn’t this dialysis?” It is an example of how well the script makes the heavy moments palatable with some comic relief.

 

Hill tells Ken the next day that he will represent him, and he says that instead of a competency hearing he wants to apply for a writ of habeas corpus. As Hill says, “It is against the law to deprive anyone of his liberty without due process.” So, if due process has not been provided, the person, or “body,” must be relinquished. Ken voices his variation on Shakespeare’s play title by saying, “All’s well that ends,” leaving off the final “well” to stress that his “end” will make things “all well” for him. 

 As he is wheeled into a room at the hospital for his hearing, John and Rodriguez will not wish him luck because they don’t want him to die, while others, such as Mary Jo, do. Even his own lawyer, Hill, said it was a case he wouldn’t mind losing. The disparity in opinions mirrors the population in general as to the split feelings about suicide due to incurable medical reasons. Judge Wyler (Kenneth McMillan) presides over the informal meeting. Emerson testifies that it is impossible to suffer such extensive injuries without mental trauma, and he concludes, although he is not a psychiatrist, that Ken is clinically depressed. Hill stresses that despite Emerson’s experience, he is not officially trained to justify his impression of Ken. The psychiatrist Barrows states that Ken is reacting in a normal manner to his circumstances, and is not clinically depressed. The attorney representing the hospital, Mr. Eden (Ward Costello), asks if Barrows thinks Ken is making the right decision to end his life. Even though the psychiatrist does not have to answer that question, he volunteers that he believes Ken is wrong in what he is trying to do. That, however, is a subjective impression, and does not contradict Barrow’s earlier statement that Ken is acting in a rational manner. Again, the question is who gets to choose concerning Ken’s life or death path? 

 

Wyler says he would like to ask Ken some “noninflammatory” questions. Ken’s sharp comment is that he would prefer “a hanging judge.” Wyler sees himself in that role no matter which way he rules, since Ken is in a no-win situation. It’s just a matter of which way to lose is worse. The physicians who side with Emerson’s opinion say that Ken is “not capable of making an informed, intelligent decision.” Ken refutes that decision, basically saying it has been used to support the doctors' desire to keep patients alive. Ken says he is already dead and wants that recognition. Ken argues against Wyler’s assertion that Ken is legally alive because life must “include the idea that it be self-supporting.” He states that he isn’t asking anyone to end his life, only to leave the hospital so he can die naturally. He emphasizes that his freedom of choice is being denied. But the decision to end his life comes so unnaturally to many people that they can only conclude that it is not a coherent decision, and they want no part in playing a role in what will lead to the end of a person’s existence, especially one that shows so much intelligence and wit. 

 

For Ken, staying in the hospital just to maintain his mind without any ability for him to control his life is an act of “cruelty.” He argues that is especially true for him because his work as an artist was the most important part of his life and only having his mind intact without being able to utilize his imagination has turned his consciousness into his “enemy,” which “tortures” him. He loved experiencing women and now he can’t tolerate their presence because it is so punishing not to be able to respond to them in any fulfilling way. He states he is in a state of “outrage” that they can decide to continue this hell just “because you cannot see the pain,” as it is in the mind and not the body. He says that he would like the same mercy one would show a mutilated animal on the road while at the same time not asking anyone to resort to an act of violence. Otherwise, in about five years Ken implies that they will see how they have damaged him irreparably.

 

Wyler needs time to deliberate and when he returns he cites cases that would allow for choosing one’s own destiny. He also states that if Ken is clinically depressed then he would not be able to make a rational decision. Wyler concludes that Ken is a brave and thoughtful man and is capable of making an informed choice. He rules that Ken should be allowed to end his hospital care. Ken is grateful while those who have become close to him have mixed reactions. Emerson says Ken can stay at the hospital without treatment so he can be around familiar surroundings and people until he passes away, which Ken agrees would be easier for him. But Emerson admits that he hopes Ken might change his mind.

 

John wheels him into his room and inserts some dark humor by pulling the sheet over Ken’s head, making him look like he is already a corpse, which makes Ken laugh. After John leaves, Scott enters and she strokes Ken’s face, but when she moves in to kiss him, he turns his head, pleading that she not continue, since it only emphasizes what he wants but can never have. She leaves in tears, and Ken is alone as the sounds of the hospital surround him, showing how life can go on for others. The last shot is of Michelangelo’s hand of God that perhaps here suggests that sometimes one’s life should be in one’s own hands.

The next film is The Stunt Man.