Million Dollar Provocation

Jeffrey Weiss of the Dallas Morning News reports that "Clint Eastwood's boxing film Million Dollar Baby is taking pre-Oscar body shots from commentators and activists who say the movie is pro-euthanasia or anti-disabled...

Start with the medical ethics problem: The quadriplegic is a prisoner of the medical center's care – desperately wanting to die and being forced to live. But U.S. law says that no patient should be trapped that way ... What we have is a case of perpetuated ignorance," said Jeff Shannon, who may be the only quadriplegic in the country reviewing movies for a major newspaper. He freelances for The Seattle Times. (His injury was lower on the spine than the movie character and he lives a mostly independent life.)

He's given the film a good review but is troubled by the way it handles some of the details of disability and medical care. "Basically, the third act of the movie is utter fantasy," he said. And he doesn't mean that as a compliment.

-Art Caplan