"Life is a right not an obligation"

A few days ago I watched El Mar Adentro or The Sea Inside, a film by Alejandro Amenabar with Javier Bardem. What can I say? It's an amazing film, extremely thought provoking, beautifully shot and with astounding performances all round, especially by Bardem as Ramon, the quadriplegic fighting a legal battle to die with dignity. The question of euthanasia has been raised several times, and one cannot but ponder about what would one do in such a situation. Cases of involuntary euthanasia or mercy killings are questionable in my opinion, especially when the patient is in an unconscious state, as one can never ascertain any ulterior motives which the person carrying out the "kind" act may have. Besides, when is it the right moment to give up hope? When can you be sure there won't be a reversal or improvement of the situation. In Ramon's case (the film is based on a true story) the act was assisted suicide as he was totally conscious and in full possession of his mental capabilities, no doubt about that. It was carried out totally by his own choice. I am not trying to justify this line of thought because I believe there is no clear-cut answer. There are only grey areas. I still don't know what my choice would be if I had to become paralysed after an accident or suffer from a degenerative disease. Whenever I reflected about it in the past, I always said I'd rather die. But then again, who knows? What will be gained and what will be lost? Would your loved ones' and family's suffering cease because they no longer need to take care of you, because they've been relieved of a..."burden", or extend because they lost someone they love and because that person lost all desire to carry on. Then here one could bring up the argument thal life is indeed a right and not an obligation, so should one feel any obligation towards others when being in such a state? The questions, arguments and counter-arguments could be never-ending on this subject.

What was surprising, or perhaps ironic, is that Ramon, despite his plight, had a certain cheerfulness about him. He had a sense of humour and a brilliant mind. It was clear that before his accident he had an interesting, adventurous life (which perhaps made him more bitter about his situation). He was also surrounded by people who loved him dearly. But yet, Ramon, who seemed to be a fighter, wasn't fighting to live, but fighting to die. Interestingly, although he maintained that he wanted to die with dignity, did he really do so? He was helped commit suicide by means of drinking a poisonous dose of potassium cyanide - it may have been brief but it surely wasn't a death without suffering and pain.

I must say that this extremely thought-provoking film dealt with such a controversial topic in a mostly unbiased way. I don't think it tried condoning Ramon's act and put in a negative light the opposing camp. It did seem to respect his decision but it showed both signs of the coin, and it did so in a sensitive manner. Although admittedly the quadriplegic priest might have almost appeared as the villain at a certain point! On to the artistic merits of the film, I must say I loved it, especially the part when Ramon said how his life flashed before him just after the accident - the time when he should have died. The use of photos in that part was brilliant and extremely beautiful. Music was lovely too with a good use of opera in certain scenes. I watched the film in its orignal language but with English subtitles, and I must say that lately I've taken quite a liking to Spanish films and hope to see more in the future, especially by Amenabar and Almodovar (I saw Bad Education/La Mala Educacion recently and liked it a lot too). And, perhaps as a result, my interest in the Spanish language has increased, so I hope to improve upon my basics some time this summer.