wit

i watched a movie today called wit starring emma thompson as part of a module about palliative care. it is a powerful movie which illustrates the difficulty of learning to die, and the many facets of our lives, both inherent and external, which impede this painful yet essential lesson. as medical students we are rightfully reminded about the role we play firstly as humans and then as professionals, not that this is confined only to the area of palliative medicine, just that it is even more tender here.

emotions run high in this film and this is as impactful as the failure of the doctors to see the patient as a human, treating vivian, the protagonist, only as an interesting case in their medical career. the doctors' matter of fact attitude in relating to the debilitating symptoms associated with dying and death mock life itself.

but the movie involves the audience and tests the audience's response. this test comes when the movie has just ended, when the lights are switched back on, and when the pupils just about to react to the spotlight that centres around each and every one of us. the movie asks us to pause and consider if we can show concern for another being without dehumanising him into a string of words. yet immediately we tear the characters and the movie apart to study academically how to respond to patients. have we not learnt anything from the movie? that to me is irony.