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Movies x SBA E05September 2009

■ Text: Andrew Ho■ Photos: Warner Bros Pictures

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My Sister’s Keeper 1. About the story• Actors: Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Campbell

Alexander• Director: Nick Cassavetes• Author: Jodi Picoult• Setting: Present day, USA• Plot summary: A mother of an ailing child has decided to conceive

another child just to save her fi rst child’s life. Anna later decides to sue her parents for exploiting her rights and the story gradually unfolds, examining the ethics and moral values behind our society.

2. Point of viewThis is a story about how science advancement may hurt human relationships. This fi lm can be diffi cult on many levels. The outermost layer is the seemingly peaceful and ordinary story of a loving mother who wants to save her child at all costs.

When viewers start to peel off the fi rst layer of the fi lm, they then realise that the fi lm is very thought provoking. The second layer questions the ethics and values of our modern society and its technological advancement. It brings to the table the controversial question of cloning and organ transplantation, heart it in a vivid story that touches everyone’s presenting. The third layer of the movie looks at how love can be harmful and irrational.

3. Did you know?• In vitro fertilisation Anna is called a test-tube baby because she is created

scientifi cally by in vitro fertilisation. “In vitro” is a Latin word meaning “inside the glass.” It usually refers to something biological that happens outside the body. It is usually called IVF treatment.

• Pro bono ”Pro bono” has a similar meaning to the word

volunteer. It is a phrase derived from the Latin meaning “for the public good.” Unlike volunteer, pro bono usually denotes someone highly professional like pro bono lawyers and doctors that serve NGOs. The idea is that they work for free for people who cannot afford their services.

M Y Sister’s Keeper, a film based on the bestselling novel of the same name, penetrates deep into the realm of science ethics. It presents a very real scenario

where a loving mother wants to save her only daughter at all costs, a daughter suffering from incurable diseases.

Sara Fitzgerald, whose daughter Kate has a rare form of leukemia, wants to conceive another child only for the sake of saving Kate’s life. Sara and her husband Brian then decide to have a test-tube baby, a genetic match of Kate.

Using Kate’s DNA, Anna is conceived by in vitro fertilisation. She doesn’t realise that her sole function is to serve as Kate’s donor. Whenever Kate needs a blood transfusion or an organ transplant, the couple look to her younger sister and Anna, without realising what’s going on, has to donate

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a spare set of organs? It is impossible to have such a luxury in the real world, but one movie, My Sister’s Keeper, takes a thought-provoking look at the ethics behind such a scenario, which might just one day come true, writes Andrew Ho.

everything she has to save her.The story is in itself extraordinary but becomes more

intriguing when Anna decides to sue her own parents for exploiting her rights. Anna, without the permanent disease Kate has, has to go through all the unnecessary medical procedures. Through counselling, she hires a pro bono lawyer, Campbell Alexander, who initiates a court case against her parents. But it is Kate who told Anna she does not want her to be a donor anymore.

The authorJODI Picoult is one of the best selling novelists in the world. Her work has been enthusiastically

received in the United S t a t e s , t h e U n i t e d Kingdom, Australia and

South Africa. My Sister’s Keeper was written back in 2004 and has now been adapted into a

screenplay. Picoult is delighted that My Sister’s Keeper has been turned into a feature fi lm.

A desperate motherCAMERON Diaz plays Sara Fitzgerald, the caring but desperate mother. She is a four-time Golden Globe nominee and she fully takes up the challenge of this diffi cult role. “I wanted to understand her, who she [Sara Fitzgerald] was, how she became that way and why she makes the decisions she does. That exploration was very compelling to me and I thought it would be challenging to try to tell her story.”

In preparing for the role, Diaz said, “the truth is you can’t know what you’d do unless you’re in her situation. Until you have a deathly ill child, there is no way to say to what lengths you would go to save that child.”

selfspareThe

The Student Standard is offering 20 readers My Sister’s Keeper movie tickets, courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures. Send your answers to The Student Standard, 10/F Sing Tao News Corp Bldg, 3 Tung Wong Rd, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong or e-mail studentstandard@thestandard.com.hk (Please indicate your name, school name, class, mailing address and contact number.)