Eastwood attacked for "immoral" film

Libertarian Clint Eastwood is currently on the receiving end of the right-wing Hollywood attack squad because of his latest film, Million Dollar Baby, in which the lead male character (played to perfection by Eastwood) commits an act of mercy killing.

According to The Independent, the film was denounced by Rush Limbaugh as "liberal propaganda," and Michael Medved as "an insufferable, manipulative right-to-die movie." The head of the Christian Film and Television Commission called Million Dollar Baby "very anti-Catholic and anti-Christian."

According to a nurse acquaintance of mine, the film's portrayal of the protagonist's injury and its treatment were totally inaccurate. I have come to expect inaccuracy about all matters medical and legal (and probably everything else) in films, but I expected better from Eastwood. Shame on me. At any rate, instead of attacking the inaccuracy, our culture's so-called moral leaders have chosen to attack the film's morality. In Chicago, a disability advocacy group even picketed theaters showing the film.

Million Dollar Baby is a hard film to watch, once the fun part is over, and for me, all of it was hard to watch because I am revolted by boxing. It has wonderful performances, however, and tells a good story. Here is the main issue for me, with regard to the protests: The protagonist (Hilary Swank) is a woman with a strong sense of identity and purpose, and she asks--no, she begs--to be put out of her misery. She tries to kill herself, but is unsuccessful. She is cognitively intact, and at peace with the idea of death. Why, then, in this scenario, would the "moral" option be to walk away from her?

The same crowd who is oh, so shocked by euthanasia doesn't seem to give a damn about sending thousands of young Americans to be killed and maimed in a fake war. Or by letting thousands of children starve every day right here in America. Or by supporting the torture of millions of animals in factory farms and laboratories.