Bioethics at the Movies explores the ways in which popular films engage basic bioethical concepts and concerns.
Twenty-one philosophically grounded essays use cinematic tools such as character and plot development, scene setting,
and narrative framing to demonstrate a range of principles and topics in contemporary medical ethics.
The first two sections plumb popular and bioethical thought on birth, abortion, genetic selection, and personhood
through several films, including The Cider House Rules, Citizen Ruth, Gattaca, and I, Robot. In the third section,
the contributors examine medical practice and troubling questions about the quality and commodification of life
by way of Dirty Pretty Things, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and other movies. The fourth section's essays
use Million Dollar Baby, Critical Care, Big Fish, and Soylent Green to show how the medical profession and society
at large view issues related to aging, dying, and death. A final section makes use of Extreme Measures and select
films from Spain and Japan to discuss two foundational matters in bioethics: the role of theories and principles
in medicine and the importance of cultural context in devising care.
Structured to mirror bioethics and cinema classes, this innovative work includes end-of-chapter questions for further
consideration and contributions from scholars from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, Spain,
and Australia.