I have a factual question about the movie “Seven Pounds”, starring Will Smith. The question itself involves a major spoiler. I will post the question in the next post.
This post?
The plot is about a man who feels guilty for causing a car accident that kills 6 people. He sets out to help 6 people in atonement, mostly by donating organs including his heart. That requires him to commit suicide.
His chosen method to kill himself is to use a jellyfish. The movie claims the jellyfish has the most toxic venom of any animal. That might be true, I don’t care.
My question: from an organ donation standpoint, wouldn’t the use of poison to kill himself make his heart non-viable for transplant? Basically, the venom seems to cause a massive heart attack. Wouldn’t that ruin the heart?
IMDB says yes (scroll to the bottom).
the method used the the clint eastwood movie Bloodwork would probably be a better bet. Timing will always be an issue
Say, what are the reasons—presumably mostly legal or procedural, if I had to guess—that he couldn’t simply glue his organ donor card to his chest, walk into a major hospital emergency room, and shoot himself in the side of the head?
None really, that would be my advice, with caveats. Organ donor cards are not legal documents in and of themselves, for example if there were questions about foul play, or adamantly opposed family members you wishes could be overidden. Your best bet would be to tidy your financial affairs, establish a solid living will, and take out your brain in the immediate vicinity of emergency personnel capable of intubating you.
Yes- box jellyfish venom causes heart failure. Whoops.
That was essentially what happened. He tidied his legal affairs, including lining up the living will and having a lawyer in on the plan. He even called 911, and was in a hotel down the street from the hospital.
So really, the only major flaw in his plan was his choice of method.
Because then it wouldn’t be all deeply symbolic and stuff.
You see, the poison represents the toxicity of his soul. And the jelly represents his favorite kind of English Muffin topping.
Yeah.
That’s a cooler guess than mine. Mine was that since he was donating his “eyes” (corneas, I assume? Cause I don’t think any other part is transplantable yet), he didn’t want to risk screwing up and damaging one of them with a bullet that went astray. (They aren’t that predictable - a small enough caliber and you might even get it to run right up over top of your head rather than penetrating the skull.) Still, come on, it’s the cornea. My WAG is that some damage to the back of the eye or optic nerve would still allow the cornea to be transplantable.
Another thing- since when does a suicide victim get to spell out who gets his organs?
Wouldn’t the organs go to the next viable match on the waiting list, whether that person is virtuous enough to suit Will Smith or not?
Haven’t seen the movie, and based on this thread don’t think I will, but I don’t think a donor can decide. Otherwise you’d have people declaring that their organs couldn’t go to a jew of a muslim or a black or ad naseum
I’ll have to use a cite from a TV show. On NYPD Blue there was a transplant and the family of one dying cop donated directly to the other dying cop. See, it does happen. That was the point of having the lawyer on board. Everything was tied up and in place before the end.
I have learned that the best way to die in order to donate organs is an injection of window cleaner. I learned that from The Man With Two Brains. Or was that just for brain transplants?
The movie was one insane, tortured conceit piled on tap of another like a Hollywood ice cream sundae. Add to that terrible writing and the hammiest performances this side of a pig farm, and you have one of the worst films I have seen in some time. I almost asked for my money back.
[quote=“Loach, post:15, topic:482320”]
I’ll have to use a cite from a TV show. On NYPD Blue there was a transplant and the family of one dying cop donated directly to the other dying cop. See, it does happen. That was the point of having the lawyer on board. Everything was tied up and in place before the end.
QUOTE]
Yeah, I saw a similar thing an episode of ER, I’m just saying I’ve never seen it in any of the, ya know, actual organ transplant cases I’ve worked on
Exactly my thoughts. I went to work and warned people not to see it saying that it is the worst movie I have seen for years. Several other people who had seen it argued that it was a fine movie and perhaps it was too “sentimental” for me. I replied that it was too tedious, too implausible, too predictable, too manipulative in fact just too awful for me. I rated it 2 on IMDB.
I liked the movie, but I’m the kind of guy who likes M. Night Shyamalan, too.
My cite was on TV. Yours is in real life. Unless yours has an appearence by Jimmy Smits, I win.