1. Introduction to the Film
My Sister's Keeper is a film about an experimental form of conception, one that is engineered to produce a genetic match for people who are suffering from some form of cancer. The resulting child, in this case, a girl, is born and from the moment of her birth, her life is manipulated to save her sister who is dying. In the end, the dying sister dies anyway, and the family goes on about their business better understanding their place in the genetic world. Universally, themes in movies are designed to make the viewer think and question how they really feel about a particular topic. The existence of life is the primary theme of this movie. How far will a mother go to save a daughter, or a sister to save a sister? The sad reality is that sometimes, there is not always a happy ending, and sometimes being created benignantly will end very negatively. The existence of this melancholy situation will only produce an even more melancholy ending.
1.1. Background and Context
Sara and Brian Fitzgerald's life with their young son and their two-year-old daughter, Kate, is forever altered when they learn that Kate has leukemia. The parents' only hope is to conceive another child, specifically intended to save Kate's life. For some, such genetic engineering is a noble cause, paving the way for future cures for a variety of diseases. For others, it is a moral outrage. Sara and Brian, however, see only one thing: a life that might be saved. And to help Kate, they need to create a life that might be lost. Enter Anna, Kate's savior sister. A precocious newborn, Anna is expected to undergo dozens of surgeries in order to donate whatever Kate needs. But what about Anna's rights? Could it be possible that she doesn't want to save her sister? Could be against this project for myself, and I want to get the result that I want, whatever it is. I think, for myself, I am far more qualitative when finding the types of roles I play, without reservations, whether it is a secretary, whor*monger, or a world old lady. Otherwise, I got along very well with my colleague actors, was pleased and had fun working on this project.
1.2. Plot Summary
The plot of "My Sister's Keeper" revolves around the lives of the Fiske family, constituted by Sara and Brian, parents to Kate, Jesse, and Anna. The story starts at the moment where Anna opens a court case against Sara and Brian, to secure the right to her own body, which, by destiny, has been a donor to her sick sister, who is now in desperate need of a kidney transplant. The court case and the relationships in this large family are only the surface of this book. Difficult decades of family life; deception; destiny; and the considerable psychological manipulation to which innocent little Anna has been subjected to for the benefit of the health of her sick sister are skillfully discharged by Jodi Picoult in her novel. The final surprise in the denouement will be an ignominious mark on the destinies and the loves in the Fiske family. Evidently, the big ethical question implicit in the plot is, for how long may we force someone to serve as a living donor for another, even if this other is our family or our daughter? What are the potential risks perceived by the possible living donor? The potential benefits? The lyric finds an answer, preferentially underlining the dichotomy of hope beyond despair.
2. Character Analysis
The Fitzgerald family, at first glance, appears to be a standard nuclear family, and one is not made aware of the dynamics between the characters at first glance. However, at a closer glance, the constant tension between Jesse Fitzgerald and his parents is clear. Jesse is very angry and withdrawn, and it becomes apparent that he is overlooked and overshadowed by his younger, terminally ill sister. Jesse is unloved, unwanted, and feels neglected. At first glance, Anna seems to be self-centered, but this façade is worn away when one realizes the pressures that she is subjected to. She leads a very sheltered life and is extremely protective of her sister. When Anna reaches her teens, she has just had enough and requests medical emancipation. Her forced need to protect her sister puts her in difficult situations, and Anna has to remind herself that it is not her sister that is mean, but the fact that everyone is feeling emotionally battered. There is a complete role reversal between the sisters, as Kate is the responsible, mature, wise one, and Anna is the rebellious teenager. Until the movie ends, the viewer will not see Kate acting in the way one would expect a teenage girl to be acting. Jesse is the unloved middle child. He uses drugs and draws disturbing tattoos on his body as a cry for attention. He is an angry young man, and his parents have to be reminded that he is indeed a good boy. At first glance, he seems like a person who listens to death metal, and it is surprising at the depth of feeling and wisdom that he imparts. Each of the kitchen segments has a quote on food, and when Jesse says his, he speaks about a sandwich which looks weird but is awesome.
2.1. Anna Fitzgerald
Being a sister means being someone's favorite family member, someone who shows responsibility, reliability, and loyalty. Anna Fitzgerald didn't have an ordinary childhood, as she comes to an understanding of, despite being young in the film entitled "My Sister's Keeper". Her mother, Sara Fitzgerald, gave birth to Anna to use her umbilical cord to save her sister's life. Kate Fitzgerald has a type of leukemia that can only be healed with proper treatment through the blood of newborns. Both Jesse and Anna then donate various parts of their bodies to their sick and dying sister. Tired and unwilling to give her sisters any more bodily parts, Anna sues her parents for becoming medically emancipated and having the right to make her own decisions about her body. After an exciting trial, Anna goes through several scandals and loses her sister. Despite some setbacks, Anna finally gets through learning proper lessons and becomes medically emancipated after her sister dies. It was Anna Fitzgerald's decision to seek legal emancipation from her parents to stop medical treatment for her sister. Even though Anna loves Kate very much, the decision to sue is her own choice. She gives the illusion that she is going to do everything she can to save Kate. Later on, she actually stops the chemo and radiation. She meets with lawyer Campbell Alexander and demands that Campbell represent her. When it was time for her partial kidney removal, Anna refused to be put to sleep and voluntarily left. The judge declared Anna her own person while Anna was at the pool. She finally made her own decisions. When Anna makes her own decisions in the movie "My Sister's Keeper", she takes the final step toward personal autonomy.
2.2. Sara and Brian Fitzgerald
The story is about a girl named Anna, who wants to take Sara and Brian Fitzgerald, her parents, to court so she can have the right to have control over her body because she's always been a donor for her sister who's very sick with Leukemia. Her sister, Kate, has been sick since she was born, and is now fighting it for the 12th time. Kate has been in and out of the hospital her whole life and now wants to die peacefully. So, Sara decides to have another baby that is compatible with Kate so they can be donors for her. The baby they have is Anna. Anna grows up always trying to help Kate, as she has been taught her whole life she was brought to this world to save her sister's life. When they find out Anna will not be able to help Kate, Anna goes to a lawyer to try and sue her parents for the rights of her own body. These are the parents of Anna, Kate, and Jesse. Sara is the mother and is very straight up with Anna about what she wants from her, and expects. I feel like Sara does not care about how Anna feels. In her point of view, Anna is only here because they need her to be able to keep Kate well. Sara is a very 'to the point' woman. She never takes 'no' for an answer. She would really like to take Anna's kidney but Sara and Kate know that they will always need Anna for more in the future. For Brian, he is an easy-going dad who only does not want to see his family hurting. He has no idea how to handle Sara and Anna. He is very scared and wants his 'little girl' to be happy. If it were up to him, I know he would pick fixing Kate and throwing her right back out in the world, he likes everything back to the same with no changes. He is the father of the 3 kids. He is very scared and angry throughout the story. Sara is aware but she is too busy wanting to fix Kate she barely takes time for him.
3. Themes and Symbols
In my sister's keeper, a dominant theme is that everyone has a purpose in life and that their destiny impacts others around them. This is seen in many characters of the film such as Kate, Anna, Sara, and Jesse. The destiny of Kate is to be ill, in bed all day, barely able to stay awake, forcing her to give up her social life resulting in becoming an outcast to society. The destiny of Anna is to save her sister by giving up her bodily parts to help Kate get through her illness, even if it kills her. The destiny of Sara is to care for her ill daughter Kate, while abandoning her husband and other son Jesse. The destiny of Jesse is to act out and rebel with violence in the hopes to bring his parents home. Reflection plays a big role in symbolism when it relates to the film's title. My Sister's Keeper is a metaphor that refers to the word charity and the concept of sacrifice. The title is a simile that is intrinsically equal to Anna, who charitably donates part of herself to her sister by giving her something from within her. This is what real charity is all about. It is a perfect act of giving by being compatible donors.
3.1. Family Dynamics
I spent a majority of the film studying the way characters/actors internalized and recognized the plot, feeling aware and yet unlike the rest of my family, who had never seen this film before. From my own lens, my fixation focused on the blended family dynamic. Throughout my life, I have grown up admiring blended families. I always saw them as a sign of dual loyalty and unity of the parents no matter what cost. And then we meet the Fitzgerald family. The Fitzgeralds are a genetic family that then extends love and purpose toward another child, Anna, who enters their life as a result of a genetic anomaly in their own child, Kate. The film did a pretty good job of depicting the stressful trickiness that is accompanied with a blended Irish family who, although has Anna's best interests at heart, pressures her into sacrificing and enduring the pain and suffering of Kate's well-being. But don't worry, the story isn't totally obsessed with this and does get a unique angle from the family next door, the Campbells, who come from a similar genetic scenario. Through this separate family, the viewer gets to watch Kate fight for the right of self-ownership and the right to live and love who she wants, Alice speak to her independence, choices, and challenges in dealing with and being raised by a strong-willed, genius legal twin, and Jesse's cry for undivided attention and fear of being left behind without Anna. And then quietly in the background is Sara and Brian, free-spirited parents who adhere to and support everyone's views without taking a side to help maintain their appearance of strength. At the end of the movie, my family commented and surprised me. They both agreed that I was kept alive for my special purpose of hair-braiding and flash-card mixing. We laughed, and then I just cried at this discovery. The discovery of how much I adore and cherish my own meaning of blending families.
3.2. Ethical Dilemmas
Certainly, we see that the ethical dilemmas are manifold in My Sister's Keeper. From a medical issue, when does a fetus form the molecular foundation of the donor? Or when does a fetus fully know that developing the second person in the mother's womb will be used for organ transplantation? By using blood, by removing bone marrow, anaphase transplantation, and multiple organ transplants, the mother's love has become the most difficult to evaluate issue. Here, should moral character or ethical laws be the main concern? The relationship between mother and children is deeper than every idea and concerns human beings and their condition. In an extraordinary cinema, of course, it is not always aimed at healing, but it can heal because it gives people a therapeutic feeling about their struggles and difficulties and the ability to deal with things that are beyond the reach of reality. First of all, the view that health problems, especially the emotional complications experienced by the central characters, encourage the audience to create empathy with their condition, presenting patients with effective coping strategies or strengthening family members to deal with exceptional situations. Most events try to influence the perception of practiced medical procedures. Secondly, a full understanding of the complexities of medical practice, which corresponds to the extraordinary possibilities of the patient-doctor relationship, seems organized in terms of curiosity and professional development of applicants as pre-processors of healthcare and science.
4. Cinematography and Sound Design
The lighting in My Sister's Keeper was very low-key because the scenes on the screen were very somber and gloomy. I thought they used low-key lighting because it added to the mood of the movie. I really thought that the lighting was very effective in conveying the mood. For example, the scene when Kate and Anna were playing a game in her room. The lighting was very somber and not very bright because it was Kate's last few days of life and it took place during the day. I also thought that the lighting in the hospital room was very dim too. The cinematographers used a technique of under-lighting to show the skin texture of the actors carrying the medicine drip bags. The director, Nick Cassavetes, surprised me with his use of cinematography in this film. The film is rich and earthy and Warren and Kalsa make the film look of a late-stage cancer patient. The close-ups are very clear and the audience can see the character's mood just by looking at their face. I really liked the angle and the room that the film showed the actors. The director showed a very warm family home but a cold hospital room. The director's goal was to make the depth of the film three dimensional. He didn't electronically make the blood pressure monitor look like a real blood pressure monitor. The director hired a real nurse to add to the reality of the movie. In addition, I really liked the use of sound in the film. The sound was clear and voices were equally audible. The hospital and family music was soft but genuine and it conveyed the mood very well. The background, on the other hand, was like a Country Western song and it gave the film a few chuckles and light-heartedness. In addition, the outdoor music was very soothing and it was not too overpowering. Overall, I really liked the lighting, cinematography, and sound of the film. The lighting and sound were each fitting for the scenes and they were done very well.
5. Critical Reception and Controversies
Critical Reception: Critical Reception and Controversies Jodie Picoult's 2004 novel My Sister's Keeper and its subsequent 2009 Nick Cassavetes film adaptation portray the experience of the Fitzgerald family whose lives are centered on tending to their ill daughter/sister Kate through the process of creating another daughter, Anna, designed as a perfect genetic match for Kate. A central reason for the story's popularity is that it focuses on universal features of human life (such as medical ethics) and resonates with audiences in meaningful ways. While the adaptation has received both popularity and acclaim (the novel and film both reached the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list), My Sister's Keeper has been criticized on medical, legal, and plot grounds, bringing to light how a compelling story can overtake factual accuracy. This paper provides a critical analysis of the film and novel. Each work's portrayal of biotechnology helps family members cope with their life-changing circ*mstances. However, the adaptation's deviations from the original text lead to distorted views regarding the ethics surrounding stem cell donation, beginning with Kate's conception, and finally the film's never-told plot. Biotechnology's Role in the Lives of the Fitzgerald Family: Since Kate's diagnosis, the Fitzgerald family has devoted itself to keeping Kate alive at any cost. Reverend and fire captain father Brian quit his job to become a stay-at-home dad after her diagnosis. Without health coverage, her medical bills soon empty the family's savings. Their next plan focuses on suing Kate's doctor for wrongful conception. The couple feels that they were not given the opportunity to prepare for Kate's impact on their lives, thus the doctor was acting dismissive and unprofessional. Further incidents occur inside the book and film, such as asking Jesse (Kate's and Anna's brother) to start fires at school in exchange for money to pay retainer fees. When he quickly loses interest, his parents resort to shoplifting across the state in order to pay off the medical bills. Upon his knowledge that Kate's kidneys are no longer functioning, Brian decides to quit his job to attend nursing school, in order to be able to provide continuous services for her. It wasn't until the family discovered that the remaining option was for a family member to be a stem cell match in order for Kate to regain her ability to be healthy. During their brief discussion of this option, neither Anna nor Jess seems old enough to understand its implications. Both are too preoccupied with their own lives to pay attention to their sick sister. However, Anna rapidly perceives the implications of having to be a stem cell match in order to improve her sister's health. Her struggle to remain herself, as well as Kate's resentment of the barrier Anna's decision to no longer be a donor poses to Kate's health, confront the family with the necessity of responding to a new situation with a different strategy. In spite of Anna's petition to entrust her own medical decisions to breathing, the reality is that the nursing administrative support of the family continues to make decisions for her. Their ability to decouple their own feelings and suffering from those surrounding Kate is badly compromised. Now, instead of just facing the overwhelming tasks of tending to their selflessly heroic biotechnology-dependent child, two similar beings are being asked to sacrifice and simultaneously bear the consequences thereof.
