“Million Dollar Baby”–– “Rocky” In a Bra. . . or Right to Self Determination?
Debbie Blanchard, LCSW
Irecently had the rare opportunity to spend a quiet evening at home with just the “velcro cats” and a good book. It happened that it was the same evening as the broadcast of the 77th Annual Academy Awards. Award shows are not exactly my “cup of tea”—particularly since I rarely go to the movies because of the placement of wheelchair seating (but that’s another article, entirely). I was, however, interested to see how “Million Dollar Baby” fared amid all of the recent controversy.
If you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend it. I must admit, I went out of sheer curiosity––so I could write this article with some shred of credibility. I had been reading about the hoopla because it had, somehow, wound up on a couple of the listservs to which I subscribe. Also, it seems that anytime my friends, acquaintances, and co-workers read anything controversial about a movie, they send it to me. So, by the time I made it to the movie, I was ready to see what this stuff was all about.
Warning: If you have not seen this movie and do not want to know how it ends, read no further.
I just can’t help it. I cannot write this article without talking about the end of the movie. I did not know what I was expecting and did not anticipate enjoying it. I figured I’d leave there as mad as a wet hen and wondering why, in the name of all that is good and holy, I had wasted my hard earned money. Was I ever surprised! Although I found the ending terribly depressing, I loved it.
The movie is about relationships and our God-given right to self-determination. It centers on Maggie Fitzgerald, who Ragged Edge Online described as a “too old (31—pretty young as far as I’m concerned) and enthusiastic ‘hillbilly.’” In the film she has the “unmitigated gall” to approach Frankie (played by Clint Eastwood) who trains aspiring boxers. Frankie quickly informs Maggie that he “doesn’t train girls.” Nonetheless, he eventually comes around to Maggie’s way of thinking and ends up training and managing her boxing career. Frankie and Maggie—as well as “Scrap” (played by Morgan Freeman)—soon forge a relationship that can only be described as a surrogate family.
To make a long story short, Maggie finally gets her chance at the big fight. It appears that she is winning, but she makes the fatal mistake of turning her back on her opponent. The other boxer gets in a last minute blow, knocking Maggie to the floor. She hits her head on her corner stool and snaps her neck, rendering her a complete C1-C2 quadriplegic. During the course of treatment, Maggie does not fare very well. She eventually winds up in a rehab facility—which looks more like a nursing home to me. She develops pressure sores—one so severe that it causes her leg to be amputated. During this time, her only source of emotional support is Frankie. Certainly, her family is not there for her. We are given limited insight into the family dynamics when Maggie and Frankie visit them, listening as the family did nothing but ridicule Maggie. They even complained about the house she had bought for them, saying that they would rather have had the cash. So, is anyone surprised when Maggie decides she doesn’t want to “live like this?”
Now, this is the good part––this is where the controversy begins. A lot of folks in the disability community have been up in arms over this movie saying that the underlying theme is that people with disabilities have no quality of life and, therefore, no reason to live. As evidence of this, they cite Clint Eastwood’s attempt to dilute the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) in 2000 by testifying before Congress in an attempt to have a bill passed requiring that notice be given to a business owner prior to the filing of a suit under the ADA. In my opinion, equating Eastwood’s failed attempt to have such legislation enacted with the movie is like comparing apples and oranges. The two just don’t compare. I do not think he is, as some have accused, continuing his vendetta (National Spinal Cord Injury Association Online, February 9, 2005: “Eastwood Continues Disability Vendetta With “Million Dollar Baby”). I truly do not see this as an attack on life after spinal cord injury (SCI).
Much has been said in the media about the setting of the movie (the 90s) and the fact that there are resources available so that people with SCI can lead productive lives. This is true if you have the means to acquire the things you need. But for a person who is poor, unemployed, uneducated, uninsured, who has no support system (and, I’m sorry, but it takes more than somebody like Frankie—who has his own troubled past to deal with), life just might not be your proverbial “bowl of cherries.” All Maggie has ever known is how to do physical work and to fight (if you will pardon the pun) for everything she has ever received. She has no idea how to go about getting her needs met as a person with SCI— much less how to have any quality of life without the resources that have gotten her to where she was prior to her injury. So, she makes her choices accordingly.
I guess what made me so terribly sad about this movie is that today—in modern day America—we still have patients who feel as hopeless and helpless as Maggie, despite the great strides made in disability awareness. I have witnessed some of this firsthand in my 10 years of working in outpatient rehabilitation at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. Because we are such an institutionally-based society, we still do not have the infrastructure in many states to help people in community-based settings, forcing many to make choices that they might not make if all things were equal. Nonetheless, these days it is not unusual for us to see at least one person with a disability during the course of our day (not counting the ones we see at work). But many of the folks with disabilities that we run into on a daily basis are like me. They are well educated, employed, live independently, and enjoy a wonderful quality of life. And they have an unbelievable support system. I, for one, could not survive if all of these things were not in place for me––and I do count the “velcro cats” as part of that support system. Even with all of the advantages that many of us with SCI have, life is not always easy. What a shame that in 21st century America, the most powerful nation in the world, people like Maggie feel so hopeless that they choose death over life with a disability.
Debbie Blanchard, LCSW, is the state social work consultant for Children’s Special Health Services, the Title V program in Louisiana for Children with Special Health Care Needs.