Copy of [Template] HRE4M-John Q Film Reflection
.pdfSchool
University of Notre Dame **We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
RELIGION CHRISTIAN
Subject
Health Science
Date
Apr 29, 2024
Pages
3
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John Q
Synopsis:
John Q. Archibald is an ordinary man who works at a factory
and takes care of his family. His wife Denise and young son
Michael are his world. But when Michael falls seriously ill and
needs an emergency heart transplant operation that John Q.
can't afford and his health insurance won't cover, he vows to
do whatever it will take to keep his son alive. With time and
options running out, a desperate gamble becomes his only
hope--he takes the emergency room hostage. As John Q.
barricades himself inside the hospital along with his unwitting
group of emergency room hostages, many of them in need of
medical care themselves, he faces off with a veteran police hostage negotiator and a
quick-tempered police chief who both want to bring a swift end to the stand-off.
Reference: Hollywood.com
Movie Reflection Questions
/7 Knowledge/Understanding
1.
Indicate the circumstances that played a role in John Q's struggle to help his son.
Make specific reference to events in the film.
Natural or Genetic Factors
1) Michael's heart condition:
The primary factor that influenced John Q was his love
for his son. This is a natural factor, as he was a parent, meaning he was naturally
driven to want the best outcome for his son.
2) John's financial limitations:
Another natural factor that played a role in the film was
John's son's condition. Although it seemed at first that it was a random heart defect, it
was later indicated that the heart problem had been undetected for a long time.
Social Factors
1) Healthcare system failure:
The main social factor that influenced John's actions
was the healthcare system. John's insurance was reduced to only cover a few
emergencies without John knowing, and he was therefore uninsured. He would have
had to pay a large sum of money which very few people have for life saving surgery.
Though he looked for peaceful methods, he was turned away for bureaucratic
reasons, such as filing paperwork under the wrong category. Moreover, it was later
indicated that several tests had not been run on John's son due to insurance policies,
and had those tests been run, John's son might have known
about the heart problem earlier.
2) Economic disparities:
Another social factor that influenced John's struggle to save
his son was the people around him. John had a lot of empathy toward the other
hostages, which influenced how he handled the hostage situation. He treated all the
hostages with some amount of respect, and allowed the pregnant woman, her
husband, and the other woman with the baby to leave unharmed when he realized
their situations. He also revealed that he had only brought an unloaded gun with him
towards the end of the film, showing that he had never truly intended to hurt others.
His empathy influenced how he went about saving his son.
2)
Conceptual Framework of Action
Police Chief Monroe has good
intentions
; he wants to help the hostages. However,
Catholic ethics informs us that our intentions as well as our
motives
must be good.
What evidence is there that Chief Monroe's motives are evil?
State his
motive
:
What
vice
is the root of this motive:
●
Several times in the film, Chief Monroe indicated that his actions were influenced
by his reputation. He revealed to the older officer that he needed to kill John Q
because there was an election coming up, and that he would look bad if he let
anyone the public perceived as innocent die. Later on, he also told the other
officers not to try anything because of how many cameras there were. He was
only interested in helping the hostages to make himself look good and gain
positive publicity.
3) Rebecca Pain is the hospital administrator. What evidence is there that her
conscience is lax?
●
Rebecca Pain showed several times that she cared more about bureaucracy
than helping John Q, or other underprivileged families. She ignored John's
attempts to find a way to pay because he had filed his appeal under a different
name. She also chose to lie to John's wife and say her son was on the transplant
list, just to make John leave the hospital. In doing so, she took advantage of
someone's grief to get what she wanted.
4) What kind of conscience does Mitch have and why? (He is the abusive boyfriend)
●
Mitch is an example of a wrongly formed conscience. He showed no guilt over
beating his girlfriend for lying about it to others. This shows that he did not think
of abuse as wrong. He also expected his girlfriend to take his side and give him
the gun even after everything he did to her, which indicates that he thought the
relationship between them was normal, and that she would be on his side
regardless of what he did.
5) What kind of guilt does Dr. Turner demonstrates when he tells John Q that he has
done everything he can to help Mike Archibald to get a heart?
●
Dr. Turner showed too little guilt. He was the one who recommended that John's
son be discharged, and also refused to help John's son, despite his oath to help
others. He showed no guilt when the other medical professionals talked about
how they could not save uninsured patients due to insurance policies, and even
got defensive at them for being upset. Overall, for the majority of the film, he
showed very little guilt for his actions, and only began to show empathy after
John offered up his own heart.
6) Give four character traits that describe the hostage negotiator, Grimes, in the space
provided below. Use your chart on vices, virtues and values if you wish.
●
Empathetic: Grimes shows empathy toward John Q's situation and tries to
understand his perspective.
●
Calm: He remains composed even in high-pressure situations, demonstrating
professionalism.
●
Tactful: Grimes uses careful words and approaches to de-escalate the situation.
●
Fair: He aims to resolve the crisis peacefully and without unnecessary force.
7)
Your Conclusion:
Based on the circumstances, do you think John Q was justified to take
hostages, make death threats, demand to have his son put on the recipient list, and attempt
suicide?
(
/3 Communication
(Justification stated with reasons and support from the film; ideas
are written clearly using correct spelling, grammar, etc.
)
●
I don't think taking hostages or making death threats is right. However, John Q was in an
impossible situation, and he had exhausted all his options. If he had had access to any
form of assistance, he might never have been driven to committing all those actions. He
also showed that his intentions were never truly evil, because he did not have any
bullets in his gun; he only wanted to scare others, and he never intended to cause
anyone hurt. Because of that, I believe that his actions are justifiable, even if they are
wrong.
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