Many of the greatest romantic stories revolve around two people who would make any sacrifice, rational or irrational, to be together. Even in the earliest of love stories such as Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," we seen two lovers who stick side by side until death do them part. Literally.
Hollywood, however, has decided to have a different take on classic romance, making this journey of love more one-sided. It's no longer a selfless you before me, but a selfish "Me Before You" not-so fairytale ending with a larger than life underlying moral dilemma.
Euthanasia.
Directed by Thea Sharrock and based on the novel by Jojo Moyes, "Me Before You" stars Emilia Clarke as Louisa (Lou) Clark - a woman who accepts a job as caregiver for a young, quadriplegic man Will Traynor (Sam Claflin). He becomes disabled after a motorcycle accident, where he was simply an innocent pedestrian trying to cross the street. Lou is hired by Will's mother to assist him not solely in his day-to-day care, but to help him choose life over death.
Categorized as a romantic comedy, the film depicts Lou and Will falling in love and ends with Will choosing to commit suicide over living his life after his accident, despite many attempts Lou made to change his mind with a fun-inspired bucket list. All of this is bottled up with an expiration date in six months.
Essentially, the girl is on suicide watch.
In the end, Will does choose suicide, and everyone, but Lou, comes to terms with accepting that it is his choice and it should be accepted. Nathan, Will's nurse, states, "I can't judge him for what he wants to do. It's his choice. It should be his choice." Regretfully, Lou, finally, agrees that she must be there for him on his death bed, and says, "I trust Will to know what is right for him."
Will is convinced that death is best for not only himself, but for everyone else in his life - including Lou. He doesn't want to limit her potential by his hospital appointments and restricted mobility. He says that he could not love her the way he wanted to, and that being "the old me" is the only way he could be happy - that the adventurous, spontaneous, fully-functioning human life he lived before his accident is the only life worth living.
And that is where Will is incredibly wrong.
Some disability activists and film reviewers harshly criticized the plot, while one deemed it a classic, charming romantic British blast from the past. Some are even boycotting it, deeming it offensive to disabled people, since it portrays the idea that the disabled life is not worth living. Some disabled activists have taken the film's coined phrase #LiveBoldly and redefined it towards their fight against physician-assisted suicide.
Although viewers get carried away with being distracted by the romantic, British wit and charm of the tale of two lovebirds, the movie's underlying theme of whether physician-assisted suicide is morally right or wrong is the true debate at hand. This is not only in the witty British setting, but in reality.
California legalized euthanasia and it took into effect on June 9, 2016. Now adding The Golden State to the list, there are currently five states where euthanasia is legal for terminally ill and mentally competent adults including Washington, Vermont, Montana and Oregon - the first to pass this law. Canada's prime minister recently debated over and passed legislation to make physician-assisted suicide legal in his nation as well.
According to Not Dead Yet activist Ellen Clifford, "The message of the film is that disability is tragedy and disabled people are better off dead . . . It comes from a dominant narrative carried by society and the mainstream media that says it is a terrible thing to be disabled." Not Dead Yet is an organization that campaigns against euthanasia.
Not Dead Yet continues by stating, "When someone is despairing so much that they can’t see they can choose their attitude, it’s the job of people who care to help them see this, not to feed into despair. As one palliative care website says for why they don’t allow or encourage assisted suicide, 'In our experience, the issue of physician-assisted suicide often arises as a response to a complex set of problems which we help people sort through and address.' If only Louisa et al had helped Will sort through and address his problems."
Moyes responded to the negative attacks with, "We were very careful with how we wanted to present things. And we are showing a situation, we are not showing an opinion.”
Some argue in favor of the idea of choice, especially in the modern generation. Dying with dignity and living life to the fullest define today's era. It doesn't matter if the problem is marriage equality, abortion rights, gender identity, or euthanasia, the decision is ours to make. It's all about personal choice and how we should 'respect it.'
But that is not the point here.
Will is obsessed with control. He believed he needed to end his life, because it was the final thing he had control over, however, what he was too stubborn to realize was that he could have changed his outlook on life. He could have been happy, if only he tried. He wasn't in this alone, and that is what Lou tried so hard to prove to him. To be more than just a nurse, but a companion - a friend.
"Me Before You" defines physician-assisted suicide as a loving and courageous act, when certainly, it is not. Issues like euthanasia are not all about the choices and decisions of the individual when they are effecting everyone around the person as well. Living with serious, physical ailments is more challenging than ending the fight because it is deemed 'not fit.' Will lacks the will to live, and no one could change his mind, but that doesn't mean everyone surrounding him - Lou, his family, his friends - need to accept that as he reject his life.
The author is wrong. This idea of "me before you" is selfish, and we should just not all accept it. All life is worth living, even if you are blinded by it yourself. It's not simply a personal choice effecting you, but the ones you love, too. And that is why it is "you before me."
Will pushed Lou to see the potential she had inside of herself that she neglected to acknowledge or accept. She wanted to be locked in her small town forever. Will said, "Promise me you won't spend the rest of your life stuck around this bloody parody of a place mat." Will, who is stuck in a wheelchair, tells her, "You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible."
And is the disabled life not worth living to its full potential?
Lou showed Will a whole new world that he was capable of living fully and happily, despite his physical disability, but he chose to close himself off to the option completely. In a way the two were both "stuck" somewhere they did not necessarily desire to be. Lou tried to get Will "unstuck" from his wheelchair by showing him that life is worth living; that quadriplegics can live life boldly in their own ways. Will felt he could only get Lou "unstuck" from her small neighborhood by going through with his suicide and leaving her a small fortune to educate herself and open new doors for her.
He didn't have to end his life to do this.
Written in a letter by Will for Lou to read after his suicide, he tells her, "Push yourself. Don't settle. Just live." Perhaps Will Traynor should have followed a bit of his own advice before giving up the gun so quickly.
