LS Film Essay

All Work and No Play?
The home lives of doctors in films Laura Sparks

There are many stereotypes implicated in societal perceptions of doctors. Some common examples portrayed in films and the media include the masculine, arrogant surgeon (Carpenter, 1995), and the dedicated researcher looking to cure a dreadful disease, for example Dr Frederick Steele in Dark Victory (1939). However, these stereotypical behaviours do not necessarily extend into the private lives of doctors. Differences between filmic representations of both of these character types will be discussed in this essay. Two scenes from The Doctor (1991) and Awakenings (1990) portray the private home lives of the characters Dr Jack MacKee and Dr Malcolm Sayer, respectively. Both scenes come after we have been introduced to the characters in their work environments. Jack MacKee in The Doctor is a surgeon who, at the beginning of the film, is seen to be very confident and highly-regarded in the hospital where he works. At times, this confidence crosses the line into arrogance. Essentially, he fits the main criteria of a surgeon as described by Posen in a series of papers about the portrayal of fictional doctors (Posen, 1996). However, we see a different side to MacKee when he returns home to his wife, Anne, after being told he has a ‘laryngeal growth’. She greets him with a surprised-sounding, ‘Hi!’ He returns the greeting, sounding equally surprised. This instantly creates the impression that perhaps they haven’t seen each other in a long time – they don’t appear to be as familiar with one another as we would expect a husband and wife to be. They exchange very few words, mostly about his job, and they remain in separate rooms throughout the entire scene, which emphasises the sense of distance between them. Neither of them appears to be particularly excited at the prospect of a (seemingly rare) ‘evening together’. This correlates with another observation by Posen that ‘the fictional physician is rarely a happily married man’ (Posen, 1992).

We are also made aware of the distance between MacKee and his family when Anne calls their son, Nicky, to ‘say hi to your Dad.’ Nicky goes to the phone, expecting his father to be on the other end of the line, then appears surprised and excited when he sees his father in person. This suggests that his father doesn’t spend a lot of time at home, a point further emphasised by Anne’s quip – ‘Special live appearance!’

The emotional distance between MacKee and his wife is represented by their physical positioning throughout the scene. When Anne first greets her husband, he has his back to her. Anne is seen through a large hole in the kitchen wall, which places a large physical barrier between them. Even when she moves closer to the hole to speak to MacKee, the grid of beams inside the wall could be seen to represent a harsh division between them. The delay in their kitchen renovation might reflect the delay in MacKee going to see a doctor about his cough. MacKee doesn’t stop to talk for long; he quickly walks away into the lounge area, again turning his back towards Anne while he is replying to her question. They are now so physically far apart that they have to raise their voices to speak to one another. The situation is similar for the interaction with his son. We see Nicky answering the phone from MacKee’s point of view. A number of obstacles are placed between them, including: a lamp, some flower pots, and the banister of the staircase. Similarly to the interaction with Anne, this seems to depict a vast emotional space between them. Nicky and MacKee have to shout to hear each other, which is a further representation of this distance. While Nicky is seen in the background of the shot, Anne steps into the foreground, between MacKee and their son. This suggests that MacKee might be even less connected with his son than he is with his wife.

Most of the shots in the scene are

Show More

Related Documents: LS Film Essay

Jazz: Jazz and Music Essay