ABSTRACT
In the Spanish film, Mar Adentro (The Sea Inside; Amenábar 2004), protagonist Ramón Sampedro (Javier Bardem) petitions his nation’s courts for the right to die. He argues that, because he is paralyzed from the neck down, he does not enjoy the “choice” of death available to able-bodied citizens. I open with this scene because the film’s depiction of Ramón as a noble hero fighting against church-infused bureaucracy calls out for sustained critique. The shot of Ramón arriving at the court steps is a complexly telling one. Contrasting the scene inside the building—where Ramón’s lawyer eloquently argues for the right of someone like Ramón Sampedro, “who deems his condition as degrading,” to take his own life—the scene outside serves as a tribute to euthanasia. As Ramón approaches the building, reporters surround him and the camera pans to the crush of demonstrators, which consists entirely of able-bodied people, many holding signs that demand “Decriminalize Euthanasia Now.” As the reporters lionize Ramón by giving him a public forum, the backdrop re-establishes what Ramón’s petition is actually about: not, as the film (and Ramón) constantly reiterate, the right of an individual to kill himself—for not once does Ramón challenge Spain’s actual suicide laws—but, rather, for the right to assisted suicide. The challenge, then, is for the courts not to prosecute friends and family members who assist in the death of a (usually disabled) friend or family member.
