Flatliners: A scientific and moral approach to death
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| Official Poster |
This week on death, is a review of one of the
most recent movies on the concept of death and what lies after: Flatliners.
The movie, released on October 19, 2017, is a story of a group of doctors,
attempting to study brain activity at the time of, and after death.
Following the idea of Dr. Courtney (played by Ellen
Page), each of the doctors, one by one, put themselves in a state of death, for
varying minutes of time. An experiment, meant to analyze synaptic reactions
exactly at the time of death, turns into a thrilling activity with outcomes
like academic superiority, exemplary memory, skill development and high
intuitive abilities. Seeing successful reactions in some of the doctors, the
other doctors set out to partake in the experiment as well, competing to ‘stay
dead’ longer than the others, hoping for better results.
As four of the five doctors go through the
process, the side effects start to surface. They call the process ‘flatlining’,
based on the heart rate monitor going blank at the time of death. As these ‘flatliners’
enjoy the benefits of their experience, they are faced with the remorse of
their past sins. (Karma, anyone?) They begin to hallucinate the presence of
those they have wronged, and these visions threaten to take their lives.
In the midst of these situations, the doctors
realize that the only way to end these hallucinations (that claims the life of Dr.
Courtney), is to put their sins to rest. Each of them set out to rectify the errors
of their past, be it by finding the person and apologizing, or by traveling
back to the land of dead and paying for their sins (it was as dramatic as it
sounds). At the end, the story of scientific discovery ends in a tale of
morality, that reminds you that nothing hurts more than remorse, and to
apologize and repent is the only balm to the aches of our sins.
The movie was a fascinating take on
the concept of death, approaching it from both, a scientific and moral point of
view - definitely recommend it.
Don’t forget to apologize to those
you have wronged, or their ghosts would haunt you. Better so, wrong no one!
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