I teach an undergraduate course in Child Development. During the course we look at children's moral development and particularly focus on the work of Kohlberg and his 'Heinz' dilemma. The dilemma concerns a man whose wife is ill and needs a particular drug to survive. The chemist who makes the drug is asking a price that Heinz cannot afford and so he breaks into the chemist's shop and steals the drug. Kohlberg determined children's level of moral development from the kind of answers they give to the question, "Was Heinz wrong to steal the drug." The youngest children usually say yes he was wrong - stealing is always wrong. As they get older they bring more factors into the equation and will often say that he was not wrong because human life is more important.
At the heart of the movie 'John Q' is a very similar moral dilemma presented in a thoughtful and sympathetic way. I give this move 8/10 for its treatment of an issue that is well worth thinking about.
BTW, on a 'Health and Community Psychology' course I also teach, most students see the US American health system as too deeply flawed to be a model other countries should adopt. The reasons why are also well set out in this movie.
At the heart of the movie 'John Q' is a very similar moral dilemma presented in a thoughtful and sympathetic way. I give this move 8/10 for its treatment of an issue that is well worth thinking about.
BTW, on a 'Health and Community Psychology' course I also teach, most students see the US American health system as too deeply flawed to be a model other countries should adopt. The reasons why are also well set out in this movie.