FILMS
‘My Sister’s Keeper’ misses teachable moment
Family’s lack of faith leads to lack of meaning
Reviewed by Rebecca Bostic | July 2, 2009 | The Catholic Sun
Death forces even the most skeptical person to reconsider the existence of God. This reality is one of the reasons “My Sister’s Keeper” (New Line) is so unconvincing.
The Fitzgerald family is dealing with the terminal illness of their second of three children. They aren’t believers and so the family members have an extremely difficult time accepting Kate’s condition. Without a shared faith in the Lord, the family shares a vague hope of possibly reuniting with one another and nature after death.
“My Sister’s Keeper” centers on Anna (played by Abigail Breslin), Kate’s sister. Her parents had doctors engineer Anna to be an exact genetic match to her sister. Their hope was that Anna could donate body parts and the like to Kate (played by Sofia Vassilieva).
Their mother, Sara (played by Cameron Diaz), is obsessed with fighting for her daughter Kate’s life and loses sight of the potential harm she may be causing her family.
When Kate needs a kidney from Anna, Anna decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body so that she will not have to undergo surgery once again. This decision deeply upsets their mother and the family spends the entire film trying to cope with it. Anna’s decision promises to end Kate’s battle with leukemia.
The story brings in potentially interesting family relationships, but poor acting and a weak script thwart the messy storyline. The film cuts back and forth between character perspectives, but feels choppy and confused.
That’s without mentioning the morally problematic issues the films raises. Beyond genetic engineering, there are also references to despair, suicide and a pre-marital sexual encounter. All of these elements are wound into a New Age, nature-focused sensibility that talks about being a piece of blue sky before and after life on earth.
With such beliefs, the battle for Kate’s life becomes all important and nearly destroys the family. They have nothing to believe in or hope for after Kate’s life, so they fight ardently to preserve it. While the premise of “My Sister’s Keeper” is certainly a moral quandary, the true lesson comes at a level that is far less complicated.
When death is viewed through the lens of Christian faith, it can be celebrated. “Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ ‘The saying is sure: if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him,’” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1010). People of faith anticipate an existence beyond Earth.
Instead of eternal salvation, the characters in “My Sister’s Keepers” find meaning only in earthly life. Since Kate is connected to nature, had a boyfriend, experienced pain and heartbreak, the film argues it is acceptable that her life ends. The family’s version of eternal life involves Kate reconnecting with family and friends as a piece of nature. Such beliefs make it harder to let loved ones go.
Catholic Christians accept the pain of loss, but also look with hope toward eternal life in heaven. But beyond that, as “My Sister’s Keeper” makes clear, faith not only helps Christians deal with death; faith gives Christians the meaning of their lives.
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Media critic Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.
