Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A Cinematographic Approach to the Death that Hurts the Most

The aim of this article is to present two different ways in which bioethical issues, like euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, can be analyzed. On the one hand, vignettes and case studies serve to reflect upon the moral and normative codes that health and legal practitioners abide by nowadays. In this way, we present a vignette concerning the death of French psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan, and a case study featured in UNESCO’s Casebook on Informed Consent. However, little does this approach tell us about the singularity of the actors involved in those stories and their subjective responsibility in the end-of-life decisions they make. Thus, we propose that films are an excellent tool for gaining a better understanding on those aspects, which supplement the moral and legal discussions that have long revolved around euthanasia. Regarding this second approach, we analyze the films You Don’t Know Jack, The Sea Inside, and Wit.