Before I became an avid moviegoer, I was an avid reader first (and still is). My collection of books can fill up I think 3 bookshelves already. And most of these books are not textbooks nor merely for references, they are all for pleasure reading. Or in my case, for travel. There is nothing more easier and most convenient way to travel than to read books. And it does not hurt that your vocabulary range widens.
My most recent reading was Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. It was a book given by my brother just because. Having read Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, I was pretty sure that My Sister’s Keeper will pretty much “shock” me the way Nineteen Minutes did and left me a little cold. I knew I was bound for some unexpected story twists.
My Sister’s Keeper is a story of a family dealing with Leukemia (APL, a rare kind). Kate, the Fitzgerald couple’s oldest daughter was diagnosed with this type of cancer when she was 2 years old. And since then, they’re quest to keep their daughter alive never ceased – even considered having a third child through IVF. Making the third child a genetic match for Kate.
That was how Anna, the third child, came into this world. She was genetically engineered and was conceived through IVF. From that very moment she was delivered off her mom’s womb, her cord blood was used to donate for Kate. And then next was her blood, bone marrow and soon, she had to donate one of her kidneys since those of Kate’s kind of slows down.
This is where she tried to draw the line. She refused to have one of her kidneys be taken out of her body and filed a case against her parents for the right of her own body. That she be given the right to make her own medical decisions about how her body can be used.
Reading the book made me tinge and root for Anna, empathized with how her older brother, Jesse was suffering certain neglect and felt how difficult it must be for Kate to see how her disease has been "killing" her family. But then as I read along, I started to understand where Sarah and Brian Fitzgerald (their parents) are coming from, especially Sarah, their mother – who wears this invisible armor suit. One cannot simply ever deny how mothers can become someone mightier than any man on this planet.
I cried so much just by reading the book! So much that my eyes were really groggy for 2 days, I think. This one is a really, really good book.*wink
My most recent reading was Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. It was a book given by my brother just because. Having read Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, I was pretty sure that My Sister’s Keeper will pretty much “shock” me the way Nineteen Minutes did and left me a little cold. I knew I was bound for some unexpected story twists.
My Sister’s Keeper is a story of a family dealing with Leukemia (APL, a rare kind). Kate, the Fitzgerald couple’s oldest daughter was diagnosed with this type of cancer when she was 2 years old. And since then, they’re quest to keep their daughter alive never ceased – even considered having a third child through IVF. Making the third child a genetic match for Kate.
That was how Anna, the third child, came into this world. She was genetically engineered and was conceived through IVF. From that very moment she was delivered off her mom’s womb, her cord blood was used to donate for Kate. And then next was her blood, bone marrow and soon, she had to donate one of her kidneys since those of Kate’s kind of slows down.
This is where she tried to draw the line. She refused to have one of her kidneys be taken out of her body and filed a case against her parents for the right of her own body. That she be given the right to make her own medical decisions about how her body can be used.
Reading the book made me tinge and root for Anna, empathized with how her older brother, Jesse was suffering certain neglect and felt how difficult it must be for Kate to see how her disease has been "killing" her family. But then as I read along, I started to understand where Sarah and Brian Fitzgerald (their parents) are coming from, especially Sarah, their mother – who wears this invisible armor suit. One cannot simply ever deny how mothers can become someone mightier than any man on this planet.
I cried so much just by reading the book! So much that my eyes were really groggy for 2 days, I think. This one is a really, really good book.*wink
So, imagine how excited I was to watch the movie adaptation. And when I did, I was a little disappointed. There are just some things that did not match with the book - especially the ending (which I will dare not reveal here).
Despite all of those “flaws”, there were still moments that made me go “awww”. Like that when Brian (Dad) brought Anna to the fire station to temporarily move her away from their Mom while their case is being tried. That moment when Brian was looking at her little girl play with the other fire fighters - that was some magical moment for me.
Also, when Kate was all dressed up for this supposedly prom night for the cancer stricken patients – amidst all the chaos of having her pictures taken, she glanced to her Dad, drew close to him and asked, “Do I look pretty, Daddy?” WOW. That was really a tearjerker moment. In the book, Brian was speechless and was really crying alone. He did not expect that he would ever see her first daughter all dressed up for a prom. Well, almost nobody in that family and Kate's oncologist expected Kate would live long enough to be able to attend a prom – even if it was just some sort of a dance night at the hospital for cancer stricken patients.
Yeah, yeah – My Sister’s Keeper is what my friend Jerome calls a movie downer, because it is but despite having to shed (maybe) buckets of tears, it is impossible not to pick up a lesson or two here.
To me, it is that you don’t take anyone for granted. EVER.
So, if you're up for a good cry - catch this movie. But don't ever tell me I didn't warn you about how this'll make you cry, ok?
