VIEWER COMMENTS FOR EPISODE # 1

"What an interesting, moving film! I had heard of the group Not Dead Yet as I began my research, but it's entirely different to hear the perspective of these disabled people directly from their mouths. When I first started my research, I thought the only "cons" I would find would be the more Christian right perspective that euthanasia is wrong b/c it doesn't show a respect for human life. But the more I look into it, the more I run across the perspective that minorities, women, the poor, and people with disabilities will suffer unfair treatment if euthanasia becomes legal. On the other hand, it seems that in Oregon, where it is legal, those who choose to go ahead with it are primarily white, college-educated, middle class Americans. So are those concerns valid?"
-- Researcher

" I just checked out the short film online. It gave me shivers. You have crafted the film quite beautifully as it captures (as your films seem to do so well) the experience of being marginalized. This was especially poignant on Sunset and Highland at the Academy Awards red carpet."
-- Filmmaker

"Terrific piece. Most people may 'think' that they would rather be dead and perhaps in the first phase of frustration and adjustment upon acquiring a disability a person might feel that way. If society communicates that message, if you are surrounded by pity and are viewed as a tragedy or burden by others, those beliefs will be internalized. We all have a moral obligation to support options for living, for each individual to have the opportunity to be a part of and to contribute to society as a whole. If no one helps to keep the focus on how to live, the focus will become how to die.

Options for independent living are key. My concern is that options usually cost someone money so the most inexpensive option gets funded--the most cost effective option is physician assisted suicide. That's the slippery slope and it isn't worth the risk."

Melinda C. Morrissey
Project Director
Arts for Learning/Chicago
Chicago Teachers' Center
Northeastern Illinois University

Dear Viewers,

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