Bioethics in Commercial Films

This bibliography has been prepared by information specialists at the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature, Kennedy Institute of Ethics. The films listed may be used in high school classrooms to introduce topics or to generate discussion about bioethics. No specific films are recommended. The individual teacher bears responsibility for reviewing each film to determine its appropriateness for his or her students, classroom, school setting, and community.

The following commercial films, drawn from Microsoft's Cinemania 97, deal - at least in part - with one or more bioethical issues. Please consult a movie reference work, such as Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide, for more information about the subject matter of each film, and for a quality rating. Inclusion on this list does not constitute an endorsement but simply suggests a possible topical aspect that might be used to stimulate discussion. (A second sequence of additional potential titles follows this list.)

If you have suggestions for additions to this list, please email hsbioethics@georgetown.edu. Thank you.

Within the entries, the information elements are displayed in the order indicated below.

Title, Date of Production, Country of Origin, Genre, Length in Minutes, Rating, Color, Format, Topic

Altered States (1980) US Science Fiction 102 Rated R Color Tape Disc (human experimentation)
Awakenings (1990) US Drama 121 Rated PG?13 Color Tape Disc (human experimentation with coma patients)
Best Boy (1979) US Documentary 111 No rating Color Tape Disc (mental retardation)
Big Business (1988) US Comedy 97 Rated PG Color Tape Disc (twins reared apart)
Bill (1981) US 100 No rating Color Tape
Born on the Fourth of July (1989) US War/Drama/Biography 144 Rated R Color Tape Disc (Viet Nam vet coping with paralysis from war injuries)
Boys From Brazil, The (1978) US Thriller 123 Rated R Color Tape Disc (cloning)
Cocoon (1985) US Science Fiction/Comedy 117 Rated PG-13 Color Tape Disc (aging)
Coma (1978) US Thriller 113 Rated PG Color Tape Disc (organ transplantation)
Cure, The (1995) US Drama 99 Rated PG?13 Color Tape Disc (AIDS)
David and Lisa (1962) US Drama 94 No rating B&W Tape Disc (disturbed teenagers)
Doctor, The (1991) US Drama 125 Rated PG?13 Color Tape Disc (doctor as patient)
Donor (1990) US 100 No rating Color
Fear Strikes Out (1957) US Sports/Biography 100 No rating B&W Tape Disc (mental illness)
Frances (1982) US Biography 140 Rated R Color Tape Disc (mental illness)
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) US Drama 96 Rated R Color Tape (mental illness)
Iceman (1984) US Fantasy 99 Rated PG Color Tape Disc (Neanderthal/human experimentation)
Inherit the Wind (1960) US Drama 127 No rating B&W Tape Disc (evolution)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) US War/Historical 178 No rating B&W Tape Disc (human experimentation)
Junior (1994) US Comedy 110 Rated PG-13 Color Tape Disc (male pregnancy)
King of Hearts (1966) France?UK War/Drama/Comedy 102 No rating Color Tape Disc (institutionalization)
Larry (1974) US 78 No rating Color Tape
Lilith (1964) US Drama 114 No rating B&W Tape (therapist/boundary violation)
Lust for Life (1956) US Biography 122 No rating Color Tape Disc (mental illness)
M (1931) Germany Horror/Drama/Crime 99 No rating B&W Tape Disc (insanity defense)
Madhouse (1974) UK Horror 89 Rated PG Color Tape (mental illness)
Madness of King George, The (1994) UK?US Historical/Drama/Biography 107 No rating Color Tape Disc (mental illness)
Mania (1959) UK Horror 87 no rating B&W Tape (experimentation on corpses)
Metropolis (1926) Germany Fantasy/Drama 120 No rating B&W Tape Disc (futuristic, mechanized society)
Mr. Jones (1993) US Romance/Drama 114 R Color Tape Disc (psychiatry boundary violation)
My Body, My Child (1982) US 100 No rating Color (abortion, birth defects)
My Life (1993) US Drama 112 Rated PG?13 Color Tape Disc (terminal illness)
Nell (1994) US Romance/Drama 113 Rated PG?13 Color Tape Disc (research on child raised outside society)
Now, Voyager (1942) US Drama 117 No rating B&W Tape Disc (psychiatry)
Nuts (1987) US Drama 116 Rated R Color Tape Disc (insanity defense)
O Mice and Men (1939) US Drama 107 No rating B&W Tape (mental retardation)
On Golden Pond (1981) US Drama/Comedy 109 Rated PG Color Tape Disc (aging)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) US Drama 133 Rated R Color Tape Disc (institutionalization)
Ordinary People (1980) US Drama 123 Rated R Color Tape Disc (grief)
Outbreak (1995) US Thriller/Disaster 127 Rated R Color Tape Disc (contagious disease)
Plague Dogs, The (1982) US Drama 86 No rating Color Tape (animal experimentation)
President's Analyst, The (1967) US Spy/Comedy 104 No rating Color Tape Disc (satire)
Pressure Point (1962) US Drama 91 No rating B&W Tape (psychiatrist treats Nazi prisoner)
Prince of Tides, The (1991) US Romance/Drama 132 Rated R Color Tape Disc (psychiatry)
Private Worlds (1935) US Drama 84 No rating B&W (institutionalization)
Rain Man (1988) US Drama 140 Rated R Color Tape Disc (autism)
Rain Without Thunder (1992) US Drama 87 No rating Color Tape (abortion)
Regarding Henry (1991) US Drama 107 Rated PG-13 Color Tape Disc (recovery from brain injury)
Roe vs. Wade (1989) US 100 No rating Color Tape Disc (abortion)
Secret of NIMH, The (1982) US Children's/Animated 82 Rated G Color Tape Disc (animal experimentation?)
Snake Pit, The (1948) US Drama 108 No rating B&W Tape (institutionalization)
Soylent Green (1973) US Science Fiction/Mystery 100 Rated PG Color Tape Disc (overpopulation)
Spellbound (1945) US Thriller 111 No rating B&W Tape Disc (psychiatry)
Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951) US Drama 122 No rating B&W Tape Disc (mental illness?)
Terminal Man, The (1974) US Science Fiction 107 Rated PG Color Tape (computer takeover)
Three Faces of Eve, The (1957) US Drama 91 No rating B&W Tape Disc (mental illness)
Through a Glass, Darkly (1962) Sweden Drama 91 No rating B&W Tape (mental illness)
Whales of August, The (1987) US Drama 90 No rating Color Tape Disc (aging)
Woman's Tale, A (1991) Australia Drama 93 Rated PG 13 Color Tape Disc (dying)

Some Additional Titles to Consider:

1984 (futuristic society with no privacy)
All Quiet on the Western Front (morality of war)
And the Band Played On (AIDS)
Being John Malkovich (personhood)
Blade Runner (genetic engineering)
Brian's Song (cancer, terminal illness)
Charly (mental retardation)
Clockwork Orange (operant conditioning)
Critical Care (allowing to die)
Dying Young (death and dying)
Elephant Man (attitudes toward patients with deformities)
Fat Man and Little Boy (development of atomic bomb)
First, Do No Harm (alternative medicine; philosophy of medicine)
Frankenstein (human experimentation)
Gattaca (genetics)
Gorillas in the Mist (animal protection)
If These Walls Could Talk (abortion)
Island of Dr. Moreau (genetic engineering)
Jurassic Park (cloning)
Life is Beautiful (concentration camp)
Logan's Run (utopian society of the future)
Lorenzo's Oil (alternative medicine)
Losing Isaiah (drug-abusing mother; adoption)
Million Dollar Baby (assisted suicide)
Miss Evers' Boys (Tuskegee experiment)
My Left Foot (cerebral palsy)
Network (media ethics)
One True Thing (death and dying)
Philadelphia (AIDS)
Providence (recommended by course participant)
Rainmaker (lawsuit regarding health insurance for leukemia patient)
Tim (mental retardation)
Twilight of the Golds (prenatal genetic testing; sexuality)
What Dreams May Come (suicide)
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (right to die)

Compiled by Doris Goldstein, M.L.S., M.A.,
Director, Library & Information Services,
The National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature,
Kennedy Institute, Georgetown University on July 14, 2000; Updated July 12, 2005.

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