Although it's true that the passage of time isn't clearly defined in words, there are shots of the foliage outside the hospital that indicate that Maggie arrived from Las Vegas in the summer and died when there was no foliage on the trees.
The presence of foliage could indicate mid to late spring as well as summer, even early spring if the winter was mild enough. Same thing on the other end. Late fall or early winter.
Also, Clint Eastwood's character is wearing a light jacket when she dies, which means that it was not very cold outside (so it probably was not winter).
A light jacket would indicate that it’s not very cold outside or that they were in a place where the weather doesn’t change much from season to season.
They're in a location where there is a major theme park, since that is apparently where Maggie's family spent 6 days before coming to visit her. I forget whether Clint said Disney World or Disney land or even Universal Studios. But given that it was only a 6 hour ambulance drive from Vegas, I'm going to assume the rehab center was in California rather than Florida which would have been a longer drive. So why would he not wear a light jacket in winter? I hear California weather is mild year round.
This would put the elapsed time at somewhere around six months.
Fair enough. Six months is still not "immediately", which was the word you previously used.
BTW. A bedsore can develop in a matter of days and if it becomes infected can result in amputation within a matter of weeks.
Yes, I'm aware of this. But in the movie, there was a point where Freeman's voice over specifically mentioned she developed bedsores and the film showed them. The next few scenes were of other events. Then they showed the scene where the doctor mentioned that she may need to lose her leg. I assumed this was meant to indicate the passage of time. Perhaps even an amount of time to indicate that antibiotics were no longer working to treat the bed sores.
I thought that from the very beginning of the movie, it was clear that Maggie knew exactly what kind of person her mother was.
Which is why I specifically used the word "acknowledged". Knowing something and fully acknowledging it to oneself are not the same thing, especially when it comes to feelings and the people care about, notably parents.
I didn't get the impression that she was trying to earn her mother's love.
Then why would she live in a dump and save all her money to buy a house she herself would never live in? Why let her mother go on and on about the welfare and then at the end force the keys in her hand anyway? It's not like her mother was living on the street and needed a roof over her head.
If, in that exchange, you couldn’t see Maggie was seeking some sort of acknowledgement and approval from her mother, then I can’t explain it to you.
Herein lies my biggest problem with this movie. It does not reflect "real life".
Fair enough. But often it’s the goal of entertainment (film, tv, fictional literature and even some video games) to appear realistic. Realistic enough so that viewer can identify with the characters and situations not reflect actual real life.
The movie was not about coming back serious injury. So there was no point for it to show the services and technologies available to the disabled. Just as someone else previously pointed out, it didn't show Maggie dating or shopping or doing the many other things that people do in "real life."
However, as you yourself pointed out, "in RARE instances, injured athletes have attempted or committed suicide."
Let’s be clear. I never used the word “rare.” What I said was that it may not be common, but it wasn’t a one in a million occurrence either. And only one of the three citations used "rare". And it was the one from the NY Times. The other two were from publications catering to sports injury and/or athletes specifically, neither of which used "rare". Both indicated that it was at least a fairly common thought of those who have been injured.
In any event, I included that specifically in response to your intimation that it would almost never occur.
This movie went to great lengths to give the viewer the misguided impression that suicide was the logical conclusion to the life of a paralyzed professional athlete.
I’m sorry. How did it show suicide as a “logical” conclusion? I think any rational human being recognizes that that suicide is not “logical” choice. And I doubt that many viewers would see Maggie’s choice as one that would be chosen by all or even most people, athlete or not.
This was Maggie’s story. I doubt many see it as being a story representative of athletes in general. For instance, as pointed out earlier, Maggie started training in her 30s. That’s nowhere near the timeline of the vast majority of professional athletes.
“If they let Jack do it his way the show would be just 12” –
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