I didn't care much about the artistic merits (or lack thereof) of the movie as my first reaction after watching it was pure outrage; outrage for seeing something very serious and delicate like people's health, the suffering of patients and of their families displayed with the sole purpose of self celebration.
The climax of the movie is the end of the operation for separating two siamese twins, the first of its kind not ending with the immediate death of the patients; this is presented as an absolute personal triumph, among smiles, tears of joy and the eternal gratitude of the parents to the semi-god Dr Ben Carson.
Undoubtedly the operation was of unprecedented difficulty and the fact of taking it up was a sheer act of bravery; and it goes without saying that blaming the surgical team for a possible bad result of such an operation would be unfair.
BUT, what the movie chooses not to show, or even just mention in the post credits, is the aftermath of such operation: one of the twins remained in a vegetative state following the surgery, he never came out of his coma and died a few years later. The other twin recovered to a certain extent but he never learned to speak or feed himself, but he does enjoy visitors, and being taken for walks. The twins' father was emotionally unable to ever handle them, or share in their care, he became an alcoholic, spent all the couple's funds, and left their mother destitute and alone. She was forced to institutionalize them and a few years later she described her sense of guilt for agreeing to the operation that ruined the boys' prospect of ever having any quality of life.
This is the reality, but reality would have hindered the display of personal triumph of Dr Ben Carson, so it was pushed under the carpet.
Make no mistake, the medical skills of Dr Carson are out of discussion and his scientific merits cannot be denied. What I found outrageous is the fact that Dr Carson uses this occasion to brag about his successes (the movie of course is based on his own book), selecting only the part of reality which serves his purposes of self celebration.
The climax of the movie is the end of the operation for separating two siamese twins, the first of its kind not ending with the immediate death of the patients; this is presented as an absolute personal triumph, among smiles, tears of joy and the eternal gratitude of the parents to the semi-god Dr Ben Carson.
Undoubtedly the operation was of unprecedented difficulty and the fact of taking it up was a sheer act of bravery; and it goes without saying that blaming the surgical team for a possible bad result of such an operation would be unfair.
BUT, what the movie chooses not to show, or even just mention in the post credits, is the aftermath of such operation: one of the twins remained in a vegetative state following the surgery, he never came out of his coma and died a few years later. The other twin recovered to a certain extent but he never learned to speak or feed himself, but he does enjoy visitors, and being taken for walks. The twins' father was emotionally unable to ever handle them, or share in their care, he became an alcoholic, spent all the couple's funds, and left their mother destitute and alone. She was forced to institutionalize them and a few years later she described her sense of guilt for agreeing to the operation that ruined the boys' prospect of ever having any quality of life.
This is the reality, but reality would have hindered the display of personal triumph of Dr Ben Carson, so it was pushed under the carpet.
Make no mistake, the medical skills of Dr Carson are out of discussion and his scientific merits cannot be denied. What I found outrageous is the fact that Dr Carson uses this occasion to brag about his successes (the movie of course is based on his own book), selecting only the part of reality which serves his purposes of self celebration.