Million Dollar Baby is an American drama/sports movie that narrates how a 31 year old woman with an invincible passion to become a boxer seeks the help of the best boxing trainer. At first, the trainer is resistant to training the woman but gives in to her persistence over time. Through repeated practice, the lady masters the art of boxing, ultimately emerging one of the finest skillful fighters with a massive fan base. The movie was first released on 5 December 2004, and has so far won 64 awards. This paper reviews the ethical issues unraveled in the film and correlates them to emerging ethical trends in the nursing profession. Additionally, the paper defines the four ethical principles, and evaluates the film’s portrayal of ethical issues to current legal and ethical issues in the nursing profession. Key findings of this paper touching on the nursing profession include economic trends, evolving legal issues, ethical conflicts, and the role of nurses in complementary and alternative healing.
Summary of the Film
Frankie (Clint Eastwood), an old trainer, is abandoned with a prospective boxer, Big Willie, who he hoped to escalate to the title bout (Eastwood, 2005, 0:23:55). In the process, he meets Maggie (Hilary Swank), a 31 years old waitress so personate about perusing boxing but whom Frankie discourages and turns down severally. Eventually, Frankie gives in to Maggie’s persistence, which is reinforced by his janitor Mr. Scrap (Morgan Freeman), with whom he enjoys a good relationship (Eastwood, 2005, 0:34:32). Within a year, Maggie learns that ropes of boxing and begins making small wins in pro bouts (Eastwood, 2005, 0:45:40). Eighteen months later, Maggie is fighting for the WBA welterweight world’s title, and it is here the movie experiences a big tearful twist. She does not win the fight but instead gets punched from behind by her opponent. The punch sends her crumbling down a canvas and causes her paralysis from the neck down (Eastwood, 2005, 1:31:56). Seeing that there are no chances of recovery, Maggie loses the enthusiasm to live and asks Frankie to assist her to die, a request which Frankie fulfills (Eastwood, 2005, 2:02:50). Generally, Maggie ultimately achieves her dream of becoming a leading fighter, but at the expense of her life.
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Ethical Issues Identified in the Film
Gender Discrimination
When the movie begins, Frankie constantly turns down and discourages Maggie because of her gender. He tells her, “You are wasting your time. I told you I do not train girls” (Eastwood, 2005, 0:15:45). Gender discrimination at the workplace damages morale, results to lost productivity, and may cause a high employee turnover.
Breach of Contract
Big Willie backs out of an agreement they had with his manager to bout it to the title (Eastwood, 2005, 0:24:00). He made a change of a manager and opted to work with Mickey Mack just a few months before the fight. A breach of contract has several legal consequences which include compensation for damages resulting from a party’s failure to fulfil its contractual obligation.
Lack of Accountability and Consultation
Frankie tells Maggie that he can only take her in for training and be her manager if she does not question any of his instructions or decisions (Eastwood, 2005, 0:34:00). Questioning an authority’s decision is not only a moral responsibility but also a demarcating one. It helps keep management in check to avert the chances of making and implementing the wrong choices that could harm nurses and patients.
Breaking Code of Ethics
Frankie, who was not Maggie’s manager during her first boxing match, went ahead to give her insights on how to beat the opponent (Eastwood, 2005, 0:44:00). He used his prominent position to swap a boxer’s management in the middle of a match. Violation the code of ethics in a nursing context for instance, can result to non-compliance issues. Furthermore, when a patient is hurt in the process, a nurse can suffer termination or dismissal.
Bribery
In a bid to secure Maggie tournaments and opponent fighters, Frankie was forced to sometimes pay managers on the side, which amounts to an act of bribery (Eastwood, 2005, 0:51:10). Employees are likely to put less efforts in their work when they are aware the organizations they serve tolerates and practices bribery.
Negligence
Mr. Scrap’s manager negligence cost him one of his eyes. Instead of staying by the ringside while Mr. Scrap was fighting, the manager went drinking, leaving him at the mercies of his opponent and the referee (Eastwood, 2005, 1:01:01). Consequently, there was no one left with the authority of calling off the match, apart from the referee who was also complacent at his job. Negligence can result into deaths, personal injury, or damage caused to private property.
Maximizing Profits Unethically
Mickey Mack, whom Frankie refers to as a businessman, is portrayed as a person good at maximizing profits unethically through buying out boxers with the help of the latter’s closest ally, Mr. Scrap. He bought out Big Willie but did not succeed at buying out Maggie. Unethical behavior can result into loss of credibility, significant fines from regulatory authorities, and loss of jobs for individuals.
Conflict of Interest
Mr. Scrap goes behind his boss’ back and tries to facilitate the buying out of his best fighters (Eastwood, 2005, 1:03:25). He tries to facilitate Maggie’s buying out by Mickey Mack, which the latter declines. Conflict of interest can result into poor governance, failure to act in the best interest of a company, and reputation damage.
Definitions of the Four Ethical Principles with Relevant Examples from the Film
Autonomy
In Latin, autonomy refers to ‘self-rule.’ The principle states that one is obligated to esteem the decisions made by other persons concerning their lives, thereby not interfering with them in whatsoever way, while at the same time empowering them (Reis-Dennis, 2020). In the movie, Frankie ultimately respected Maggie’s decision to become a boxer and offered her the professional support required to attain success.
Non-Maleficence
According to the principles of non-maleficence, one has a duty not to harm others. Under unavoidable circumstances, the persons should minimize the harm caused by others or should not intensify the damage caused to another person (Koepsell, 2016). During Mr. Scrap’s 109th tournament, the referee did not call off the match despite noticing the former’s dilapidated condition, consequently causing him one eye.
Beneficence
The principle of beneficence states that one is obliged to manifest good in all actions hence must take positive steps to prevent harm. Notably, the principle of beneficence places one in direct conflict with that of autonomy (Koepsell, 2016). When Maggie consistently bit her tongue with the hope of bleeding to death, the doctors had to stop her by padding her tongue so that she could not bite it.
Justice
According to the principle of justice, one is obliged to give others whatever owed or rightly deserved. Thus, one is obliged to treat everyone equally, fairly, and impartially (Koepsell, 2016). Allowing The Blue Bear to participate in boxing tournaments put her competitors at risk. The fighter was unethical and did not follow the boxing guidelines.
A Comparison and Evaluation of the Film’s Portrayal of the Ethical Issues to Current Legal and Ethical Issues in the Practice of Professional Nursing
Economic Issues and Trends
The financing of healthcare services has shifted from a retrospective, fee-for-service payment mechanisms to prospective reimbursements, and managed systems (Balestra, 2017). Consequently, nurses have been left with the responsibility of challenging the current technological systems to further improvements and cost-effectiveness. They also need to be leaders and voice their concerns on the dynamic economic and political environments that define the payment of healthcare services.
Legal Issues
The nursing practice is governed by an ever-growing circle of federal and state legislation that is continually evolving as a result of the surging nursing case laws (Cherry & Jacob, 2019). Where nurses are experiencing complexities, they can always refer to the law for guidance in a bid to provide all patients with safe, proficient, and quality healthcare in all settings.
Ethical and Biotechnical Issues
Nurses must be ready to provide patients with ethical care and face potential ethical conflicts in their daily practice. They must comprehend that every situation they face is different; hence recognize the unique demands sought by patients and solve every problem placing them between ethical straits lovingly and humanly (Cherry & Jacob, 2019). Just like Frankie, under clouded circumstances, the decision-maker ought to choose the most viable solution that will benefit a patient while referring to the potentially applicable principles.
Complementary and Alternative Healing
The nursing field has an opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the incorporation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with universal care (Cherry & Jacob, 2019). As they represent the largest number of healthcare professionals, nurses can significantly influence the implementation of CAM across the healthcare system by coordinating and promoting comprehensive patient care through integrative services.
Conclusion
Like Frankie, Maggie, Big Willie, and Mr. Scrap in the movie Million Dollar Baby, nursing professionals can always be faced with a plethora of unique ethical issues in their day-to-day practice such as bribery, breach of code of ethics, gender discriminations, and much more. While facing such issues, nursing professionals can find themselves torn in between different dilemmas, and therefore ought to come up with and implement the best solutions for the benefit of the patients under their care. As established in the paper, the best solutions to solving different dilemmas encountered at work can be best sought through brainstorming with various stakeholders while referring to potentially applicable principles and set guidelines.
References
Balestra, M. L. (2017). Electronic Health Records: Patient Care and Ethical and Legal Implications for Nurse Practitioners. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(2), 105–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2016.09.010
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2019). Contemporary nursing: issues, trends, & management. Elsevier.
Eastwood, C., Ruddy, A., Rosenberg, T., Haggis, P. (2005). Million Dollar Baby [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros.
Koepsell, D. (2016). Autonomy, Dignity, Beneficence, and Justice. Scientific Integrity and Research Ethics SpringerBriefs in Ethics, 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51277-8_6
Reis-Dennis, S. (2020). Understanding Autonomy: An Urgent Intervention. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsaa037
