Movie Review – John Q

Movie Review – John Q

John Q is a thriller drama starring Denzel Washington as John Quincy Archibald, identified as John Q. John Q was a factory worker struggling financially because of an economic recession. He and his wife received news of their son Michael collapsing at a baseball game. They took him to the hospital and learned he would need a heart transplant to survive. The surgery would cost $250,000, and the family would be required to pay $75,000 as a down payment to get Michael on the transplant list. John Q’s insurance company said it could not pay these fees. He tried to raise the money but could not, so the hospital decided to discharge Michael. After his wife pleads with him to do something, John Q takes the hospital’s ER hostage, forcing them to include Michael on the transplant list. This event led to a long stand-off at the hospital until a heart from a woman who had just had an accident was found to be a match for Michael. At the end of the movie, John Q was convicted of false imprisonment and kidnapping and acquitted of the charges of attempted murder. His son, who was now healthy, thanked him for his actions.

Cultural Competency in the Film

Cultural competency is understanding and successfully communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds. Cultural competence enables awareness of cultural differences and how they affect the experiences of people in the world. This competence helps people to develop positive attitudes towards cultural differences. The film John Q reflects the lack of cultural competence in the American healthcare system. John Q is an African American man with no access to health care services despite his insurance coverage and working very hard to cater to his family. The people at the hospital and the insurance company lack the cultural competency to understand the challenges that African Americans experience in the American healthcare system. Black people face some of the highest health disparities in America because people in authority lack the understanding of the gaps in healthcare access that they face (D’Anna et al., 2018). This film is a great understanding of the system, lacking the knowledge of African Americans’ disadvantages. The hospital refuses to adjust for a desperate man whose system has failed. They just wanted to discharge their son even though he would die without a heart transplant.

Discrimination in the Movie

This movie reflects discrimination in the healthcare system. John Q shows the American healthcare system as an inherently racist system. Racial and ethnic minorities are significantly disadvantaged in this system because of the lack of regard for the social disadvantages that cause unequal access to healthcare resources. The movie is about an African American man who is a factory worker. Because of the economic recession that was going on, he was struggling financially. Therefore, he could not afford the expensive medical costs of his son’s heart transplant. John Q had insurance, but he was underinsured. Therefore, despite paying premiums, he could still not afford such high medical costs. The healthcare system fails to adjust for ethnic minorities like John Q, whose social standing naturally prevents them from accessing healthcare services. This is inherently discriminative of the system.

Dynamics of Groupthink

John Q also reflects the dynamics of groupthink. Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people desire harmony rather than reflect their thoughts (Janis, 2008). Groupthink usually prevents progress because it leads to irrational decision-making, where people do things even though they know they are wrong. John Q reflects the conformity in the American health care system. Not everyone supports discrimination in the system, but they conform to it. John Q received a lot of support from people who saw the inadequacies of the healthcare system after his actions. Many of these people knew that the system was broken, but their groupthink caused them to conform to the system’s weaknesses and continue to discriminate against ethnic minorities.

Diversity of Social and Ethnic Groups in the Movie

 John Q reflects the ethnic and social diversity in the health care system. The main character is African American, but he mainly deals with white people in the health care system. The movie reflects a lack of diversity in healthcare leadership. With more minority representatives in health care, there may be a better chance of tackling the challenges affecting minorities in the country.

References

Cassavetes, N. (Director), Burg, M. (producer), and Koules, O. (producer) (2002). John Q. United States: New Line Cinema

D’Anna, L. H., Hansen, M., Mull, B., Canjura, C., Lee, E., & Sumstine, S. (2018). Social discrimination and health care: a multidimensional framework of experiences among a low-income multiethnic sample. Social work in public health, 33(3), 187-201.

Janis, I. L. (2008). Groupthink. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 36(1), 36.

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Movie Review

The movie: John Q (2002) PG-13

Watch a movie of your choice with multicultural themes. Select your movie from the provided list, or you may choose another title with instructor approval. Select a character in the film as the focus of your attention. You may wish to take notes as you watch the film to record relevant details as required by the assignment instructions.

Movie Review – John Q

After watching the movie, write a 750-1,000-word essay in which you:

• Provide a brief synopsis of the movie selected.
• Provide examples of cultural competency or the lack of cultural competency.
• Describe acts of prejudice, generalizing, stereotyping, or discrimination that take place in the movie.
• Analyze the dynamics of groupthink as exemplified in events that took place in the movie.
• Describe the diversity of social or ethnic groups in the movie.