I slept at 4am this morning because I stayed up to watch this movie on HBO. Oh my god. A really really wonderful and inspirational story. It was so interesting that I was awake during its entirety. I was pretty sleepy when I was flipping through the channels but when I saw this, all I wanted to do was finish the movie. It's that riveting. I usually experience this kind of feeling with books. I usually get so riveted in unput-downable books that I HAVE to get to the end of the story or I would not be able to sleep, or if I do try, I would just toss and turn and wonder how the story would end. This movie moved me so much, I just HAD to know how it ended.
Something The Lord Made revolves around 2 people during the Great Depression: Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman), a white surgeon and Vivien Thomas (Mos Def), a poor black carpenter-turned-lab technician who started a medical revolution. The story begins with Vivien, recently out of a job as a carpenter, who applies at a doctor's clinic doing menial jobs until he expresses great (this is an understatement) interest in medicine. Dr. Blalock notices this and gives Vivien a chance to be a technician and don the white coat, letting him perform minor surgery on dogs for his study on trauma. Vivien astounds Dr. Blalock with his natural gift, sharp memory and dextrous hands. Due to the success of his research on trauma, Dr. Blalock is assigned as Chief Surgeon at the Johns Hopkins institution, a place where, during those times, blacks had to enter through the back door. Together, Dr. Blalock and Vivien tackle the impossible task of treating the Blue Baby Syndrome (Tetralogy of Fallot). This was the time when heart surgery was never done and was deemed an impossibility due to the fact that the heart had to pump blood to the brain constantly and damage to it could lead to brain damage or even death. But after successfully operating on a baby, these 2 performed something of a miracle. Since their success, they have been together until Vivien became the Director of Laboratory at Johns Hopkins and Dr. Blalock died in 1964. The movie ended with Vivien given an honorary doctorate degree and his own portrait beside the (then deceased) Dr. Blalock in the Johns Hopkins hall. Since then, Vivien has been called "Dr. Thomas".
This story was based on a magazine article "Like Something The Lord Made" by Katie McCabe who interviewed Vivien in 1985 (the year of his death). After this sensational story came out, it was only then that the poor carpenter, who never had a medical degree, was given the recognition he richly deserves. During the success of the Blue Baby operation, it was only Dr. Blalock who was renowned internationally but only because it was the way things were done back then. But now, Vivien Thomas will be a man no one will overlook nor forget because he truly is a miracle from God.
Something The Lord Made revolves around 2 people during the Great Depression: Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman), a white surgeon and Vivien Thomas (Mos Def), a poor black carpenter-turned-lab technician who started a medical revolution. The story begins with Vivien, recently out of a job as a carpenter, who applies at a doctor's clinic doing menial jobs until he expresses great (this is an understatement) interest in medicine. Dr. Blalock notices this and gives Vivien a chance to be a technician and don the white coat, letting him perform minor surgery on dogs for his study on trauma. Vivien astounds Dr. Blalock with his natural gift, sharp memory and dextrous hands. Due to the success of his research on trauma, Dr. Blalock is assigned as Chief Surgeon at the Johns Hopkins institution, a place where, during those times, blacks had to enter through the back door. Together, Dr. Blalock and Vivien tackle the impossible task of treating the Blue Baby Syndrome (Tetralogy of Fallot). This was the time when heart surgery was never done and was deemed an impossibility due to the fact that the heart had to pump blood to the brain constantly and damage to it could lead to brain damage or even death. But after successfully operating on a baby, these 2 performed something of a miracle. Since their success, they have been together until Vivien became the Director of Laboratory at Johns Hopkins and Dr. Blalock died in 1964. The movie ended with Vivien given an honorary doctorate degree and his own portrait beside the (then deceased) Dr. Blalock in the Johns Hopkins hall. Since then, Vivien has been called "Dr. Thomas".
This story was based on a magazine article "Like Something The Lord Made" by Katie McCabe who interviewed Vivien in 1985 (the year of his death). After this sensational story came out, it was only then that the poor carpenter, who never had a medical degree, was given the recognition he richly deserves. During the success of the Blue Baby operation, it was only Dr. Blalock who was renowned internationally but only because it was the way things were done back then. But now, Vivien Thomas will be a man no one will overlook nor forget because he truly is a miracle from God.
What made this story very interesting to me is that this is not just a story about the pioneers of heart surgery but it is also about the relationship between the two, how racism and discrimination affected them during those times, how ambition and opportunity moved them to do the impossible and how passionate they both were about medicine and saving lives. Truly a movie worth watching.
Dr. Alfred Blalock and Dr. Vivien Thomas
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