Don’t Be So Political: JOHN Q (2002)

Don’t Be So Political is a monthly film series that engages with films through a political lens. Each screening is preceded by an expert Q&A. Hosted by Zach Wortzman

“If he was your son, what would you do?” 

 

With his son in need of an urgent heart transplant, a factory worker takes matters into his own hands to make sure his son gets the treatment he needs.  

 

Nick Cassavetes directs a star studded cast in this early 2000s thriller that grapples with the infuriating shortcomings of the American healthcare system. Denzel brings his trademark intensity, stopping at nothing to succeed where a purposely hopeless system fails. Addressing the still pertinent issues of healthcare, race, and economic injustice, John Q embodies the righteous anger of those under the thumb of growth at all costs. The film precedes the actions of Luigi Mangione and the subsequent cultural phenomenon, espousing many of the same beliefs that have made Mangione’s complex story so riveting to the public. John Q presents us with the two-fold question: Can we justify wrongdoing if it ends in something good? What is permissible within a system that operates without basic goodness?  

 

Shot in and around Toronto, Mount Sinai hospital features prominently through the film. It is loosely based on a similar incident in 1999 when Henry Musaka held Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital Emergency Room hostage after his infant son was not given immediate care. Musaka was killed by police and the handgun he brandished was later found to be an unloaded pellet gun.  

 

With Americans losing healthcare by the millions and our own right to free healthcare being threatened, John Q warns us that we give up this piece of our national identity at our own peril.  (ZACH WORTZMAN)