Dr. Malcolm Sayer ( Robin Williams ) - 889 Words

Awakenings In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a new physician at a local hospital in the Bronx area of New York City. Dr. Sayer is caring and dedicated physician who works with catatonic patients who survived the encephalitis lethargica epidemic. Despite these patients not moving in over decades, Dr. Sayer is determined to help these patients and sees them as their families do as individuals. Dr. Sayer first discovers, there are certain stimuli such as catching a ball, hearing familiar music, and experiencing human touch have an effect on all of these patients, except Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) who prefers communication through an Ouija board. Nonetheless this discovery, proves to the rest of the staff these patients are†¦show more content†¦Beneficence is upheld by Dr. Sayer who displays the desire to help his catatonic patients. Justice is also upheld by Dr. Sayer because he learns of the benefits and soon the risks of the drug L-Dopa. Once Dr. Sayer noticed Leonardâ €™s symptoms only worsened he had to come to terms that all of his patients will revert back to their original state, at that point the risks outweighed the benefits. In correlation, this decision uphold non-maleficence, the duty to cause no harm. During Dr. Sayer and Leonard’s argument, Leonard his autonomy was being violated as well as tolerance. Leonard felt as though his autonomy was being violated, when he could not express his freedom and come and go as he pleased. He also felt as though his tolerance was violated because Dr. Sayer did not consider his viewpoint on that matter nor saw him as a free individual only as a patient still despite all the progress. Equality, impartiality and respect for persons are all upheld by Dr. Sayer, while is violated by the rest of the staff while the patients are in their catatonic state. Dr. Sayer believes his patients as still alive inside as a result treats them as moral equals (equality) who should not be treated differently in spite of their catatonic state (impartiality) and individuals who have rights and should be honored and respected (respects for persons). Only after seeing these patients become awaken did the staff uphold equality, impartiality and respect for persons when theyShow MoreRelatedThe movie Awakenings4852 Words   |  20 Pagesstarring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro portrays the true story of a doctor named Dr. Malcolm Sayer, and the events of the summer of 1969 at a psychiatric hospital in New York. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who is a research physician, is confronted with a number of patients who had each been afflicted with a devastating disease called Encephalitis Lethargica. T he illness killed most of the people who contracted it, but some were left living statues; speechless, motionless, and helpless. Dr. Malcolm Sayer, whenRead MoreCritical Review On The Movie Awakenings 1964 Words   |  8 Pagesthe efforts of Doctor Malcolm Sayer (played by Robin Williams) to aid a number of patients after taking a position at a psychiatric hospital in the Bronx as a clinical physician. The patients were residents of â€Å"the garden†, as orderlies referred to the permanent psychiatric ward. A number of the patients that reside in this ward seemed to be â€Å"frozen†, with only basic reflexes. Nearly all of the orderlies and other doctors believed these patients to be beyond help; Dr. Sayer, however, believed thatRead MoreComparison Between Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon and Awakenings641 Words   |  3 Pagesgets an operation to make him smarter. It is a story about what happens to him during that period of time. The movie, Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro, is about how some people, including Leonard Lowe, the main character , developed a disease and are now catatonic. Dr. Malcolm Sayer finds a drug that seems like a miracle drug. The movie is about what happens during the time that the catatonic patients are on the drug. One of the main similaritiesRead MoreDr. Malcolm Sayer s The Film Awakenings 1950 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Psychological Concepts Portrayed in Film Jake E. Bukuts Fort Mill High School Awakened to the Psychological Concepts Portrayed in Film The film Awakenings is an emotional film that tells the story of a doctor, named Dr. Malcolm Sayer played by Robin Williams, who starts work at a chronic hospital in the Bronx during the late 1960’s. As he examines patients at the hospital though he comes to observe a good many of them are experiencing the same symptoms of a being in a catatonic and