So this one's a bit heavy. I was my homeboy, KT's house tryin to pass out on his couch but unable due to a small black cat in heat, named Gucci. She just kept making that horrible screaming meow sound, so I decided to put something on the TV to try and make it less irritating. I decided a documentary might be mellow and thus some noise but not too distracting. I saw "Oregon" in the title of an HBO special documentary on demand and I pick it. "How to Die in Oregon" is the full title and as it starts, I realize that I've made a mistake.
In 1994, doctor assisted suicide became legalized. It was the third or fourth place in the world to make it legal. This doc is about that and it intimately tells the story some of the folks who opt for this and their families. In the opening scene, an old man is preparing to drink a concoction that will end his life. He's sitting on a bed surrounded by family and a few medical professionals as one of them explains the process. She says that she can hand him the medication after she says two things. Firstly, he can change his mind at any time, to which he says that his mind's made. Secondly, she asks if he knows what the medication will do to him. When he answers, he says something along the lines of "Kill me and make me happy."
She hand him a pill bottle-like container full of liquid and explains that it's taste is very unpleasant but he can use a chaser. He has cream soda. He drinks it and my stomach drops. Then he lays down.
He says a few things after this but before his eternal silence. One is that it doesn't taste so bad. He describes it as "woody." He then thanks all the voters who allowed him to do this along with the doctors and his family. He closes his eyes and breaths in. I know instantly that it's his last and he's dead, right there. The screen fades to black and "How to Die in Oregon" appears in white lettering.
Sleep came slow to me that night.
Anyway, it's a really strange, powerful thing to watch and worth checking out despite the morbid nature of watching someone die, even on film.
Be well,
-N.
She hand him a pill bottle-like container full of liquid and explains that it's taste is very unpleasant but he can use a chaser. He has cream soda. He drinks it and my stomach drops. Then he lays down.
He says a few things after this but before his eternal silence. One is that it doesn't taste so bad. He describes it as "woody." He then thanks all the voters who allowed him to do this along with the doctors and his family. He closes his eyes and breaths in. I know instantly that it's his last and he's dead, right there. The screen fades to black and "How to Die in Oregon" appears in white lettering.
Sleep came slow to me that night.
Anyway, it's a really strange, powerful thing to watch and worth checking out despite the morbid nature of watching someone die, even on film.
Be well,
-N.