Waiting for Guffman...?

"Waiting for Guffman" is most likely Christopher Guest’s best creation to that I know about. Not only is this a satirical documentary, it is rather attention seizing. It features a man who is appropriately named Corky St. Clair, who is a director from the New York City who seems to be very out of place in Blaine, Missouri. His brilliant thoughts are too much for the little town, but above all he is totally adored. Corky is a very quirky guy, (shown in this clip, especially because of his outfit, Corky St. Clair), who takes role in leading the town’s people in preforming a musical play about the sesquicentennial founding of Blaine.

This clip shows how all of the players wanting to be in Corky's new production all live in a their own little lala land. Ron and Sheila Albertson are travel agents with some sort of acting experience. 

Libby Mae Brown works in the Dairy Queen, but her ambition is to be a well-known star and even the local dentist, Dr. Allan Pearl, has an ambition to become a performer.

One day, Corky receives a letter from Mr. Mort Guffman, a Broadway enthusiast who is interested in the show that is happening. HE announces that he is going to come and see it and all of Blaine gets excited and Corky believes that they might have the chance to go to Broadway. But will the town be forever waiting for Guffman?

How to die in Oregon

In today’s world, suicide is considered the wrong choice in one’s life. Many people who are against the notion of suicide believe that there is a negative connotation that suicidal people are most likely selfish and depressed, who are giving up on life. In my view I believe that suicide is an unfortunate personal choice, but it is a personal choice. I do think it is different though when one is willing to choose to die through the Death with Dignity Act. This Oregon law allows people who are suffering great pain from a terminal disease to have the choice to end their life with moral dignity via medication from a doctor. 

This is a rather emotional documentary that opens up with a scene that shows and old man drinking a liquid barbiturate, Seconal, which sedates him quickly into a coma and then into death. Showing this on screen is quite sensitive to some, especially because most of the people featured throughout the film die before it ends. I only see their presence as different examples to represent the sides of the issue.

The film mainly follows a single woman, 54-year-old Cody Curtis, as she plans for death with dignity after being diagnosed with only six months left to live as a result of liver cancer. Richardson also films another cancer patient who does not believe in Death with Dignity, especially when it appears that certain insurance companies and the government may recommend or encourage it because it will save them the money that would go towards treatment. All in all, it is a controversial topic that is addressed sufficiently and respectably, which causes the audience to influence awareness.