![]() But in the movie, they just rushed through it without giving any context as to why this particular moment was so crucial to her story. Knowing this further explained her erratic behavior and the emotional roller coaster she'd been on with her mother's cells. This was such an intense emotional scene in the book, especially finding out that after that moment, Deborah was on the verge of a stroke. Then there's the climatic scene at her cousin's house. For most of the movie, you're just wondering what the hell is wrong with this woman? There's hardly any empathy for her. #THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS MOVIE 2011 MOVIE#But, in the movie they barely touch on why she was so paranoid. It was her and Rebecca who did all of the foot work in terms of researching what happened to her mother and her older sister, Elsie. We spent the most time with Deborah, who obviously was the main family member who wanted to know the most about her mother. Each scene rushed you to one point of the story to the next. Thank God I read the book and know how all of this effected them in detail, because in the movie, you feel almost nothing for them because nothing's explained very well, and you barely had time to process who each were, and what their mother meant to them. Now I understand that could have been deliberate, with especially with the jazz infused intro and Deborah's chaotic personality at times, but I don't think it helped give the audience much time to really feel empathy for the characters. However, the biggest problem I had with the movie is that it felt it was very rushed, almost incoherent. I also loved the flashbacks of Henrietta before she was sick, and seeing her with young Deborah was very touching. The actors portraying the family did very well with what they had, and the movie covers a lot of the key points from the book. I liked Oprah as Deborah (love it even more knowing that Deborah was a huge Oprah fan, and would've been ecstatic to meet Oprah, let alone have her portray her in a movie). Also, to know how her family had to deal with the hoopla about her cells and being taken advantage of every step of the way. A way to reach a broader audience and get more people interested in who this women was and her role in modern science. To me the movie is more of a big long commercial for the book. I watched the movie over the weekend, and while I LOVE the sheer fact that they even made a movie about Henrietta and her family's life, I have to say the movie didn't have as much of an emotional impact as the book did. There may be times when that's the right thing to do-but do consider the implications. And you should think about it before you submit your DNA to just any research or company that comes along. It's a worthwhile film on an important topic that people should see and think about. I am really glad to have been able to witness the portrayal of their feelings and reactions to this situation. And it brought the family to vivid reality in a way the book text cannot. Of course, there were many more details that can't be conveyed in a such a short retelling on film, but I thought it captured the key points very well. It provided important awareness for those of us in science about the data we are using and about who provided it. The book was very well done and informative. And watching the daughter character react to that provided a new perspective for me. I remember that proposal in Science about the cells deserving another species designation-and being dismayed by that myself. I'm a scientist who had used HeLa cells in my work in the past. ![]()
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