Comatose State and Pa-tients

Ailey Kim

“The German film, Goodbye, Lenin!, romanti-

cizes and depicts the illness, which is coma, and

its patient less clearly therefore it is explicitly

problematic because people will believe wrong

medical depiction as reliable facts.”

…inaccurate repre-sentations of coma in the films like Goodbye, Lenin! will have an effect on people's understand of coma and expec-tations about recov-ery.

Dr. Eelco Wijdicksat the Mayo Clinic

The literature is [and the films are] to imitate

life, a reliable version of a world.

“it might be the world of a set of people in a

culture or of a whole society” (Acheson 5-6).

“The German film, Goodbye, Lenin! romanticizes

the illness and its patient and therefore this can be

problematic due to its possibility of conveying

wrong medical information to the viewers. However,

the film has certain reasons or purposes with its less

obvious depiction as all other literature and films do

with how and why they are written or made in cer-

tain ways.”

What is Coma? A deep state of unconsciousness; an individual is not able to

react to his or her environment

Unable to respond to stimulation consciously

Caused by an underlying illness, or result from head trauma

Not simply asleep

The brain wave activity differs from that of a sleeping per-

son

May not respond to external stimuli depending on how deep

the coma is

May show abnormal body movements.

May lie still and not respond to anything, or may move spon-

taneously: shaking, tremors, and jerking movements

The eyes may move abnormally

If the breathing muscles are affected, the patient's breathing

may be irregular, and a respirator may be required.

People don't usually suddenly 'wake up' from a coma, but tend

to come round gradually and regain brain function over time 

When a person comes out of a coma, they may be agitated and

confused. They may need to be sedated for their own safety

Some people come out of a coma without any mental or physi-

cal disability, but most require at least some type of therapy to

regain mental and physical skills. They may need to relearn

how to speak, walk, and even eat. Others are never able to re-

cover completely.

Glasgow Coma scale

Fleming, Nic. "Relatives of Coma Victims 'may Be Swayed by Hollywood Falsities'" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 09 May 2006. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

"Coma Signs and Symptoms." - Coma. Remedy's Health.com Communities, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Definition of Coma." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

Works Cited