Hanna 1

Kassi Hanna
Sabatino Mangini
English Composition 100
December 12, 2016
Justified

There is no argument that Denzel Washingtons character John Archibald in the 2002
film John
Q. (John Q. Dir. Nick. Cassavetes. New Line Cinema, 2002.) could have handled the
situation better, and that when someone wants something one cannot simply go to any measure
to get it; however, I believe most of us can agree his intentions were never those of harm or
ill-intent. As a member of the American society, I do feel that Johns actions were morally
justifiable. I feel it was made very clear during the movie that he never had intentions of harming
anyone. His only goal was to save his sons life.

The definition of the word moral is: of or relating to principles of right and wrong in
behavior (Morale. Merriam-Webster.com.) Some could argue that how John handled the
situation was morally wrong. Although, according to the grammarsist morals are more abstract,
subjective, and often personal or religion-based, while ethics are more practical, conceived as
shared principles promoting fairness in social and business interactions. (Ethics vs. Morals.)
differ from person to person. Meaning in this argument there is no real right or wrong. Or in
relation to the film John Q, yes his actions were moral or no they were not.

Hanna 2

Personally, I do feel his actions to be morally justifiable. John exhausted all of his options
and certainly did his best when he was attempting to cooperate with the hospital, however the
hospital was not willing to work with him and his family. He felt he had no other choice.

Johns son Mikey was suddenly rushed to the hospital after collapsing while running
during a baseball game. It turns out that Mikey has a very serious heart condition, and is
essentially in cardiac failure due to a genetic heart defect he was born with that doctors never
caught. After Mikeys diagnosis it turns out he needs a heart transplant in order to survive. Due
to Johns health insurance coverage at the time, we discover that the transplant his son will need
is not covered, and Mikey will not be placed on the transplant list. Johns friends and family
attempt to raise the thousands of dollars needed however, they are unable to raise the funds in
time. At this point the hospital basically offers to send his son home, meaning Mikey would
likely die. John decides to take matters into his own hands locking himself in the emergency
room of the hospital with a gun demanding that Mikey be placed on the transplant list.

I believe its fair to say that most Americans can agree our healthcare system sucks.
According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in 2015, there were 28.4
million Americans that were uninsured and had no health coverage. ("Health Insurance
Coverage.) Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Ben Casselman also point out in their article that
nearly 7 million of the 14.4 million who fall into the uninsured/other category make less than
50,000 dollars a year. Who are the others they are 14.4 million uninsured Americans whom are
not easily categorized according to the Current Population Survey, these people are not

Hanna 3

noncitizen immigrants, they do not fall into the Medicaid gap and they are not young adults.
("33 Million Americans Still Dont Have Health Insurance.") This information alone shows us
that something is wrong with our healthcare here in the United States. There should be no reason
that the hard working middle class Americans like John Q, do not have adequate health insurance
coverage or coverage at all.
It is very apparent that John never had any real intent of doing harm to anyone. During the
hostage situation at the hospital, he feeds the hostages from the emergency room vending
machine, using his own money. During the course of the stand-off John also has the nurses and
doctor present tend to the injured, he provides directions to a woman calling into hospital after
telling her that specific emergency room was closed. He allows a gunshot victim to be dropped
off by an ambulance and has the present doctor operate on the patient, in turn saving the man's
life. The hostages at one point even help John when one of the other hostages attempts to harm
him with a scalpel. Its clear to me that he never had plans on harming anyone. His only intention
was to save his son's life.

During the time at the hospital John spends a good amount of time talking with those he
holds captive. It seems they all can agree with John, that our healthcare system is not fair. His
sons condition couldve been caught early on, however HMO policies did not cover
preventative testing and actually provide physicians incentives to not ordering these types of
tests. According to Jonathan Drezner in the United States, a young competitive athlete dies
suddenly every three days. ("Inter-Association Task Force Recommendations on Emergency
Preparedness and Management of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in High School and College Athletic

Hanna 4

Programs: A Consensus Statement.) "Why would insurance companies not want to prevent this
by covering preventative testing? Well because it costs money, thats why. We pay for insurance
coverage, they should want to prevent innocent children from unexpectedly dying due to this
genetic birth defect.
Most importantly, we discover later on in the movie that Johns gun he had been carrying was
never even loaded and that he had only brought one bullet. One bullet that was intended for
himself. He was prepared to take his own life, in order to save his son's life and give him his
heart. That to me, I feel his actions are morally justifiable. He only wanted to save his son, after
being pushed to the point where he felt like he had no other options left than to do what he did.
Actions that ended up saving his sons life which was his main intent.

Hanna 5

Works Cited
Barry-Jester, Anna Maria, and Ben Casselman. "33 Million Americans Still Dont Have Health
Insurance." FiveThirtyEight. N.p., 28 Sept. 2015. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
Drezner, Jonathan A., Ron W. Courson, William O. Roberts, Vincent N. Mosesso, Mark S. Link,
and Barry J. Maron. "Inter-Association Task Force Recommendations on Emergency
Preparedness and Management of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in High School and College
Athletic Programs: A Consensus Statement." Journal of Athletic Training. National
Athletic Trainers Association, 2007. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
"Ethics vs. Morals." Grammarist. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
"Health Insurance Coverage." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 07 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.
John Q. Dir. Nick. Cassavetes. New Line Cinema, 2002.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.