Disabled Christian Author Speaks Against “Million Dollar Baby” Movie
Ventilator-dependent, confined to a wheelchair, and living in a rehabilitation center, Christian author and speaker Jason Mitchener has much in common with Hilary Swank’s character Maggie at the end of Clint Eastwood’s boxing movie “Million Dollar Baby.” The difference is that Mitchener is a true fighter.
(PRWEB) February 1, 2005 -- “I wanted to stop the moviegoers as they left the
theater to tell them Maggie wasn’t the typical ventilator-dependent, disabled
person. Most of us want to live.”
For Christian author and speaker, Jason
Mitchener, Clint Eastwood’s film “Million Dollar Baby” was just another
inspirational boxing movie until the surprise third act when Hilary Swank’s
character Maggie ends up as a quadriplegic and
ventilator-dependent.
Mitchener, who is also confined to a wheelchair and
ventilator dependent, was at first excited to see a movie portray someone
similar to him. “But when I saw Maggie asking Clint Eastwood’s character to end
her life, I wanted to scream, ‘Don’t do it! Life is worth living.’”
In
1991, Mitchener was admitted to a rehabilitation center at the age of 21. He
couldn’t bathe, feed, or dress himself. Paralyzed from the shoulders down due to
a rare neuromuscular disease, he now required a ventilator to help him breathe.
“At first, I felt useless, like my life was over. But I knew God had bigger
plans for me.” Those plans included the publication of his devotional book “Just
Passing Through: Notes from a Fellow Traveler” which he typed with a stick held
between his teeth.
“Eastwood’s film shook me to the core,” Mitchener
says. “It was yet another attempt to show that the life of a disabled person has
no value.” Mitchener proves his value every day by ministering daily to the
hundreds of people who subscribe to his e-mail devotional messages. He is also a
talented digital artist and songwriter who has had songs recorded on CDs by
three Christian music artists.
“I couldn’t understand Maggie’s wish to
end her life. She was a boxer, but she stopped fighting,” Mitchener says. With
his fierce desire to encourage others through his love for life, Mitchener is
the true fighter.
Find out more about Jason Mitchener at:
http://www.JasonMitchener.com
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb203880.htm