Monday, February 16, 2009

It May Be A Little Late, but For What It's Worth...

"American Experience" on PBS is about Dr. Walter Freeman ("the lobotomy guy") tonight. It may be on re-runs, too - definitely worth checking out (though it's pretty disturbing at times).

...It turns out, it's not too late - PBS has put the whole hour-long show up online here. It was pretty well done, particularly in contextualizing Freeman's lobotomies by examining the ways America "treated" and dealt with patients with mental issues. At the same time, it wasn't overly sympathetic - yes, it had an abundance of Freeman's co-workers and children on it, but it also did a pretty good job highlighting that he was a man often consumed more by his personal quest for "triumph" than for the goodwill of any of his patients.