Doctors in the movies.

T he world continues to have a passion for movies. Moviegoers worldwide spent $20.3 billion and purchased 8.6 billion admission tickets to see films in 2003. 2002 was a record breaking year at the UK box office, with 176 million cinema admissions, £755 million in total box office receipts, and 369 films released. In the USA in 2003, there were 1.6 billion cinema admissions, $9.5 billion in box office receipts, 473 films released, and home entertainment sales to dealers of 1.1 billion DVDs and 294 million video cassettes. Movies have a powerful influence on popular culture, due to their international popularity, easy accessibility, and profitability as an industry. Cinematic depictions of doctors thus have the potential to affect public expectations and the doctor-patient relationship. In a 2002 paper, I conducted an in-depth analysis of the portrayal of doctors in the movies, reviewing 131 films from nine countries spanning eight decades. Key findings from this research included: (1) compassion and idealism were common in early doctor movie portrayals but have become increasingly scarce in recent decades; (2) since the 1960s, positive doctor portrayals declined while negative portrayals increased; (3) doctors frequently are depicted as greedy, egotistical, uncaring, and unethical, especially in recent films; (4) a recurrent theme is the ‘‘mad scientist’’, the doctor-researcher who values research more than patients’ welfare; (5) because negative portrayals of doctors are on the rise, patients’ expectation and the doctor-patient relationship may be adversely affected; and (6) films about doctors can serve as useful gauges of public opinion and tools for medical education. The aim of this paper is to use this extensive database, supplemented by several more recent films, to explore selected key themes about the portrayal of doctors in the movies. In contrast to the prior paper, however, this paper will also focus on humour in doctor films (both intentional and unintentional), and examine the few movies that have portrayed paediatricians. MAJOR THEMES IN DOCTOR MOVIES Money and materialism Materialism and a love of money have pervaded cinematic portrayals of doctors dating back to the 1920s, and continue to be prominent in recent movies. In Doctor at Sea (1956), Dr Simon Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde) states, ‘‘A Rolls Royce is the ambition of almost every newly qualified doctor. And preferably a Harley Street address to go with it.’’ In Carry on Again Doctor (1969), Dr Jim Nookey (Kenneth Williams) confides to a colleague: ‘‘Specialise, that’s what I’d like to do! The whole Harley Street bit with bags of lovely filthy rich women patients.’’ In Doctor at Large (1957), the doctor in charge of a Harley Street practice advises Dr Sparrow, ‘‘You know, it’s a chastening thought, but good clothes are more important to a GP than a good stethoscope.’’ Indeed, it shocks and bewilders other characters when movie doctors do not display adequate wealth. In Playing God (1996), an FBI agent visits the home of the surgeon Dr Eugene Sands (David Duchovny) to arrest him for the death of a patient due to operating while addicted to drugs, and the agent says, ‘‘This is not how a doctor lives. No, this is squalor. I mean, you did go to medical school, right?’’ Dr Sands replies, ‘‘What, are you going to arrest me for failing to live up to my potential?’’. Money is not infrequently portrayed as the prime motivation for becoming a doctor and choosing a medical specialty. In Not As a Stranger (1955), medical school classmates discuss their career options: