I have not see the film either but point out that it has been reviewed in PsycCritiques and the abstract of the review from PsycInfo is provided below:
Cardeña, Etzel PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 53 (46), 2008, [np] DOI: 10.1037/a0013876 Abstract Reviews the film, <i>Awake</i> directed by Joby Harold (2007). The core of the film concerns a wealthy young man who remains conscious during his heart transplant operation despite having been anesthetized. The film's claim is that this is "anesthetic awareness," a phenomenon discussed in psychology at least since 1911 (Jacobsen, 1911). Typically when discussing awareness under anesthesia, the scientific literature refers to two phenomena. The first, found mostly in psychological journals, describes the possibility of some type of learning (particularly implicit) or conditioning that occurs even if an individual is fully anesthetized (Kihlstrom & Couture, 1992). The second phenomenon, which is what this film focuses on, is discussed mostly in medical literature and occurs in cases in which insufficient anesthesia during an operation causes paralysis but does not obliterate the conscious awareness of the patient, who experiences pain and other aspects of the operation as they occur and yet, due to the paralysis, is unable to do anything about it. Although <i>Awake</i> delves into how the character might have to deal with the pain, the film has much more to do with near-death experiences (NDEs) than with awareness under anesthesia. As with some cases of reputed anomalous cognition reported in the literature (Greyson, 2000), the character seems to not only retain awareness but to obtain information about the past and about what is going on around him and elsewhere that is not purely mediated by the senses, reason, or memory. In this movie, the protagonist's anomalous cognitions during his operation explain to him and the audience the main plot twist and subsequent developments. The reviewer would recommend the film as light entertainment (e.g., the two main actors, Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba, were most likely chosen for their eye-candy appeal rather than their acting quotient) that touches on two phenomena, awareness under anesthesia and NDE, that remain fascinating and, to a large degree, unexplained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved) -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] On Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:32:49 -0700, Annette Taylor wrote: >I have been asked by our psych club to provide commentary >on the movie Awake. > >This is NOT a film I would EVER choose to watch in the normal >course of my life. But I am willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good... > >Having said that I wonder if any tipsters have seen it and can give >me some clues of things that relate to psychology, and particularly >to cognitive psychology that I should look for and be prepared to >comment upon. > >I am planning to talk a bit about anesthesia awareness and out-of-body >experiences. > >Any help is welcome. --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
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