MovieChat Forums > Red Lights (2012) Discussion > The hospital scene at the end!

The hospital scene at the end!

posted 11 years ago by eolloe
11 replies | jump to latest

I can't believe there aren't a bunch of threads discussing what Tom does in the hospital at the end.

No controversy? Really?

[–] TheatreNachos 11 years ago

I think it's because by the time the last ten minutes rolls around, the completely absurd hospital scene is just par for the course. Ridiculous all around.

[–] gilper653 11 years ago

Yes, you can turn off life support equipment and no one notices!

[–] savcam500 11 years ago

Perhaps she had given him power of attorney at some point; he was her trusted friend and confidant. Then again he was also dripping blood and soaking wet, and I'm sure that there are more procedural steps to go through than: Walk in. Press Button. Leave. You know how hospitals just love paperwork. Again, movie logic....

Plus the whole movie kind of fell apart in the Third Act, like the writer had painted himself into a bit of a corner...

something terribly clever.

[–] targa9 11 years ago

Yeah, I thought he was either going to:

a) get medical help for his traumatic skull injuries
b) bring the boy back to life with his paranormal powers

Instead he just pulls the plug and kills the boy, because everyone knows a teaching assistant/research partner has the power of attorney of a living relative to make such a life/death decision. And of course, nobody seems to be around the hospital, and he just walks out, skull fracture and all.

An incredibly stupid movie for such a good cast.

[–] crystalrope 11 years ago

I made an assumption that since Tom and Maggie were very close, she had left him in charge of her son should she die.

My interpretation of Tom's actions is that, due to his pyschic ability, he now knows there *is* something beyond death, and rather than allow the son to live in limbo Tom was releasing him to be with his mother.

[–] Scribblenaut 11 years ago

This. Tom mentions that Maggie has no family, so I assumed since they were so close she left him with power of attorney. Also the hospital isn't gonna keep some random guy,, who's not paying bills, alive.

[–] MatttheBruinsfan 7 years ago

If Medical Power of Attorney can be passed on to a non-relative at all, I'm pretty sure it would have to go through probate at the very least to make legal life or death decisions. Hell, I've heard of cases where unmarried spouses could be frozen out of making such decisions for their partners by estranged families or the hospital itself.

[–] eolloe 11 years ago

But but but
They don't just let you walk into a room by yourself and turn off the life-support machines. lol

Like somebody post upthread, there's paperwork.
And them someone on the staff actually flicks the switch, not the next of kin or person with power of attorney.

And I'd figure that the writer and the director knew this, so their intention must have been that Tom was just taking matters into his own hands at that point.
Even if Maggie had formally made him the legally responsible person, he can't just take it upon himself to pull the plug himself.

[–] oilinblood 10 years ago

Yeah i really go to a movie to see paper work.

[–] 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] HAL 9010 (903) 6 years ago

Ripley says she would turn it off if she knew there was something else... ergo he turned it off in the end because he was proof of this. He did what she would have wanted him to do