Only in the Movies?
The new comedy "Juno" about a young woman with an unplanned pregnancy has been the recent focus of several on-line discussions in several sonography forums for its apparently negative depiction of an "ultrasound technician." Some sonographers have suggested we launch a letter-writing campaign in protest.
I'll confess that I haven't seen the movie and probably won't, but word has it that it was nominated for three Golden Globes and four Academy Awards. Not paying much attention to the GGs, AAs or any other pat-ourselves-on-the-back movie award ceremonies, I haven't a clue as to whether it has already (or will in the future) win anything, and I don't personally care. Can you tell I'm not much for movies? I spend enough screen-time in front of a computer or ultrasound scanner to want to do more in my free time. But I digress...
For those who haven't heard about or seen the movie, the basic premise is that 16-year-old Juno MacGuff, a virgin, gets pregnant the first time she has sex with her boyfriend (also a virgin). The couple weigh their options; but, eventually, unable to go through with an abortion, Juno decides to give the baby up for adoption. She finds a couple who cannot conceive through the want ads. As Juno spends more time with the adoptive parents-to-be, she realizes that their marriage isn't quite as picture-perfect as it first appeared.
Based on the movie reviews, there are many portrayals which will likely make pro-choice advocates cringe. The scene where Juno gets a sonogram conveys it as a bonding experience and adoption is depicted as "the heroic option."
So now to the issues that Juno presents in terms of the portrayal of "ultrasound techs":
As one forum poster noted:
"First off, they used the word ‘technician'---I don't know about anyone else, but that term makes me crazy!!! Secondly, the sonographer is cold and judgmental. They could have portrayed the sonographer as compassionate and used the opportunity to show what an amazing experience the exam can be for the expectant mom and her family."
Someone else who posted on the forum found the script of the sonogram scene at www.imdb.com. I'll include it here so you can draw your own conclusions before I give you mine. BTW---Leah is Juno's best friend and Bren is her stepmother:
Ultrasound Technician: Well, there it is. Would you like to know the sex of your baby?
Leah: Yes!
Juno: No!
Leah: Pllleease!
Ultrasound Technician: Plenty to be surprised about when you deliver.
Juno: Well, you know, I want Mark and Vanessa to be surprised, and if you tell me, I'll just like, totally ruin it.
Ultrasound Technician: Are Mark and Vanessa your friends at school?
Juno: No, they're the adoptive parents.
Ultrasound Technician: Oh. Well thank God for that.
Bren: What's that supposed to mean?
Ultrasound Technician: Well, it's just that I see a lot of young mothers come through here, it's obviously a poisonous environment for a baby.
Juno: Wait a minute! How do you know it'll be such a poisonous environment! How do you know Mark and Vanessa wont be some, crazy, whacked out pedophiles or something?
Leah: Or stage parents?
Bren: They could be utterly incompetent. There's no guarantee they'll do a better job raising this child than my dumbass step-daughter will... What is your job title?
Ultrasound Technician: I'm an ultrasound technician.
Bren: Oh yeah? Well I'm a nail technician and I think we both ought to just stick to what we know.
Ultrasound Technician: Excuse me?
Bren: Oh, you think you're hot *** 'cause you get to sit over there and play pictionary, well guess what? My five-year-old daughter could do that and let me tell you, she's not the brightest bulb in the tanning bed. So until you have your own kid, why don't you just go back to night-school in Manteno and get a real job.
Juno: ...Whoa Bren!
Not such a "positive bonding experience" if you ask me!
Another post on a sonographer forum read:
"It's a movie. As long as sonography is unregulated then we have no basis for complaint. Anyone can buy a machine and set up as a fun for-profit business with little or no medical oversight. A nail technician has more legal requirements for being able to practice than an ultrasound technician in most places. I have seen and worked with horrific ultrasound technicians who often did insult patients. Whether they were aware of their poor communication skills is another topic. It's called life."
Sad but true. Without knowing the full context of the script or having seen the movie what bothers me about the exchange above (besides the "technician" label) is that the healthcare worker (to use the term loosely) is interjecting her own personal values on the patient's situation.
Having worked in a fertility office for many years, I learned to recognize the fact that what some patients want to do (not to mention the types of patients we saw) often didn't match what I felt was "right." Many of us find ourselves in similar situations where we have to scan a patient that drank themselves into such a severe liver disease state that they now need a liver transplant, or there's the vain patient with breast implants who complains about all medical professionals being "incompetent" because she's sprung a leak. However, when I encounter patients whose beliefs don't match my own, I don't let it change how I treat them or what I say to them. They have their own reasons for wanting an abortion, a child or an implant and I respect that.
I believe one characteristic of a true professional---which by definition sonographers are not but I think we should at least play the part (pun intended)---is having the ability to separate personal values and attitudes from our responsibility to provide proper and optimal care for all patients regardless of their economic status, looks, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, attitudes, etc., etc., etc.---but that's just me.
What do you think?