Suicide and euthanasia have been and will continue to be very controversial moral issues. I believe that in most societies today the prevailing attitude towards people who choose to end their own lives is judgemental and dogmatically hostile. This is understandable. People who choose to end their own lives challenge our conventional thinking that "life is a gift" no matter how much hardship and pointless suffering it contains. Indeed, there is something threatening about someone taking their own life. It scares us, it confuses us. But it tells us something about ourselves: how we often choose to ignore the fact that we live in a pretty terrible world that is full of sentient suffering. And that the meaningless platitudes like "suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem" and "it always gets better" mean little to people who are actually going through hell on a daily basis. It is, therefore, very important to explore the issues of suicide and euthanasia not only through philosophical arguments, but also through art. "Youth in Oregon" is one of the attempts of such exploration.
I think if you are willing to go into this with an open-mind and consider the point of view of the characters (and I mean ALL characters!), you are likely to enjoy this movie. I think the acting was great and the plot was good enough to keep me interested and engaged. Yes, there are flaws also and some of them may be annoying. But for me this movie has been mostly a positive and thoughtful experience.
I understand why some people would be upset with this movie as it does, quite subtly I think, challenge the prevailing life-affirming paradigm. But it is by no means one-sided. Essentially, it tries to consider different issues like autonomy, the meaning and value of human life, friendship and family from different perspectives represented by different characters. If you go into this with an open-mind and ready to do some thinking to consider the point of view of the characters, there may be value for you in this movie. Even if there are no overly deep insights, there is still much to consider and to ponder at. The aesthetics and atmosphere were also to my taste. I also found the comedy aspect funny. But it is probably better to go into it with lower expectations. Thank you!
