"Vivien"

 "Vivien"

When you hear the name "Vivien" in a movie context, who comes to mind? Most people would think of Vivien Leigh from the classic "Gone with the Wind." Some might even think of Vivien Hsu. However, the focus here is not on a woman. It's on a man named Vivien Thomas.

You may be familiar with actor Alan Rickman. He played Professor Snape in the Harry Potter series and gained worldwide recognition. I first knew Alan Rickman from "Die Hard," where he played the villain falling backward off a building. As I was researching Alan Rickman, I came across his role as Professor Alfred Blalock. Intrigued, I searched for more information related to medical films. I found several interesting websites and, to my luck, discovered the full version of the movie "Something the Lord Made" on YouTube.

Vivien Thomas' mother wished for a daughter and even picked out a girl's name while pregnant. When a boy was born, they named him Vivien anyway. The spelling is Vivien, so the pronunciation is between "a" and "e." Vivien attended agricultural school but had to drop out due to financial difficulties and became a carpenter. With his skilled hands, he became proficient in woodworking. When a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine was looking for a research assistant, Vivien was recommended. The professor was surprised to see a black man instead of a woman and ordered him to do menial tasks like cleaning and taking care of experimental animals. Despite feeling like a mere errand boy, Vivien accepted the job to not disappoint the person who recommended him. The irritable professor often complained about trivial matters and easily became upset, but Vivien endured it. One day, while cleaning the library, he came across a book on anatomy. This discovery changed his destiny.

Upon learning of Vivien's study of anatomy, the professor asked him to repair laboratory equipment. Using his knowledge, Vivien improved the apparatus and even made new ones, including a canine respirator. One day, the head pediatrician asked the professor to examine a blue baby and suggested performing surgery to save them. Vivien and the professor argued fiercely and repeated surgeries on dogs until they finally developed a bypass procedure for patent ductus arteriosus. When the professor saw Vivien's surgical skill, he muttered, "It's as if God sewed it." This phrase became the title of the movie, "Something the Lord Made." The professor, who successfully performed surgery for congenital heart vessel abnormalities, received numerous awards.

However, Vivien was not invited to the awards ceremony. Disappointed, Vivien confronted the professor, who replied, "It's not because you're black, but because you don't have a medical degree." A public surgery with invited physicians from inside and outside the hospital was scheduled. On the day of the surgery, the professor, having washed his hands and entered the operating room, suddenly rushed out to search for Vivien. Persuaded that the surgery couldn't proceed without him, Vivien agreed to help. The doctors sitting in the tiered observation seats saw the professor performing surgery while listening to Vivien's advice standing behind him like a cloak.

After the professor fell ill and passed away, Vivien continued to work for 33 years and trained many surgeons as a leader in cardiac surgery, sending them across the United States. In 1976, a university-sponsored commendation ceremony was held for him. He was awarded an honorary doctorate, and his portrait was hung in the university hall as one of the contributors to the university. You can still see the portrait next to Professor Blalock's.

I later learned that this movie has been re-evaluated as a document for the advancement of African Americans. Also, the name of the female pediatrician is Helen Brooke Taussig. Although not mentioned specifically in the movie, she entered Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1923 because she was not admitted to Harvard, where she wanted to attend, possibly due to being a woman. So, unwittingly, this movie is also connected to the history of the struggles of women who aimed to become doctors at the time. She left her mark with the Blalock-Taussig shunt.

By the way, there is an interesting episode about the scene of Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman, falling. That surprised and fearful expression was not acting but real. Rickman, who challenged the 12-meter high set without using a stuntman, was supposed to fall on the count of 3. However, he was dropped on count 1.