Something the Lord Made

The film “Something the Lord Made” directed by Joseph Sargent tells the tale of Alfred Blalock, a cardiologist, and his African American lab technician Vivien Thomas, who work together in finding a solution to a disease known as Blue Baby Syndrome before time runs out. Though in the beginning Thomas was intended to be a janitor for Blalock’s laboratory, Thomas’ profound knowledge of medicine and the body led him to be Blalock’s right-hand man, and together, they further their research. Though the two succeed in finding a solution to the Blue Baby Syndrome, the two would converse with multiple conflicts before they would find a cure. The Blue Baby Syndrome proved to be an extremely difficult challenge for the two. During the time the two lived in, research on the syndrome was extremely far behind with many surgical procedures considered to be taboo, such as performing surgery on the heart. But, with the brilliance of the two, Blalock and Thomas were able to perform a successful surgery on the baby diagnosed with Blue Baby Syndrome. Another problem the two had to face was the racial differences between Vivien and the hospital. During the 1930’s, blacks were known for having a lower education, meaning there were very little black doctors during their time. Thomas being a technician along side Blalock was very controversial between the duo and the hospital they worked at. But over time, the hospital was able to acknowledge Thomas’ understanding of cardiology and accepted him as a doctor in their hospital and credited him along with Blalock as finding a solution to the Blue Baby Syndrome. Thomas was at first a carpenter, but his unknown intelligence would later reveal itself later on in the story. Though many people such as his employers thought he was just a simple-minded black, Blalock was one of the few people to first acknowledge his genius. Thomas’ thorough knowledge on the human body and the different instruments inside the lab would later