Work, Play, and Worship in "Whose Life Is It Anyway?"

In the film Whose Life Is It Anyway? we are introduced to the character of Ken. Ken's life is changed after a life-altering car accident leaves him a quadriplegic. Ken, being unable to live the life he is accustomed asks to be released from the hospital and refuses medical treatment. Throughout this paper I will delve into the roles that work, play, and worship played in Ken's life both pre-accident and post-accident. The roles of work, play, and worship will also tie in with Ken's personal freedom, on how active Ken appears to be, and on the responsibilities Ken takes on day to day. While Ken is an interesting figure who seems to have his priorities in line both before and after his accident, there is very little effort to adapt to his new life which, in turn, comes into conflict with the way Ken sees leisure in his life. Freedom played an extremely important role in Ken's life. Joblin states that he sees leisure as free experience, believing that "leisure initially (is) an attitude or state of mind that people can experience not only in an immediate moment or activity but also in all of time and all of life's activities," (Joblin 9). Ken can also be seen as a "free experience" believer. Prior to his accident, Ken is free to work, as seen by his teaching of classes at the school. He is also free to play, being able to run and laugh with his significant other, Patty, and is able to worship through his sculptures. It is important to note that Ken's sculpting is not only worship to him, rather it can be seen as work and play as well, as it is taken seriously yet still is an enjoyable aspect of Ken's life. However, after Ken's accident he seems to have lost the ability to enjoy work, play, and worship as he once knew it. Ken is unable to move, those losing the ability to draw and sculpt, which were a major part of his day to day work, play and worship. Also, as part of play and worship, sexual relations had become all but impossible for Ken with the