Book Vs. Movie Something the Lord Made
The 1989 Washingtonian Article Vs the 2004 HBO Movie

The Margos learn part of the history of heart surgery starting with Katie McCabe’s 1989 article Like Something the Lord Made from Washingtonian magazine which features the work of Vivien Thomas, one of the pioneers of the “Blue Baby” heart surgery techniques. Thomas, an African American janitor at Vanderbilt University during the American Depression went to work for Dr. Alfred Blalock as a research assistant in heart surgery.

Thomas dreamed of being a doctor for decades but due to many circumstances, including racism and segregation, he was relegated to being an important part of the actual surgery and research but wasn’t given proper attribution for his work until decades after the first successful surgery was performed. In the Washingtonian article, several doctors talk with reverence about the teachings of Thomas and his surgical skills.

The movie was created for HBO in 2004 and stars Alan Rickman as Blalock, Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) as Thomas, Kyra Sedgwick (Mary Blalock,) Gabrielle Union (Clara Thomas,) Merritt Wever (Mrs. Saxon,) Mary Stuart Masterson as Helen B. Taussig. It features experiments (faked for the movie) on dogs, so warning!

It was eventually nominated for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and eight other categories for the Emmys that year, the Golden Globes, Director’s Guild of America, NAACP Image Award, a Peabody, and was recognized by the American Film Institute.

So, between the original story and the adaptation--which did we prefer?

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In this ep the Margos discuss:
The original article which one a national magazine award
The life story of Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock
How the movie brings the story to life
Starring: Alan Rickman, Mos Def, Kyra Sedgwick, and Mary Stuart Masterson.

Clips used:
Vivien Thomas meets Dr. Alfred Blalock
Something the Lord Made original trailer
Dr. Blaylock gets Vivien more money
Dr. Blaylock introduces Dr. Helen B. Taussig at a party where Vivien is a server
Operation of Eileen Saxon
Everyone is rewarded/mentioned except for Vivien at Dr. Blalock’s part
Last time Dr. Blalock & Vivien speak
Vivien receives an honorary doctorate
Music by Christopher Young

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Margo D. @BrooklynFitChik www.brooklynfitchick.com brooklynfitchick@gmail.com
Margo P. @ShesNachoMama https://coloniabook.weebly.com/

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