while i have seen documentaries that are more detailed and more in depth this is a very much worth watching. its only an hour so it will hold interest even for those that are not historians. it is as much interesting for its historic content as well as for its medical revelations and the legal issues it discusses. in a time when medical science was a burgeoning field Mary was swept away based on NEW ideas of germs causing illness. also of special note is that this was one of the first documented instances where a carrier of a disease was identified even though they displayed no symptoms. the treatment of Mary Mallon at the hands of the NYC authorities is also suspect. Mary did file a lawsuit and was successful in obtaining her freedom from her first incarceration. Unfortunately, we do not have a great deal of in depth information on Mary and are unable to ascertain her motives except by circumspect. Mary again went to work preparing food and was again quarantined, this time for the remainder of her life
2 Reviews
Well made but I was very confused, at first, why Anthony Bourdain was in this show.
planktonrules1 August 2013
Anthony Bourdain is known today for three main things--his snarky TV show, his snarky books and that he's a terrific chef. So, when I kept seeing him interviewed throughout this documentary, I kept wondering WHY he was interviewed. Fortunately, my know-it-all daughter was watching with me and she did an internet search--showing that Bourdain had written a book about the woman featured in this film! So, this is why he was so prominently present throughout this documentary! Why, then, isn't he listed in the credits on IMDb? And, why isn't this show listed when you look him up on IMDb?
The film is about an extraordinary woman, Mary Mallon--who was re-christened 'Typhoid Mary' by the press. Why? Because although she didn't seem sick, she was a carrier of typhoid. While this might have been a minor problem, there were two major problems. First, of all the jobs she could have had, being a cook was the perfect vector for transmission of the disease to others. Second, Mary just didn't seem to care that she was infecting and even killing others. Let me explain about this second problem. When she was first discovered to be a carrier, they quarantined her. However, they knew they couldn't just keep her forever, so they let her go--admonishing her NOT to do any more cooking. Well, after she disappeared, she was found doing exactly this--and infecting those around her. This really confused me, as the show seemed to say that Mary was a victim or didn't realize what she was doing. However, her not being an educated woman would NOT have made her do exactly what the health department warned her not to do--plus several people died because of her actions! All in all, a very interesting show but one that seemed to incorrectly paint this infamous woman as a victim. All I know is that my daughter and I certainly lost all sympathy for her when she seemed to deliberately infect those around her. Worth seeing but perhaps a bit of too revisionist for my taste.
The film is about an extraordinary woman, Mary Mallon--who was re-christened 'Typhoid Mary' by the press. Why? Because although she didn't seem sick, she was a carrier of typhoid. While this might have been a minor problem, there were two major problems. First, of all the jobs she could have had, being a cook was the perfect vector for transmission of the disease to others. Second, Mary just didn't seem to care that she was infecting and even killing others. Let me explain about this second problem. When she was first discovered to be a carrier, they quarantined her. However, they knew they couldn't just keep her forever, so they let her go--admonishing her NOT to do any more cooking. Well, after she disappeared, she was found doing exactly this--and infecting those around her. This really confused me, as the show seemed to say that Mary was a victim or didn't realize what she was doing. However, her not being an educated woman would NOT have made her do exactly what the health department warned her not to do--plus several people died because of her actions! All in all, a very interesting show but one that seemed to incorrectly paint this infamous woman as a victim. All I know is that my daughter and I certainly lost all sympathy for her when she seemed to deliberately infect those around her. Worth seeing but perhaps a bit of too revisionist for my taste.
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