This is the sixth Bill Moyers DVD set I've reviewed this year, and it's the most affecting as well. As you might have been able to gather from the title, On Our Own Terms is about death and the choices associated with it. It features real people at the end of their lives, with their loved ones struggling to help them die in a peaceful way. As such, it's not the easiest documentary to watch. It's certainly the most difficult of the Moyers documentaries that I've seen so far.
"I hope to die at home," says one interviewee, a cancer patient, "and I want to be the Master of Ceremonies."
Moyers, as always, is a wonderful guide to this emotional series, asking just the right questions and then letting his subjects do the talking. Moyers, who describes the series as being "about dying in America," writes the introduction of the sixteen-page booklet included with the set. The same booklet also features "How to Be with a Dying Person," by the Rev. Chuck Meyer, "Grief," by Kenneth J. Doka, and a collection of other articles and glossary terms to serve as a supplement to viewing the series.
The series, which originally aired in 2000, comes to DVD for the first time from Acorn Media's Athena Learning imprint. All four 90-minute episodes are contained on the two-disc set.
What is gained by watching this series? It provides a better understanding of human nature. How do people react in the face of death? How do they choose to live as death becomes imminent? What decisions will they make regarding it? As I said, it's not light watching, but it's an ultimately rewarding and emotional experience.
