Thoughts on 13 Ways of Looking at Henrietta Lacks

I really enjoyed the article by John D. Lantos because it was a more all encompassing view of the Henrietta Lacks story. I believe there is an inclination in many posthumous stories to avoid villainizing the deceased. While there is this aim, it also conflicts with the idea that in any GOOD story there must be a definitive villain and hero for this particular instance. Skloot's novel, while indisputably well-written, can be misleading. In equating the issue of lack of informed consent to a social justice issue of stealing something from a vulnerable African American family, Skloot doesn't make efforts to address the issues this perspective raises. She acknowledges that other women were "victims" of having their cells used in research without their knowledge. Using Ms. Lacks as a standalone example and the "only" case that deserved compensation is more than a bit unfair to those other women. Speaking admittedly with hindsight bias, Skloot could've used this opportunity to bring to light the overarching issue of lack of access to healthcare and the common lack of informed consent that plagued families like that of Henrietta Lacks'. A few of the points by Lantos carried a similar tone of the scientists argument for "The greater good" and those are the only points of which I don't really care for. It's bringing in the assumption that Ms. Lacks would've donated which can be a bit dismissive of the power of consent. One should have the personal power to decide whether or not they would like to contribute to this "greater good" we all seemed to have vague ideas about. While research is amazing and donating should be something people are proud of, it is still a disservice to Ms. Lacks to view her as we'd like to and force her into the boxes of our narratives. We will never know if she would've willfully donated cells. The sooner we come to terms with our lack of control of the narratives of people passed, the sooner we will be able to look at cases like these for what they are.