Running head: LILO AND STITCH

Nursing Reflection Project: Lilo and Stitch

Cynthia Arce

15 October 2019

Pediatrics
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The movie that I chose to reflect on is Lilo and Stitch. I chose this movie because I loved

Lilo and Stitch growing up, and I still love it to this day. I used to love this movie for many

reasons. I was obsessed with the way that Stitch talked and I even tried to talk like him. I also

loved this movie so much because Elvis Presley is referenced in the movie many times. My

grandma passed her obsession with Elvis on to me so we really enjoyed this movie together. My

five year old brother now loves Lilo and Stitch as well so he watches the movie often. However,

I haven't actually sat down and watched the whole movie in a long time. By actually sitting down

and watching the whole movie again, it made me realize different ideas in the movie that I didn’t

notice before. Growing up, I was always focused on the characters of the movie and how funny

they were. As I rewatched this movie, rather than seeing the comedy this movie brings, I realized

this movie is really sad. It has deep meanings about life and lots of character development. This

movie influences me as an adult and nurse in the future because it has many life situations that I

will experience with my patients.

One of the main characters in the movie is Stitch. He is a blue alien experiment that was

named after a number, specifically, experiment 626, until his owner and best friend Lilo named

him. My viewpoint of him has not changed in terms of personality. I have always seen him as a

funny, helpful, child like character that had a positive impact on most of the characters in the

movie. As a child, watching Stitch and the way that he behaved just made me think that he was

just made to be that way. As an adult, watching Stitch made me realize that he didn’t know any

better. He was never taught to have manners so that’s why he never fit in. One character that I

have a new appreciation for is Lilo’s hula instructor. Growing up, Lilo’s hula instructor always

seemed to be annoying by letting her sister Nani know everything that she did. However, I

realized he was just looking out for Lilo because he cared so much about her. He just wanted to
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make sure Lilo was okay at all times and that she got home safe. Every time I would watch this

movie, I always had a little hatred toward the character of Mr. Bubbles. He was Lilo’s social

worker and he always seemed to get me angry because he wanted to take Lilo away from her

sister. However, I now realized Mr. Bubbles was only doing the right thing to make sure that

Lilo was safe and in good hands. He actually reminded me of a nurse in a way because he asked

a lot of questions to his client and made sure she was okay. He asked Lilo questions like is she

happy, is she okay, and does she like living at home. Mr. Bubbles was always concerned for Lilo

and the environment that she was living in. He made sure that Lilo’s sister Nani had a job and

was able to take care of Lilo. The scene where Mr. Bubbles takes Lilo to his car to take her away

from her sister always made me angry. As a child, I always felt sad when I seen this scene

because it always made me think about how she felt. By rewatching this scene as an adult, I was

able to see that this might have been the best decision for their family.

Throughout the whole movie, Stitch discovers many things about himself. Stitch is seen

as an “abomination” and a “monster” by his creators (Spencer et al., 2002). He knows that he

was created as an experiment. He was created with powers such as being able to see in the dark,

having 6 arms, and moving objects three times his size. Instead of being just another numbered

experiment, he discovers that he can do so much more. He learns what a family is and discovers

what it’s like to be loved. Stitch found his place in life when he met Lilo. He would have never

learned what a family was if he didn’t meet her. Out of all of the dogs in the shelter that Lilo

could have chosen, she picked Stitch because he was different. Throughout the movie, Lilo

discovers that she is different than all of the other girls her age, and that’s why I believe she

chose Stitch to be her pet. While she enjoys hula class with the rest of the girls her age, she also

enjoys photography, feeding peanut butter jelly sandwiches to fishes on Tuesday's, and carrying
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around her voodoo doll everywhere she goes. The girls her age always made fun of her and

called her crazy because she was different. They always left her alone and she even

acknowledged that they treat her different. Even though she is different than the rest, she was

able to make a friend that turned out to be her best friend. I believe that Stitch helped boost her

confidence and gave her a sense of belonging in her family. Stitch was like the missing piece to

Lilo’s family. Another character is Pleakly. He was always put down and seen as a nuisance,

however, he is actually really intelligent and helpful. Throughout the movie it shows that he is

not satisfied with his looks. He breaks gender stereotypes by wearing a wig and dressing like a

woman sometimes. Even though Pleakly was always different from the others, he was someone

that was a very helpful friend.

There are ethical issues in this movie. The ethical principle of beneficence was shown

many times. The principle of beneficence consists of rules such as protecting and defending the

rights of others, rescue persons in danger, and preventing harm from occurring to others (Butts,

2016). One excellent example from this movie that shows this principle is when Stitch and the

rest of the characters had to rescue Lilo from the bad guy. They did everything that they could to

get Lilo back to them so she could be safe. As nurses, it is our job to do good for our patients and

do everything in our power to keep them safe. That is why there are prevention measures that

nurses have to make sure are in place. In order to do good for our patients, nurses need to have a

caring heart, and that is exactly what the characters showed as they rescued Lilo. Nurses also

need to prevent their patients from harm which is the ethical principle of nonmaleficence. The

characters that were trying to take Stitch back to his planet were not trying to hurt him but rather

take him back where he belongs. This relates to nursing because nurse are to do no harm to their

patients. They are to protect their patients from anything that could hurt them. Facing death is
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another ethical issue that was in this movie. Lilo and Nani’s parent’s died in an accident, so they

had to learn to live on their own. This is where grief comes into play. Most of the time, children

and adolescents are not prepared for death (Butts, 2016). They have to learn to progress and deal

with the pain that they have (Butts, 2016). Before Lilo met Stitch, she seemed to be sad and

didn’t show emotion. Stitch helped make her happy and made them have a family again. This

shows that sometimes friendship helps people overcome their problems. Nurses should show

their patients that they care about them in every way that they can because you never know what

they could be going through. Another ethical issue that this movie showed was of autonomy.

Autonomy is the freedom and ability to make personal decisions and be independent (Butts,

2016). Lilo was just a child that lived with her older sister. Rather than asking her sister Nani,

their social worker Mr. Bubbles always asked Lilo directly how she felt. This is something that

nurses have to deal with in pediatrics all the time. Sometimes children that are staying at the

hospital will not have parents or guardians in the room with them. Therefore, nurses have to

communicate with the children and ask them directly how they feel.

This movie relates to me as a nurse in pediatrics in many ways. True emotions and real

situations that happen in families were shown throughout the whole movie. Family hardships

were shown such as getting taken away from your family by social services, feeling alone, living

without parents, losing jobs, running away, having bad days, and not having a lot in general.

Throughout my nursing career, I know that I will experience these situations with my pediatric

patients. Not all children have parents and some of the kids that I will have to take care of will be

going through these situations. As a nurse, I must be understanding and know that not everyone’s

lives are the same. Two quotes from the movie that stuck out to me was “sometimes they are for

the better” and “sometimes things have to change” (Spencer et al., 2002). Every patient deals
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with something different, and nurses have to understand that. Of course the main line of the

movie “Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten” really

emphasizes the importance of the real meaning of family. Nurses should never make a patient

feel like they are forgotten. Nurses should always be there for their patients and make them feel

good even when they aren’t doing good physically.

When Stitch landed on Earth, he had to learn manners and how to act like a regular

person on Earth. This made reminded me of children because they learn as they experience new

things. Stitch was like a young child learning how to act in the world. He got disciplined for

doing things that were not normal. Kids know a lot, however, they don’t understand everything.

There was one part of the movie where Lilo’s sister Nani lost her job because Stitch was being a

nuisance. When Lilo asked her what happened, Nani said that her boss was being weird, and Lilo

replied that she figured that was the reason. This shows how kids can be vulnerable and think

they understand situations when in reality they don’t. This shows the innocence of children. One

quote from Stitch that stuck out to me was when he said that he was “little and broken but still

good” (Spencer et al., 2002). I believe this quote relates to pediatric patients that are in the

hospital. For example, my clinical is on the oncology unit. I experienced what it’s like to take

care of sick children that can’t go home until they feel better. Therefore, this quote means a lot

because those children may be little and broken, meaning they are sick, but they are still human

and still need love and care. They are human just like everyone else and their feelings are

important.

To this day, Lilo and Stitch will always be one of my favorite movies of all time. This

movie has taught me true feelings and situations that people go through in life. Rewatching this

movie made me realize that the story line is actually sad. It made me realize things that I didn’t
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notice while watching as a child. When you rewatch something from your childhood, it makes

you see how much your mentality and intelligence has grown. The main line of “Ohana means

family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten,” (Spencer et al., 2002) will stick

with me forever. Despite the sadness that this movie brings, it does have a happy ending. Finding

your place in life and discovering where you belong is a very important aspect of life. As a nurse,

I hope to help my patients discover things about themselves that they haven’t and bring light to

their lives.
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References

Butts, J. B., & Rick, K. L. (2016). Nursing Ethics: Across The Curriculum and Into Practice (4th

ed.) Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Spencer, C. (Producer), & Sanders, C. (Director), & Deblois, D. (Director). (2002). Lilo and

Stitch. [Motion Picture]. United States: Walt Disney Pictures.