The Power of Film; Disability Through a New Lens

I recently spent a weekend watching disability-related films, for fun, but then realized my curiosity yearned for a deeper dive into the perception of the disabled experience through a mainstream-media lens—first beginning with the feature film Me Before You and ending with the Netflix film The Fundamentals of Caring. As a disabled millennial, I’ve noticed that we live in a culture that promotes very different messages about the disabled experience.

I’m not sure where to begin with Me Before You, except that I’m still fuming on how executives thought this book would be a great movie. I clearly knew about the film’s marketing slogan and Twitter handle #LiveBoldy which was completely contradictory to the plot of a quadriplegic wanting to end his life because he couldn’t accept his newly acquired disability. A large number of disability advocates protested against this movie at premieres and through Twitter chats with actors, but I wanted to make my own judgment. At first I was drawn in by the gorgeous face of Sam Claflin (a non-disabled actor) who played William Traynor and his cute relationship with actress, Emilia Clarke, but as the plot thickens, the story line is clearly problematic for people living with disabilities and contrary to everything the disability community stands for. I cringed when William stated how he doesn’t accept himself being disabled, and therefore does not accept his life as a quadriplegic. Not once did the film discuss mental health issues associated with acquiring a disability later in life and instead romanticized a horrible stereotype for the disabled – that being disabled means one cannot provide or equally give to his or her partner in a relationship. In addition, the film suggested that it’s better to end one’s life being disabled than to live a good-quality life with a disability. I finished watching the film feeling absolutely disgusted and outraged that audiences would pay to see this film and think these actions are typical and okay. As a former disabled athlete fully living and loving my life, I truly hope that audiences do not emulate these underlining themes in their daily interactions. As filmmaker and activist, Dominick Evans, states -

The problem with films like Me Before You is that we have seen this message over and over again, in other films before it like The Sea Inside and Million Dollar Baby. These films promote the idea that it’s better to be dead than to be disabled. We had activists from at least three countries, the United States, the UK and Australia working together to protest this film because we know that when films depict this message disabled people will sometimes take this to heart. They will truly start believing their life is not valuable or worth living. Whether this means they kill themselves or seek out assisted suicide, a film like Me Before You has real-world consequences.

After taking a few hours to decompress, I watched The Fundamentals of Caring, available on Netflix. The film features Paul Rudd as a personal care assistant to a teenager named Trevor with duchenne muscular dystrophy, acted by Craig Roberts (a non-disabled actor). The plot dances around the theme of exploration, both physical and emotional, as the pair takes a road trip to different parts of the U.S. and meets new characters along the way, including Trevor’s teenage love interest Dot, played by Selena Gomez. I fell in love with the script, character development, and portrayal of muscular dystrophy. As a person living with muscular dystrophy (facioscapulohumeral dystrophy), the dialogue showed a sense of authenticity intertwined with the vividly witty personality of Trevor. Particular scenes in this film have happened to me such as the various questions Dot asks Trevor related to his condition when they first interact at the restaurant. These scenes honestly portrayed the teenager-disabled experience. Trevor made light of his disability because of the acceptance and comfort he had with himself and this was refreshing to see. Finally, I found a fictional film which realistically portrayed a disabled character who neither expressed exaggerated sadness for being disabled, nor became an inspiration to the non-disabled for doing daily tasks or having human desires like everyone else. I was so touched by this film and portrayal of disability that I reached out to the director and writer, Rob Burnett.

We need to continue to praise films such as The Fundamentals of Caring for its character development with Trevor. I want to continue to see similar films that perpetuates the message of independence, love, and human rights for the disability community because I’m tired of deconstructing dangerous stereotypes enabled by our media. Film can be used as a powerful tool to unravel the notion that the disabled are incredibly different than their able-bodied counterparts. In turn, directors can create an inclusive atmosphere while producing a captivating source of entertainment by employing actors with disabilities, which both films failed to do. As stated by Evans, this is an ongoing issue-

The disability community is so desperate for representation that doesn’t say we have to be dead, that we’re willing to accept anything that is at least slightly positive, even when it still has problems. If we accept the casting of non-disabled actors as disabled, and do not demand as a community that disabled people can at least be allowed to audition, if not cast, we are never going to see full inclusion.

Major production companies are beginning to understand this, as we’ve seen the new ABC show, Speechless, employing disabled actor, Micah Fowler, and presenting disability topics with a comedic spin. Our media still falls short, however, and needs to do a better job portraying disabled characters and employing disabled actors. What we see matters. Our sources of entertainment and the depiction of others matter. What we absorb on a subliminal level matters whether we want to acknowledge this or not. And through film, we have the power to drastically change and improve our perceptions, including the disabled experience.