Mac and Me (1988):

Mac and Me (1988):

"An alien trying to escape from NASA is befriended by a wheelchair-bound boy."

Here is a strange flick! While it's blatantly a McDonalds tie-in with Mac. the alien as a faux-E.T., there's a lot of weirdness going on here. The aliens discover they can drink Coca-Cola through their fingers, and the police shoot at them, further injuring Eric. (The wheelchair-bound boy.)

Then, they go to McDonald's and all dance together! Everything's fine! The day is saved by McDonald's and Coca-Cola! It's free on PlutoTV. It's good for a laugh, but don't expect E.T.!

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006):

Strange movie based on the imaginary life of a photographer who photographed circus freaks. In this version, her husband is the photographer. Eventually she meets a circus freak neighbor (man with werewolf syndrome.) and they begin a romance, and it encourages her to start exploring her body, desires, and the human form.

Pre-Iron Man RDJ does a great job as the neighbor with werewolf syndrome. Unfortunately, the DVD cover gives away a huge spoiler. In any case, it's a great quirky film with a lot of dark tension and heavy romance themes. I've never quite seen anything else like it.

March 8 2014: VSA Day of Arts For All

                                         Janine Moore's "Orange Groves", 1st Place Emerging Artist

                                                     Henry Hess’s “No Place Like Home”

               (Spartan meets Pyramid Head” by Jonah Farmer.)

If you follow my blog, you know I usually go to The Day of Arts for All on March 8, to report on it. But this year, I was even in it! My piece was called “Pig Head”, which used bright colors and saturation to illustrate a pig head via digital art. Aside from art, there was also some music by Sarah Bellish, a young soloist who uses her experience with disability to write music. A great opportunity to listen to some of the great life experience disability brings, in a soulful way! There were also videos meant to illustrate the experience of disability. The theme of the day seemed  to be representing these perceptive  personal experiences.

 Then the awards came. All who participated got an award. Including me! All the pieces were great, but the two I liked best were Henry Hess’s “No Place Like Home”, showing Dorothy’s ruby slippers, which won third place in the Youth Artist category. 2nd Place in the same category went to a Halo/Silent Hill inspired piece! “Spartan meets Pyramid Head” by Jonah Farmer. 1st place in the same category went to Nathaniel Curtiss of Worthington for Where Miles Davis Recorded The Birth of Cool! A super cool use of perspective! Best in Show was called: “Beautiful Nature Life: Where Everyone Would Like to Be”, a mixed media piece by the team of Wendi Olszewski, Shawnda Osswald, and Stephanie Spencer, depicting a brightly colored rural life.

But, everyone wins in my book, because we all told our stories through art: “Why the pig head?” Someone asked me in front of my piece. “Why not?” I said. The point for me is just to create something that didn’t exist before. The image that jumped out at me in the framework of my color scheme was a pig head. I’m interested in seeing how my mind and experience as a disabled person translates to my creations, as each
artist did through their own perspective. By his/her own experience.

Going back to perspectives, the films Be My Brother is an Australian short film about a man with Down Syndrome who records everything he observes, but he cannot get his brother to record something on the bench with him. He displays a dazzling intelligence, quoting everything from Shakespeare to The Lion King, and even charms a woman who he describes as the “most attractive woman in the world”. The film ends on a bus, with his brother hugging him.    

Sensory Overload is a film from the perspective of an autistic. As such, there is intermittent sound, and sometimes it becomes increasing overwhelming. From the blaring of city sirens to a cashier tapping a pen in a café. Wild colors add to the disorientation, and autistic perspective. The film ends in silence as a woman helps the boy pick up papers he lost from his backpack.

We ended with a comedy called Jazz Hand. In this a Californian woman with a prosthetic hand enters a dance audition. While tap dancing, her hand falls off and the choreographer recoils in exaggerated disgust. She puts her hand back on! But backwards! Lots of big laughs from this one, and nice to see a “disability movie” that is a comedy. “Do you think he noticed?” Asks the dancer. Duh! Yes!

I’m pleased to have been a part of The Day of Arts for all. It was a fun time, and I got to get my art out and look and other people’s art! That’s always a good day for me when I can get positive messages about disability! We are all capable of becoming more than we appear to be. Thanks, VSA! I had a great time.

For a full list of Day of Arts for All winners visit VSA's website: www.vsao.org

                                                     ("Pig Head" by Chris Bowsman.)

                               

Planet of Snail (2012)

PLANET OF SNAIL (2012)

 Young-Chan Cho: “All the deaf and blind people have the heart of an astronaut.”

Planet of Snail is a documentary from South Korea. It is very slow-paced and plays with minimal sound to simulate Young-Chan reliance on tactile communication and finger taps as opposed to always using voice. His voice, one might say is the lack of sound. The story follows him along with his wife Soon-Ho. Soon-Ho has a disability caused by degeneration of the spine.

Together the film explores their mutual dependency and quiet, slow lives. The reference to Young-Chan Cho as an astronaut in the Planet of Snail is interesting because I too consider myself an alien. Some things that an able-bodied person can do very easily, I can’t. But, I think from that I gained a desire to explain my worldview. For Young-Chan Cho, it’s the same. On one hand, he talks about his disability as no different than fading memory for a sighted person. When you remember something with sight, it’s never as clear as it was when you saw it the first time. A very insightful critique of sightedness!

    On the other hand, Young-Chan’s poetry reveals a deep understanding of how his life is alien. “What I see in front of me is my reality.” He says. “I am deaf-blind even in my dreams.” In spite of this determination, he encounters obstacles very early on in the film. While taking a Hebrew exam, Young-Chan’s professor says that he had the words in the right order, but his assistant transcribed it wrong. That is, his wife, not his assistant. But, he gets an A+!

    Later in the film, we see Young-Chan eating with friends, who look as though they may be deaf-blind as well. They get into an argument about why he married, and the other friend believes he may never marry. Much of this argument is done through tactile communication and finger tapping. I don’t know Korean sign language, and only understand little bits of American Sign Language, but the finger tapping to me seemed vital to understanding the language. Young-Chan’s friend believes he married Soon-Ho to be a live-in caretaker, which Young-Chan Cho denies, but seems shaken by.

   Through his friend, we see his clay crafts, including a mug shaped like a naked man. Young-Chan explains that he didn’t like that one very much. Soon-Ho says that sometimes he takes care of her, because sometimes her pain is so bad that she can’t even pick up the phone. “I couldn’t even say hello. I could only make screeching sounds.” She says. Nonetheless, we see Soon-Ho helping Young-Chan around the house more often than vice versa: Fixing a light, helping with food, walking on the beach, even helping to organize Cho’s play with his friends.

     The film ends with a solo trip to a doctor's appointment, where he admits he was scared to be without his companion. “I felt colder.” He says.  Then, Young-Chan Cho goes swimming, where he says he can open his eyes and see a different world. (As opposed to The Planet of Snail.) In closing, he says he's only waiting to see the most precious things. He and I have much in common. We are both astronauts; we both use words to paint our lived experiences with disability; we have many of the same fears. What will happen to me when my friends and caretakers are gone? The film explores these fears, which at times seem to contradict his coping mechanisms…art and poetry which transcends his body.

    The film is very slow-paced, but there was enough going on that intrigued me that I never lost interest. I love movies about disability experiences, other planets, and other cultures and ways of life. I identified with the main character; but only insofar as he uses art to overcome his disability, such as I try to do. The rest was new to me: The finger tapping, Young-Chan Cho’s beautiful descriptions of his disability in poetry, having a partner vs. having friends, and negotiating each other’s disability. These were all wonderfully new to me. The slow pace also helped me drink in Young-Chan's world.

     I found Planet of Snail to be a fun, dramatic and captivating experience… it is not  just internationally appealing to me, being a Korean film, but it is interculturally appealing too. I mean, I related my experiences with disability with Young-Chan They didn’t always match up. For example, in my dreams, I'm able-bodied, though it by no means is a reflection of de-valuing my life with a disability...I can simply do more in my dreams. Also, Young-Chan says sometimes he knows he’s being stared at. I would tend not to focus on it…nonetheless, I do know it probably is happening.

Anyway, this is a great film that explores many themes about disability and relationships, and the role of art as a tool for life. Highly recommended…I’d say 4/5 stars: the slow pace might be off-putting to some, but in my case, it helped me catch details like the finger tapping as communication. A wonderful film! Go see it!

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)

Christy Brown: I need a light.

Mary Carr: Don’t go thinking I’m your mother now, just ‘cause I’m takin’ care of ya.

Christy Brown: I don’t need a [expletive] psychology lesson. Just get me a [expletive] light.

    I’ve gotten several requests to review this film, and I wasn’t disappointed! My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown is the story of the Irish painter Christy Brown, who has CP (Cerebral palsy.) It covers from his birth in a crowded Irish family to the opening of his own exhibition. As someone who has a more moderate form of CP (Christy grabs everything with his left foot. I also don’t have Christy’s speech problems as severely.) I really have to give credit to Daniel Day Lewis’s method acting. I can almost feel his muscle twitches, spasms, and the battle he must’ve had to create within himself to perform the role.

    Daniel Day Lewis plays Christy Brown as a man who is held together by his sheer will to survive.  Early on, when his mother has a heart attack Christy drops down from the bed where he was placed by his mom, scrapes his way down the stairs and bangs on the door with his left foot. This tenacity endures all throughout the film, into his later adult life, when he’s played by Daniel Day Lewis. Even though throughout his childhood he’s called a dunce and a burden by adults. Surprisingly, like me, he gets along well with able-bodied children, enjoys football, and even for a time rides in a cart for lack of a wheelchair until his 18th birthday.
   
Obviously, as a person with CP myself, I identified with much in this film. I never took speech therapy, but little things like Christy’s artistic impulses I deeply identified with, as well as his search for intimacy. I suppose sometimes I’m even difficult to understand due to my slight tongue thrust. I suppose what I’m getting at is I don’t agree with the idea that able-bodied actors shouldn’t play disabled characters. If I can’t tell the difference, I don’t see how anyone else could.

    Indeed, one of the things I really like about this movie is that it’s not played for sympathy. From the moment he grabs a piece of chalk in his left foot as a child, Christy displays a stubbornness that allows him to overcome his disability as well as  display a deep intelligence behind the stubbornness. Later, he enters speech therapy (At first, so that he can impress his good-looking therapist…) but they fall out when…in a powerful scene…she announces she’s  getting married. He doesn’t handle this well.

    You see, Christy Brown seems to have inherited his father’s love of drink as a coping mechanism, and does not take this very lightly. While they were supposed to be celebrating opening his exhibition, Christy instead launches a tirade against platonic love. The only love he’s ever gotten. Also, his family tries to build him a new art studio, in the hopes that he’ll become motivated to paint again and come out of his depression. Which ultimately culminates in a bar fight, and of course the opening of the exhibition where he meets Mary, who we are later informed Christy married in 1972.

     Daniel Day Lewis’s portrayal of the adult Christy really makes this a good “disability” movie. Christy always aims to prove people wrong about his limits, even if it is to spite them. He first tells his therapist to “[expletive] off!” but she tells him that with therapy he could learn to say it more clearly. But, I think also, his rhetoric and art reveal a deep striving and human understanding which lie beneath his stubbornness. Christy always had to prove people wrong…he also strove to connect with them…though not always successfully.

    Overall, it’s a great film. It is inspiring, but not in a way that inspires pity…which is what I suspect is what most people mean when nowadays people say “I’m not here to inspire you.” in connection with the disability rights movement. Of course, I’m here to inspire people. I’m just not here to be pitied. We as humans must continually strive to inspire ourselves to keep living; to make life meaningful. Which is I think what Christy Brown does in this movie…both with his painting, and continual self-improvement.

I mean, he learns to crawl with his foot, then to grab things, then to speak…this is a story of continual overcoming, but a realistic one…full of rejection and hope deferred. 5/5 stars from me! I fully support able-bodied actors playing disabled characters! (And think the modern controversy…is to be blunt…ridiculous.)  I don’t think you could’ve gotten a better Christy Brown. I think all disability advocates should see this! Or if you just like great movies!

     

ReelAbilities Columbus 2013:

ReelAbilities Columbus 2013:

When I went to Reelabilities 2013 this weekend, the first movie I saw was “Aphasia”, in the McConnell Arts Center. It’s an American film (2011) about Carl McIntyre, an actor and salesman who has a stroke, and suffers from aphasia, the inability to read, write, or understand spoken language. The film follows his year and a half trying to regain these skills. It’s a very comedic film, but not without it’s touching moments, such as when Carl first suffers the stroke, his kids jump on him and his wife yells at him to get up and stop messing around.
   
Also, the film shows Carl’s frustration of having to learn words again. Oddly, the first words he seems to learn quickly are curse words, which is sometimes played for comedic effect. (They must be stored in a different part of the brain…or linked to his frustration.) Such as when he goes to a fast food joint and tries to order a “Frozee”, but ends up seeming to order…something else! He also has trouble distinguishing between yes and no at first, which means he ends up with much larger orders sometimes and says yes when he means no.

    In his therapy,  he begins to show “cognitive flexibility” which is why he can relearn words by getting around to them in his brain. For example to say “when” Carl at first has to say “Chicken” which surprises his therapist. “Chicken?” she asks. Then, Carl says “Chicken! Eggs! Hen! Www-when!” The surprising thing for me was how much I empathized with Carl’s aphasia. Having learnt another language (And sometimes having difficulty with my own…but haven‘t we all had those?), it’s frustrating when you can’t convey what you want, and embarrassing when you say something completely different.

     This is a short film, 40 minutes long, that embraces the entire gambit of human emotions, and the human struggle to adapt to worlds which we don’t understand. Ultimately, Carl realizes when he’s watching himself on TV that: “There are two mes. The then and the now. And the now me is the only version of me this little boy [his son] will ever know.” And spoiler alert: He does finally get that Frozee!

   This is a great film for anyone who has struggled to communicate. Or likes to laugh. Funny story: as I came into the theater, people there must’ve thought I was with the Dancing Wheels, a disabled dance group that was there earlier that evening. They showed me into the theater, and then I got on this big metal lift, and I almost ended up on stage. I didn’t know! I thought it was just really good handicapped seating! But, then I told them I wasn’t a dancer, and they took me back down into the audience. Communication breakdown even between non-aphasiacs!

     The second day was when I saw “Renn Wenn Du Kannst” and “Yo Tambien” in the Wexner Center. These were the two films I’d planned to see originally. “Yo Tambien” (Me too.) is about a man called Daniel with Down Syndrome who falls in love with his able-bodied coworker Laura in Seville’s Department of Disability Services. Daniel is wonderfully arrticulate, and discusses philosophy, and art, and his disability with her. Laura is more of a “wild child” who has a dislike for rules, and is new in town, so Daniel is her first connection.

     However, just as Daniel is Laura’s first connection as a friend, Laura is taught how to love again by Daniel’s example. There are hints that Laura was abused as a child, and is estranged by her family. Likewise, Daniel’s mother can be a little to overprotective of him, and thinks he’s somehow being taken advantage of. Daniel also has a friend, Pedro, a dancer, who falls in love with a woman with Down Syndrome in his dance class. This serves to show how the concept of normative relationships doesn’t always function correctly.

    In both cases, it is the able-bodied people who do not approve of the relationships. But, they don’t want or need their approval. In Daniel’s case, people think he’s being bamboozled. In Pedro’s case, people think: He has Down Syndrome, how can he know what love (or sex!) is? These are the kind of presumptions the disability community has to work against! It’s not able-bodied vs. disabled. We need more stories like this that show us that. Also, it did remind me a lot of my trip to Spain, as I suspected it would. The fast, colorful language, the classical architecture and wild countryside, and Daniel’s family was always drinking wine. What a great Spanish presentation of the Independent Living and Disability Rights movements!  

    Now on to Renn Wenn Du Kannst (Run If You Can)! This film is from Germany, and follows Ben, a quadraplegic about to complete his MA (Boy, I’ve been there!) who falls for one of his assistants friends, a woman who plays cello, but has crippling stage fright to where she can only perform solo. Now, here’s what I thought was cool: In the opening scene, Ben in ordering his assistant around and cleaning up his apartment, but the moment his aide leaves, his thesis which he just PRINTED, flies out the window. I nearly cursed at loud as Ben does!

    You see, when Annika (His aide/Ben’s love interest, in a sort of love triangle!) has stage fright, she can run away, as she does many times during performances in the movie. Ben can’t run away from his fear which is that he will no longer be able to maintain relationships after his accident. Indeed, in the course of the movie, Ben kind of laughs off the notion that Annika could possibly love him. But, then of course, she does, but neither find that they can perform sexually under the weight of their traumas.

    Ben’s story is that he was in an auto accident that killed his disabled girlfriend as well as left him quadriplegic. Since then, he has developing a joking attitude (He calls his attendant Christian…Nurse Christiane!) and stays away from people, since he can’t run from his fear. As Ben jokes with Christian: “I was not put on Earth to have sex with women. I was put here to look at their backsides.” I must admit, I often take myself out of the game so to speak, before I even know if I’ll succeed. For many of the same reasons; and the fact that it was in German made it hit home closer for me.

    The film wonderfully juxtaposes the need for order (Classical music; cleaning the apartment; the Master’s thesis.) against fear and non-logical impulses. Though all three in the end remain friends, it is left unclear whether they will go their own separate ways. There is a small scene where Ben’s mom comes to visit, and she starts cleaning and Ben tells her to get out! That to me was pretty powerful, as a cultural analyst. This is Ben’s territory! Only he and his aides can order it!

     And hey, as a non-native German-speaker I learned a few new slang words! As usual the European scenery was great…but in a different way than Spain’s. The city of Bottrop, as presented here is large and modern, dominated by high-rises and steel. Actually, Ben climbs the Bottrop Tetrahedron and sits on top of it. Something he told “Christiane” was his “unattainable dream”. A wonderful film dealing with interability relationships…but certainly not as afraid to dive into pain as Yo Tambien. Yo Tambien was more colorful; more Spanish…for lack of a better adjective!

     Afterwards, a speaker read her academic paper on the presence of able-bodied/disabled actors in the media. And even gave some cursory background into the disability rights movement in Germany…by commenting that Germany’s movement is based on “self-determination” (Which she never called by the German Selbstbestimmung.)

   The trouble is, in the USA, it seems to be based on “Independence”. So, whatever differences both movements have based on those words are (to me.) completely rhetorical. I don’t get the difference…but the main argument seemed to be that media presence within the “community” is growing. This year was the opposite of last year’s for me: I came prepared to speak this time, but never quite got the opportunity to ask questions!
 
   All in all, a good ReelAbilities Festival, with some great intercultural discourse on inter-and-intraability relationships. And I got to see one more film than I originally thought! (“Aphasia”) I’m glad VSA Ohio invited me to take part. Each film dealt with the same issues, more or less. But each had a different cultural lens which with to examine our common humanity through stories about disability! ReelAbilities 2013 was a very fun, and very educational time!
     

 

ReelAbilities Film Festival 2013 Preview

ReelAbilities Film Festival 2013 Preview:

Well, I always love the ReelAbilities Film Fest in Columbus! You get to see movies dealing with disabilities and even discuss it afterwards, which is a rare opportunity to make one’s viewpoint as a person with a disability heard. It’s even better, because they always have international entries. So, I get to do some intercultural analysis as well.

     This year they have two entries from Germany, one from China, one from Portugal, one from Israel about a disabled soccer (Football to international viewers.) team. Other entries deal with Down Sydrome, (Yo Tambien, Spain.) and Aspberger’s (The clayamation feature Mary and Max, from Australia.) Longtime viewers of this blog know how important it is to me to promote strong, human portraits of disabilities. And I think ReelAbilities gives us all the opportunity to look at those kind of portraits. The festival begins Oct. 4 and ends on the 7th.

I will go to at least one showing…probably on the 6th, as I am close by the Wexner Center for The Arts. They will show “Yo Tambien” (“Me too”, from Spain.) and Renn Wenn Du Kannst (Run If You Can, from Germany.) Renn Wenn Du Kannst is about a paraplegic man in love with his nurse aide’s love interest. Since I speak German, I definitely want to go when one of the German movies is playing.

The Spanish film will probably remind me of Spain, which is a beautiful country. But, anyway, I rarely see disability films in an international context, so ReelAbilities is a real treat for me.
 
If you’re in the Columbus area, you can catch all the times by going to: columbus.reelabilities.org. Tickets are $5 at the door. If you’re an international reader, let me know of some good films with disabilities in them, and I will submit some requests. If you’re too far away to attend, I’ll provide analysis of the films after I see them to give you a taste. Regrettably, I think I’ll only be able to go to the one screening this year. But, we’ll see.
 
As usual, it should be a fun time, and give me a chance to share my human experience with others who have disabilities. We’ll have some guest speakers, one of whom I know is the poet from last year’s festival. In any case, it should be fun to see some disability stories with a little bit of international flavor! Maybe I’ll see YOU there!

DAREDEVIL (2003):

DAREDEVIL (2003):

Daredevil: “They say your whole life flashes before your eyes when you die. And it's true, even for a blind man.”

    Daredevil is all over the place tonally. The opening scene is of Daredevil crashing through a roof, crawling on the ground and then rolling over before being helped up by a priest. Yeah, you don’t want your superhero to appear physically inept before the movie even starts. That’s not a good sign. Though it offers a portrayal of disability, I couldn’t discern what the ethos of it was, but it definitely wasn’t an uplifting one, and straddles, at times, a tone of pity IN A SUPERHERO MOVIE. Pity doesn’t belong in a superhero movie!
 
For every client Matt Murdock investigates and then beats up in the movie, he throws a fit and goes to a confession booth to tell the priest he’s not the bad guy. The trouble is, we know that, as an audience. We want to see Daredevil kick butt, and…for as much as he does…he spends an equal amount of time on the ground, in a confession booth, or throwing a fit. The problem is that Daredevil is never given the chance to be a competent disabled superhero.
 
 In his alter ego as Matt Murdock he’s shown to be a smooth-talking ladies’ man, but he goes passive-aggressive after he loses a criminal who could lead him to Kingpin, and even has to tell the criminal’s young son: “I’m not the bad guy.” He meets Elektra Nachios (A name that makes me laugh because it sounds like nachos.) after the two of them fight and meet cute.

    That’s another problem with this movie. It tries to introduce Daredevil, Elektra, Bullseye and Kingpin (Played marginally well by Michael Clarke Duncan…but he’s just sort of…there to be evil.) Plus, they try to give you an origin story. All that just can’t fit in one movie. It can’t be a comic book movie/noir/rom-com. Another thing that gets annoying is the references to comic book artists…some of the criminals are named Bendis, Miller, Quesada…Murdock’s client is called Mr. Lee. Ha! (But, surprisingly, Stan’s cameo is as a random pedestrian instead of a client!) Also, Kevin Smith is in forensics…okay, we get it, it’s a superhero movie!

   It’s just a shame they couldn’t show that by actually having the hero be heroic. During the course of the movie he’s nearly defeated 3 times (By Elektra, Bullseye, and nearly Michael Clarke Duncan…who you might know as almost EVERYONE ELSE IN THE MOVIE.) The first defeat comes when Elektra outfights him. The second defeat is after Bullseye kills Elektra, and Daredevil’s saved by…wait for it…bats that fly through the church window. Who’s movie is this?

 Oh yeah and Bullseye kills nearly everyone he meets with pointed things, and that gets freakish and annoying. He kills a talkative granny on an airplane with a well-aimed peanut she chokes on! That’s not cool…that’s weird. How do you aim a peanut?
 
Now, I will give the film credit for at least tangentially dealing with disability and coping mechanisms. Daredevil folds his bills different ways in his wallet, uses adaptive computer equipment, and of course uses his cane, which doubles as a grappling hook/Bo staff. They have him use his radar image trick effective in some scenes, but admittedly, it’s a gimmick to help him out of tight spots. There’s a trick he uses where the sound of water outlines people. I thought that was cool, but still a gimmick.

    I cringed a lot watching this movie again…even if it does foreshadow….(I know I promised no more Batman!) Ben Affleck as a possible Batman. The film even tries to introduce the stories of two main characters…Elektra and Daredevil…just like Batman vs. Superman will attempt to do. Here’s hoping Affleck is older and wiser. And a lot less apologetic.

My main beef with the movie is the portrayal of the disability…although I agree that the noir/rom-com tone was unsettling and that might be the bigger beef with mainstream viewers. But, let’s see…aside from his super senses, he’s easily defeated, constantly needs help from Elektra (Who the movie introduces and then kills.) or random priests, and his super senses are easily overcome by noise…he’s got super hearing! Shouldn’t he have worked that out? In this movie, far from being a superhero, Daredevil looks weak, pitiful, and dumb.

    I watch superhero movies to escape my disabled body. No question about it. But, Daredevil’s disability (at least in the eyes of this movie.) is only a superpower when it advances the plot. The rest of the time it puts him in self-doubt and leaves him ultimately pining for the acceptance (and sex…) of an able bodied woman. (Ben Affleck’s now-wife, Jennifer Garner, whom he first met on this set.)

     If superhero movies should do anything, they should uplift people (of all abilities.) and make them feel like they can do anything. But, what do we say about a man who gets beat up 3 times in his own superhero movie? He looks weak, and trapped by his disability. I realize this film doesn’t exactly cater to disability rights, but it should’ve at least been a superhero movie. 1 star for this dull action/comedy/noir that will make you glad Marvel is sticking to action-comedies. Perhaps Affleck knows noir is more a Batman schtick.

Special (2006)

Special (2006):

Les: “I’m important and I keep this city running.”

Boss: “Good. Now, repeat.”

Les: “I’m important. I’m important. I’m important…”

Don’t we all wish we could be a superhero? A bored meter maid named Les wants to be able to make a difference in people’s lives. He’s tired of reciting his boss’s mantra “I’m important and I keep  this city running.” without really believing in it. So, he takes an experimental pill called “Special”, and now finds that he can walk through walls, fly, and is telepathic.

    But, his friends all think he’s crazy. And that’s because he is. See, the drug only reduced his capacity for self-doubt. Thus, critical thinking as well. In reality, he’s just running into walls, but he thinks he’s going through them. One time, he stops a robbery at a convience store, and his behavior starts to get more bizarre, and psychotic.
 
 When he reveals his powers to his friends (who own a comic book store.) they both laugh and play along, so he thinks they witnessed his powers, too. Soon, he jumps off a gas station rooftop and saves a lady’s purse from getting snatched; the friends start to realize that Les is psychotic.

     Meanwhile, Les’s delusions of grandeur only become bigger. He is confronted by men led by “Jonas Exiler” in suits who want to hunt him and use his DNA to clone an army of super soldiers. He successfully battles them off, and rushes to his friends to tell them they are in danger. But, as his friends become more disturbed by Les’s mania, they try to tell him it’s not real. He pulls a gun on them and accuses them of being brainwashed by “The Suits”. And what started out as a very comedic underdog tale becomes insanely darker as Les’s is tortured by his delusions and continues to lash out at the real world. He holds up his doctor at gunpoint, and in another scene is beaten by his delusions with a 2x4 though it’s apparent Les is only beating himself up.

    Having seen elements of psychosis before in others, I’m not entirely sure how accurate the film is, but it seemed to me to be that way. The delusion starts off as innocent, almost like a game (maybe I AM a superhero.) and then before you know it, he’s dressing in costume and beating up “Suits”. The recent influx of superhero movies kind of made me believe it’s a superhero story; so it makes you suspend disbelief for a minute. But, it’s not. It’s a “disability movie” about the nature of schizophrenia.

 I never once thought Les was a bad guy. On the contrary, his delusions reveal him to be a man of a sweet and good nature who only wants to make the world a better place. Before he’s beaten (first) by the Suits, he yells at Jonas Exiler “Who do you think would care if you disappeared, huh? You think you’re so much better than everyone else! Well, you’re not!” (I wonder if he was merely talking to his self-doubt. He wants to doubt himself again, almost.)

I have probably given away too much already, but this is a deeply touching character study about a man tortured both by his everyday life, and then his escape of it. It’s an emotional roller coaster that will keep you rooting for Les all the way through, even in his more psychotic moments, which reveal themselves to be manifestations of his humane motives. But, people don’t have superpowers. To believe otherwise is crazy, right?