Disability in Film and Books

Good Morning!

I wanted to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately.  There has been a slight increase in movies featuring people with disabilities of all kinds.  Because I watch Riverdale, the two that stick out are Five Feet Apart and an upcoming one Our Chemical Hearts.  Both based off of books, but they have characters with disabilities or illnesses and I think that is super important to talk about.  Now, I haven’t seen Five Feet Apart yet, but I have watched enough interviews with Cole Sprouse and his co-star Haley Lu Richardson to get the jest of it.  The film shows two young adults with Cystic Fibrosis, a life threatening disease that attacks the lungs.  People with CF are not supposed to get within six feet of each other to prevent infections.  FFA is about how important touch is with those you love and how people take that for granted.  Cole and Haley and the director consulted with a girl with CF to play their characters right.  What I love about the premise is it shows that people with differences and disabilities want the same things as those without.  I think sometimes society doesn’t realize that no matter what differences you have, everyone wants love and wants that connection with someone.

Our Chemical Hearts is being filmed right now (I know this because I follow Lili Reinhart on Instagram and Twitter).  I ordered the book and read the summary of it.  It’s about a high school senior named Henry and how he fell in love with the new girl at school, Grace.  Grace is different; she wears mens clothing, she appears not to have showered in a while, and she walks with a cane.  Now, I don’t know what she has, but I know that while making the film, Lili requested to work with Respectability, a group that fights sigmas around disabilities, because she wants to portray the character and her disability correctly.  It is SO SUPER important to get it right because thousands of people will watch it and see what someone with a disability goes through, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The exposure these films and books will bring will be amazing because people need to see that even though we have a disability or an illness, it doesn’t mean that we don’t want the things able-bodied people want.  It’s not just love, its companionship, respect, belonging.  This is the message I am trying to get through and show people what our lives are like.  It is different for everyone, but my hope is that when you read my blog, or those books, or see the films, you will see us as humans who are just like the rest.  We want jobs, an education, a family.  So please support these films and books and share them with your children because they are the future.  They are who can and will make a difference, just make sure it’s a good, positive difference.  Instead of telling your child “don’t stare, look away” tell them to say hi, be friendly, just like you would with anyone else.  I mean, don’t let them stare, but don’t instill a fear in them to talk to someone with differences.  Embrace them.  We all have them, some are just more visible than others.

Stay beautiful loves.