Disability and Movies

When thinking about a movie that features the main person with a disability it is hard to come by. One of the first movies that came to my mind when thinking about this subject was Rain Man (1988). It was an interesting movie because before seeing this movie I had never known about this disorder: Autism-Savant Syndrome. In the movie the main character has this disorder and has a great memory that can recall dates and times, for example: In the movie, Rain Man and his brother (Tom Cruise) go to a casino because Tom Cruise learns of Rain Mans undeniably excellent ability to remember things at a quick pace. He uses this ability to his advantage by having Rain Man scan cards thus beating the house and winning lots of money.

It was also interesting to me about the stereotypes that are given in this film on Rain Mans sexuality. At one scene in the movie at the casino when Rain Man is at the bar a prostitute approaches him to try to get business out of him, at first she doesn't know of his disability then she soon catches on and uses this to try to take advantage of him. I also noticed this in another movie that I watched before that deals with another main character having a disability: I am Sam (2001). In this movie a similar event takes place where a prostitute takes advantage of him and actually gets pregnant by him, then later runs off leaving him to raise a child on his own. To me there seems to be a certain theme in Western films where people with disabilities get taken advantage of.

I couldn't find any real masculinity themes in either movies, but in the movie I am Sam he holds a job and raises a daughter. In society this is mostly seen as feminine but can also be seen as both feminine or masculine. A guy raising a family and working is looked upon as a masculine trait. In the movie we watched in class, Murder Ball, that seems to be the only movie out of the three that shows actually masculinity. I think it's mainly noticeable because in Murder Ball they are playing a tough sport that is viewed as very masculine. In the movie Murder Ball the main characters are quadriplegic, this is physical disorder where as in the other movies they deal with mental disorders. In society people with physical disorders are still seen as needing help, but they are in a physical battle with themselves to be more masculine because being seen as you need help isn't very masculine. In the other 2 movies they didn't tend to focus on masculinity but more of the disability itself and how the characters were affected by it.

Image: http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20070925/465_rainman.jpg

After reading the chapter on Native Americans in film in the America on film book, I decided to watch Disney's Pochahontas. While watching the movie for the first time I noticed many things that stood out. Like how the "white" people portrayed the natives as savages and even referred to them as that in the movie. The white people's intentions were to take over their land and the Natives were prepared to protect it. The white people were portrayed as not caring about the earth and land and greedy and evil. Disney tried to portray the Natives as Noble Savages. Pochahontas was connected to the earth on a different level. She was kind to animals and two of her close friends are a raccoon and hummingbird in the movie, she talked to them as if they could understand her and the animals acted as if they understood her in the movie. A few times in the movie she even goes to a tree, grandmother willow, to talk and ask for advice. The tree consoles her and helps her which gives a spiritual feel, and her dreams have meanings to them. All this portrays her as kind, peaceful, mystical and spiritual. It also implies that she has a connection to the earth, that only natives seem to possess.

They also portray Pochahontas as brave and she is portrayed differently than the typical Princess's in other Disney movies. They portray her as more independent, in the movie she spends some time by her self along with her animal friends, she also explores the earth. She jumps off a cliff at one point in the movie, and this shows how she is brave. Also when John, one of the English settlers, comes she protects him from getting killed by stepping in between him and another native american (who she is familiar with) and saves his life. Pochahontas then tries to teach him the importance of the earth, animals, and nature and the beauty it holds.

In the movie it shows natives with dark skin, black hair, markings on their faces, feathers in their hair and no shoes and clothes made out of animal skin. In real life natives didn't really wear head bands like how they portray them to in movies, it started out in old western movies (natives wearing feather headbands) in the 1930's and 40's and then caught on as a trend and this was then seen in other movies. People then started relating feather headbands as a Native American trait and something all of them wear.