Vision Portraits Blog

The Powerful Journey of the Disabled

The Reelout Festival film Vision Portraits is a documentary style film about the lives of four people from different genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, etc. with one thing in common – they are all visual impaired. The film is split into four story lines following the lives these people and the various obstacles they face every day. Intersectionality is a very prominent concept throughout this film because blindness is not the only form of oppression these individuals face. The representation of race, gender, and ableism is strong throughout the film as there are many different ways in which intersectionality affects the characters. In a society where the representation of disability in the media is severely lacking, Vision Portraits does a good job in allowing the audience to empathize with the characters as they explain what it was like to lose something we often take for granted such as vison, and how they have adapted and risen above their disability despite their struggles. The characters are able to share how issues such as ableism and intersectionality have affected their lives, as well as how they chose to overcome to obstacles associated with ableism and intersectional oppression.

The film begins with the introduction of Rodney Evans, a focal point in the film as well as the director and producer. Evans is a director who is almost completely blind, and is also coloured, in his early years he worked as an actor before his vision made it too difficult to work. Sharing his experience of losing the ability to do something he loved such as acting allowed the audience to better understand how often people with disabilities have to give up things that used to be normal in their lives, as well as the sacrifices they are forced to make. This representation of sacrifice reflects the oppression of intersectionality as well as ableism that Evans experienced in his life. Evans recalled a time that he had an altercation with a few individuals on a train, they had been yelling at him for not moving quick enough to get off the train. Although from their position behind him, he seemed to be able-bodied, he suffered verbal abuse for his disability. Telling this story in the documentary represented how even something as simple as getting off the train becomes difficult and how many people in society do not take the time or the patience to analyze a situation before resorting to verbal or even physical abuse. Adding personal stories also created a picture in the audiences’ mind about what being visually impaired might actually feel like, thus creating more empathy between the character and the audience.

Producer, director and character in Vision Portraits – Rodney Evans

Intersectionality is a highly prominent concept throughout the entire film. Two of the other main characters in the film display many layers of intersectionality, although both take their oppression in stride. One character is John Dugdale, a gay, disabled man who happens to be HIV positive and had a career as a photographer before losing his sight. Once finding out that he was never going to see again, everyone told him he could not take pictures anymore. Dugdale rose above this discrimination and continued to take pictures by using his description skills to allow his crew to set up the scenery exactly how he imagined. The other character who possessed an even deeper level of intersectionality was Kayla Hamilton, visually impaired, black female. Hamilton frequently addresses how the various levels of oppression have affected her everyday life and how like Dugdale, she chooses to rise above it. In today’s society and throughout history, being black – and more specifically – being female and black has been a struggle for so many who have fought for equality. For Hamilton, adding blindness into the mix only further emphasizes the daily obstacles she must face. In “Escaping the ‘Evil Avenger’ and the ‘Supercrip’: Images of Disability in Popular Television, the author states that gender studies have found fictional characters in the media to be stereotyped into not developing into full-rounded characters, and that disabled people in the media often also experience that fate (21, 2000) this further emphasizes how the media and society view women and people with disabilities. Hamilton had to deal with both of these issues as well as being a person of colour, which made her story that much more powerful and impacting to the audience.

The film’s representation of disability is also very prominent in the way it displays the extra work that people who are visually impaired have to do in order to succeed. For example, the character Ryan Knighton was a writer before he became blind, and as his vision began to go that didn’t stop him from reading and writing. While reading one of his short stories at a coffee shop, he is told to keep restarting until he gets it right, in order to show everyone how much harder he is working to present his story. Showing the strength of these people despite their disabilities opposes the ideas society has about disabled people by showing the audience that disability does not trap an individual, they just have to work even harder to achieve their goals. As previously mentioned, the character John Dugdale was a photographer before becoming blind, and after he had gone legally blind his family thought he could no longer be a photographer. Society has convinced us that disabled people cannot do things that able-bodied people can, like in “Being in Question” the author says that “early-onset disability can be understood as some version of wrongness… because it violates the anticipated continuity of sameness as non-disabled status within families” (124, 2017). Dugdale’s family believed his disability meant he could not continue with a career such as photography now that he was disabled, however he proved them wrong and defied the norm in society that disabled people are lesser than that of able-bodies.

John Dugdale doing his first photography shoot after going blind.

In conclusion, the film Vision Portraits did a very good job representing the disabled community as well as defying cultural and societal norms about what disabled people can and cannot do. It also allowed the audience to connect and empathize with the characters while they shared their stories and how they chose to rise above their obstacles. Finally, the film’s characters each had their own issues with intersectionality and the variety of stories that came from the different levels of oppression also allowed the audience to better understand how living with discrimination and oppression from the public and private eye effects their everyday lives, whether that be positive or negative.

Word Count: 1086

References

Ahmed, S. (2017) Being in Question https://read-dukeupress-edu.proxy.queensu.ca/books/book/1933/chapter/191590/Being-in-Question [Accessed February 13, 2020]

Harnett, A. (2000). Escaping the ‘Evil Avenger’ and the ‘Supercrip’: Images of Disability in Popular Television. https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=icr https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=icr [Accessed February 13, 2020]

Challenging The Streotypes Around The Disabled

Rodney Evans, the film director of Vision Portraits and one of the four stories shown.

The film “Vision Portraits” which is directed by Rodney Evans, explores the lives of four individuals that are affected by vision impairment, either by being fully blind or close to it. The film focuses on how people who face disabilities like blindness, may have a more challenging time navigating life. However, they do not want to be seen as disadvantaged, or weak because they can still do so much. It is a short film which lets you see life through a whole new vision and shows you a different way in which to look world.

The film covers all sorts of people from different backgrounds and experiences. Evans is the director of the film who is of colour and has barley any vision left. But continues to work and direct films because it is what he loves to do so why should this stop him? Then there is John Dugdale who is a photographer who is gay and after having an HIV related stroke has lost most of his vision. He talks about what it’s like to be a blind photographer and takes the viewers through what it is like to imagine things only with their mind and not their vision. Kayla Hamilton is a coloured woman who is a dancer, she has no vision in one of her eyes, therefore dances with her eyes closed, or uses a blind fold to help her one eye see better. She often encourages her audience to do the same by wearing a blindfold to watch her dance, to experience what she experiences. Lastly, there is a writer Ryan Knighton who is a professor at a university, who lost most of his vision when he was a teenager. He looks at blindness more as a point of view more than a disadvantage.

Ryan Knighton, the professor and speaker on his life as a visually impaired person.

The film analysis how the lives of these disabled people might be different from those of able-bodied: those who are healthy and not physically disabled. The representation of characters is broad, having coloured and white people, as well as gay, men and women of all different ages and ranges of vision. The film shows us all kinds of different oppressions one might face in their life, or how they all might be vision impaired, but have other factors that may hold them back in life. It shows us that even though these people may have been categorized as disabled they are still capable of doing so much. At times they felt like they had to fight to not been seen as disabled because of the stigma that is around it. In Garland-Thomas’s reading “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory”, she talks about disability and how it might be looked at as a negative, “disability is a broad term within which cluster ideological categories varied as sick, deformed, abnormal, crazy, ugly, old, etc. All of which disadvantage people by devaluing their bodies that do not conform to the cultural standards” (Garland-Thomas 260, 2013). The film itself focuses a lot on how people with disabilities do not want to be seen as disabled or pitied. They make a big emphasis on how they are still capable of doing many things a person with vision might, they just have a different way of doing so.

Throughout the short film it displays how disabled people have to fight the stigma that their disability does not define who they are. This is shown through Dugdale the photographer, who had a conversation with his mother shortly after he lost his vision and how she mentioned that she was so proud of his career as a photographer. She assumed that once he lost his vision, he was no longer going to be a photographer. However, he explained that just because he cannot see does not mean he cannot still achieve and produce photos like he did before. Dugdale with the help from others continues to be a photographer, he does so by asking others to close their eyes and picture what he describes and asks them to frame it for him so later he can take the photo. They are still his creative photos and he is still the photographer; he just has a little help getting the right framing and focus. Another aspect the film shows is how he is also gay while blind so he would be more oppressed than other white men who might just be blind.

Intersectionality is shown throughout the entire film by not just focusing on vision impairment but other aspects of life where they may also be disadvantaged or oppressed. An example of this is with Hamilton the dancer who is a woman of colour who is blind in one eye. Not only just she faces challenges as a person with a disability but as well as racism and sexism. She talks about how she may not always be seen the same way as a white woman may be or be treated the same way. She shows us how she continues to live her life without letting others have a say or tell her what to do, letting now one hold her back. The film itself is very diverse, focusing on how different people may be affected by the same thing, however, because of their position in life, like their race or sex they have all have different experiences. Dugdale explains that sometimes he feels more pressure because not only is he blind but is also openly gay and feels more pressured at times than others, because he is oh a minority class.

Kayla Hamilton, the African American dancer who expresses herself through dance.

Overall, the film does a great job of showing how certain interlocking forms of oppression will not stop people from holding them back. As explained in “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Differences” by Lorde, Audre Geraldine she explains how instead of our differences bringing us together, they tend to separate us “ we have no patterns for relating our across our human differences as equals, as a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the service of separation and confusion” (Lorde 115, 1984). That society as a whole tries to separate us, instead of bringing us together and “Vision Portraits” does a great job to show how we can break these barriers and do the unexpected. In the end, the film analyzes all aspects a visually impaired person may experience from all walks of life. It teaches us that no matter how hard something may be, it is never out of reach, you just need to take a different perspective on it.

Word count: 1076

References

Garland-Thomson (2013). Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory. The Disability Studies Reader. ereserves.library.queensu.ca/ares/ares.dll?Action=10&Type=10&Value=119911. Accessed 13^th Feb. 2020.

Lorde, Audre Geraldine. Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference. Black Thought and Culture.onq.queensu.ca/d2l/le/content/377345/viewContent/2190381/View. Accessed 12^th Feb. 2020.

Viewing The World Through The Visually Impaired

In the short film, “Vision Portraits,” there are many different forms of power represented throughout the movie. This film portrays many theories and terms on intersectionality, ableism, race, and ethnicity. This film allows the audience to feel the emotions that these various people experience in their daily lives as they deal with having impaired vision. This film addresses many different stereotypes and the misrepresentations that are labeled on people with impaired vision, implying that they are less capable than those who do not have a disability; they also express the pressures that they feel to act a certain way in the society we live in. Many people from an outsider’s perspective would say that not being able to see would be considered as a disability that most would assume should slow a person down, but in this film, the viewers witness how each person overcomes any challenge that they may be facing. Each individual expresses a different form of art that they are passionate about throughout the film, ultimately, proving that they are still able to do what they love while being visually impaired.

Throughout the film, intersectionality is shown and highly represented by the individuals in their way. In 1989 Kimberle Crenshaw was the first person to express what intersectionality is, which is when people are often at a disadvantage by multiple sources of oppression, such as their gender identity, race, sexual orientation, and disability (Kaufman, 2018). Intersectionality is apparent in this film because most people believe that being visually impaired is a disadvantage to have, but that all depends on the way a person deals with their disability. Everyone in this movie takes a visual impairment in a positive light rather than detrimental. Each person does not let their visual impairment become a disadvantage in their daily lives, but instead, they push through the challenges they deal with by using their disability as a motivator to continue to succeed in the art form that they are passionate about pursuing. Rodney Evans is the director and the main character throughout the film. He is a visually impaired black gay man that only has ten percent of his vision, which can be extremely challenging for him to do the job he loves as a movie director because most people would believe that he is at a disadvantage. Rodney Evans does not take his visual impairment in a negative way when it comes to his career; he instead uses it to his advantage by only being able to specifically focus on the actors during the production of his movies. His disability prevents him from being distracted by the action going on around him, which allows him to stay concentrated on only what is in front of him. Ultimately, this had led Evans to become a successful and well-known director by beating the odds and overcoming the stereotypes as a visually impaired black gay man.

Ableism is frequently expressed throughout the film by every person revealing their struggles that they experience as a blind person. Being able-bodied is when a person is capable of doing anything with no signs of being physically disabled. Many of the characters in this film speak about the pressures that they feel to fit into society as a visually impaired person by trying to hide the fact that they are disabled. Ryan Knighton is an author that is blind, but he is still able to do the art that he loves as a writer. During the film, Knighton demonstrates how he is capable of writing by showing the people around him that the computer reads out loud what he is typing in order to understand what he has written out. Ryan Knighton is an excellent example in the film to show everyone that he is able-bodied or also known as “supercrip” which is a term used to express how people with a disability can still succeed and overcome the difficult tasks that they have to deal with despite what everyone else may assume (Harnett, 2000). It is evident that everyone in this film proves to be able-bodied and expresses that being visually impaired does not mean that one’s life is over or a person can not continue doing what they love. There may be struggles they have to endure, but that can also make a person come out even stronger than before.

Race and ethnicity is represented during this film as some characters express their own stories. Especially, Kayla Hamilton, she is the only black woman who is featured in this movie, and she shares her journey as a visually impaired dancer. Kayla Hamilton talks about the difficulties she experienced growing up as a black woman who is visually impaired. She explains that growing up, people would make fun of the colour of her skin, and on top of that, she had to wear an eyepatch to help fix her vision, which ultimately led her to lay in bed all day. Hamilton’s parents put her into dance to help improve her self-confidence, and it is now her career in life. She expresses in the film that her goal is to inspire other black women and show people that nothing should hold a person back in life, whether that be the colour of their skin or a disability. Kayla Hamilton has a group of black women performing a dance that features in this film, and she explains to everyone that she wants the audience to wear eye patches to allow them to watch the dance from a different perspective. This movement is hugely empowering for both black women and the visually impaired.

Overall, this film showed many different perspectives from people who are visually impaired and what they deal with in their daily lives. This movie is inspiring and proves that anybody can overcome the struggles that they may be facing as long as they stay positive and continue to do what they are passionate about pursuing. The people in this film portray new viewpoints as well as understanding the labels that the disabled have. The audience becomes aware that just because a person may have a setback in life does not mean that it has to be the end of their journey. Throughout the movie, everyone acknowledges their personal experiences from being visually impaired, and they each handle their situations differently, but always in a positive manner.

Word Count: 1060

References

Harnett, A. (2000). Escaping the Evil Avenger and the Supercrip: Images of Disability in Popular Television. [online] Arrow.tudublin.ie. Available at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=icr [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].

Kaufman, P. (2018). Intersectionality for Beginners. Everyday Sociology Blog. [online] www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/intersectionality-for-beginners.html#more [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

The Garden Left Behind: Respect the gender identities of transgender.

Image result for the garden left behind — The Garden Left Behind – Tina

The Garden Left Behind tells a story of a transgender woman named Tina, who lives with her grandma immigrated from Mexico in New York City. The film puts its spotlight on a period of time in Tina’s everyday life, how she survives in the society where transgender is not widely accepted. Through the ways different people treat Tina and other members of the transgender community, the audience will have opportunity to explore the world of transgender. However, like many of other transgender folks, Tina also suffered discrimination and misunderstanding from the world, which eventually evolved to violence.

One of the crucial elements in the film is cissexism. Due to the protagonist, Tina’s gender identity, she has experienced different levels of disadvantages from the society. In the film, Tina was constantly assaulted by a group of hetero sexual young men, she was insulted about her body which was assigned to her naturally, as well as about dating a hetero sexual man. Because they think their embodiments are superior to Tina, whose gender is opposite of what she was assigned naturally. Also, Tina involved in a campaign for remembering and protesting about the unfortune death of a member of the community, which was caused by the violent torment of a police officer without any reason. Another evidence of cissexism in the movie is the death of Tina, in the end of the film, after being harassed again by the young men, Tina was abruptly hit by a young man, which eventually led to her death. All the unfair treatment that transgender people, including Tina, have experienced indicate one thing, that is our society has still lacked the awareness of the existence of transgender community. For most people, it is natural to be cisgender and there are only two genders in the world, male and female. Hence, the folks who believe the opposite gender is what would represent their true identities, in this circumstance, would be isolated and be placed in a stage where it is difficult for them to be categorized, which brings about disregard and prejudice. However, as Raskoff argued, “The introduction, adoption, and increasing use of the term cisgender is a sign of this as it serves to be a counterpart to transgender, rather than leaving transgender to be alone as a deviant category.” (Raskoff), along with the development of science, people are becoming more aware of this new gender identity. It is evidenced through the fact that there were a lot of people in the city came to engage in the campaign and learn about the transgender community in the film, which brought me with happiness when seeing transgender people are treated poorly.

Like other independent films, the story of “The Garden Left Behind” was produced in an overall realistic and approachable style. From my understanding of the movie, Tina’s interactions with her Grandma, her boyfriend, and transgender fellows were all depicted to make the audience have the same feeling of watching someone that is just like everybody else. Although the sex scene was shot very explicitly and made me a little uncomfortable, it did not give me the feeling that is differentiated from watching sex scenes from other mainstream movies that put spotlights on cisgender characters. Besides, one of the things that made Tina less than a real woman was her voice, so she found a doctor to do vocal transformation, as well as communication with a therapist. It indicates Tina’s effort in seeking normalization for the gender identity that she eagers to be. In addition, in one of the scenes, Tina displayed her skills of making drink and impressed the owner of the bar, so she was hired to be a bartender. I noticed that the owner did not choose to judge Tina’s gender but recognized her talent and gave her the opportunity to demonstrate herself. Also, when Tina sold her car, the buyer only did business with her but not display discrimination upon her. In my opinion, the filmmaker uses the similarities between Tina and cisgender people, to show the human side of the protagonist, in order to normalize transgender.

As Kaufman claimed, “It is no use to only work toward the eradication of sexism or racism or classism because these forms of inequality are intimately and complexly tied together.” (Kaufman). When exploring the inequalities Tina has been through from different aspects of the character, there are more to be discovered. Tina is a transgender woman who illegally immigrated to the United States with her grandma at very young age, as well as working class. Unlike wealthy celebrities who chose to transform their genders, Tina’s multiple identities brought her with several oppressions. The film used different angels of portrait of the character, which gives the audience more information about protagonist’s situation, so they can have better understanding of what most transgender folks are struggling about.

Above all, the film “The Garden Left Behind” is a thrilling and adventurous experience for cisgender folks who have never been aware of the existence of transgender community, who struggle to live in society but keep having faith in their gender identities and being themselves. For transgender folks, the film could be a reflection of themselves, which will make strong connection to them and inspire them to rethink the meaning of being transgender. By showing the violent incidents occurred to transgender folks, the film also appeals for the awareness of the human rights of transgender group, as they deserve the same rights as other citizens. As a cisgender young man, I feel lucky to have the opportunity to have a brand new understanding of the transgender community.

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References

Raskoff, Sally. “Signs of Gender.” Everyday Sociology Blog, 27 Mar. 2017, http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2017/03/signs-of-gender.html#more.

Kaufman, Peter. “Intersectionality for Beginners.” Everyday Sociology Blog, 23 Apr. 2018, http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2017/03/signs-of-gender.html#moreThe Garden Left Behind.

Reelout Film Festival Review

Watching the film Vision Portraits at the Reelout Festival in downtown Kingston was an eye-opening experience. The film was a documentary that followed the lives of a few individuals in the creative arts industry who have lost their vision. Specifically, the documentary followed the lives of a painter, dancer, photographer, and film maker, occupations where most of us would think seeing is the most important thing. The beautiful concept of the film displays how despite the struggles with these individuals vision loss, they look towards the positive side of their situation. The film also highlighted each individuals’ personal lives on the ways in which they obtained their vision loss. This created for a learning opportunity to those, such as myself, who are unaware of the ways in which someone can lose their vision. Overall the film was touching, informative, and heartbreaking all in one.

One key aspect I took away from the entire Reelout Film Festival experience was how it was not something I would typically choose to go to on my own. A very common and popular form of entertainment among young adults would be to stay in and watch a romantic comedy or drama on Netflix. However, going to the Reelout Film Festival was a new experience and even though it is easier to stay in and scroll through Netflix to find a cliché movie, it was enjoyable to go out to a film that was well done and learn something from it. I was able to get out of my comfort zone and see a film that I would not normally choose. The reason I would have not normally chosen to see this film on my own was because it was a documentary styled film and I anticipated for it to be sad. However, documentaries are educational it is not usually my first choice. This documentary however was very well done as I was engaged the entire film and it made me reflect on my own life and the little things that I take for granted. Furthermore, I personally would choose to watch a comedy over a sad film, however, the film was done in a way where I was able to feel empathetic for people who are vision impaired and at the same time happy that those individuals have found a way to rise above and continue their passions. When the film ended I felt many emotions of sadness and also joy.

As Alison Harnett (2000) discusses in her article Escaping the ‘Evil Avenger’ and the ‘Supercrip’: Images of Disability in Popular Television, individuals with disabilities are underrepresented in the media. Before reading this article I had never taken a moment to realize how true this was. It is very uncommon to see someone with autism or down syndrome for example in a television show or movie. Harnett (2000) further uses the term ‘evil avenger’, as a way to describe someone in a film with a disability who wants revenge because of their life situation. This does not shed a positive light on individuals with disabilities as the ‘evil avenger’ makes it seem that you should get back at others just because of the difficult situation in your own life. In my opinion this is a negative approach to having a disability and blaming others or wanting to hurt others because you are hurting, is not the answer. I did notice in the film that one of the individuals was angry that they lost their vision, and in my opinion seemed very bitter about their circumstance. This was hard to witness for me as I hate to see others upset because of something in their life which they cannot change.

The opposite of the ‘evil avenger’ is known as the ‘supercrip’, where the person with the disability looks beyond the negatives and overcomes their bad situation by turning it into something good, according to Harnett (2000). This is the behaviour I noticed most by the individuals, they learned to work with their disability not against it. For example, the dancer, after they started losing more of their vision they could have given up, however the passion of dance was not going to let the loss of vision stop them. This was amazing to see as so many people can hardly dance with their eyes open and this person is able to dance with a vision impairment. This truly shows that if you are passionate enough about something there is not a big enough obstacle that can get in the way of that.

In the article, Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson discusses how society has a constructed view on what the body should look like and do (2006). Garland-Thomson (2006) furthermore discusses how woman want to obtain this ideal body in which society has constructed to be the norm. Having a disability in society makes it almost impossible to obtain this ideal body that is expected. Whether you are someone in a wheelchair or vision impaired, society views you as non-able-bodied. A part in the film that stood out to me was when one person was talking about their experience on the subway, and people were yelling at them to hurry, get out of the way, and calling him names. These people were behind him so in this case they were not able to see that he was blind. From behind, the strangers on the subway assumed that this person was able-bodied, and therefore got frustrated that they were taking so long to get off the subway.

To finalize, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film and going to the event as a whole. It was a great experience and I would have wished to have seen more Reelout films. It was inspiring to see these individuals making light of their disability and viewing it as an obstacle, rather than an endgame. I would definitely recommend anyone to go to the Reelout film festival as it is applicable to all ages that anyone can benefit something from going.

Word Count: 1002

References

Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory.” (2006): 257-273.

Harnett, Alison. “Escaping the Evil Avenger and the Supercrip: Images of Disability.” (2000): 21-29.

Accepting Disability in an Able-Bodied World

The film “Vision Portrait,” follows the experiences of various individuals with vision impairments, challenging the typical representations of disability and creating a piece of art that can be considered representative of the reality of living with a disability in an ableist society. The messages and experiences described by those participating in the interviews support the concept of ableism, addressing narratives that are typical when looking at disability. Although the film does not appear to go into detail explicitly about ableism and the oppression that the individuals who are featured experience, it reveals the underlying issues of the unrealistic internal pressures felt and the misrepresentation of individuals with disability that able-bodied members of society place upon them as a means of exclusion.

A common feeling expressed by several of the individuals featured in this film was the feeling of needing to pass as someone without a disability, sharing the negative implications experienced as a result of this desire to appear able-bodied. As seen in the film, attempting to pass as able-bodied can be incredibly dangerous for an individual with visual impairments. The white cane is typically used as a resource for scanning an area that cannot be seen clearly and is an essential tool but, it is also a visible indication of disability which is why some of the interviewees were hesitant to accept their need for the cane initially. In “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory,” Garland-Thomson suggests that the system of disability is why this idea of passing is present and that it is due to the fact that this system isolates differences and markets the individuals as either able-bodied or disabled, the latter being seen as less favourable in many cases (Garland-Thomson 260, 2013). This way of thinking is challenged and diminished during the film as Kayla, a woman who continues to deal with several health conditions leading to the deterioration of her eyesight, markets her disability as an advantage instead of a negative feature. Kayla explains that she tried to pass as able-bodied for several years, attempting to keep up with her able-bodied dance team regardless of her inability to track their movements and stay in sync. Not only is this an example of the lengths that individuals with disabilities feel they must go to in order to pass, it enforces the idea that by feeling the need to pass, individuals sacrifice their own enjoyment for the comfort of those around them. Kayla explains that once she stopped struggling to pass, she was able to enjoy dance by embracing her disability and using it as a means of expression to show a new perspective to her predominantly able-bodied audiences.

Continuing on the argument of passing, it is important to note that institutional passing is essential to the success of many individuals with disability. In “Being in Question,” the author puts forth the idea of institutional passing (Ahmed 127, 2017). In simple terms, this means that within institutions, the individual is capable of appearing able-bodied which often aids in the progression of one’s career. The concept of institutional passing is evident in the film as Ryan Knighton is heard discussing with an acquaintance the degree of disclosure they provide about their disability when applying for a job. Both agree on the fact that they are unsure of whether they should be honest and embody their disability or if they should conceal their truth to increase their chances of being chosen for the job. Ultimately, institutional passing is a complicated concept because no matter which way the individual presents themselves, there is a possibility of a negative outcome, as seen in this film.

In terms of passing, the goal is to appear able-bodied as mentioned above. This desire to fit the norm aligns closely with the common narrative of the “supercrip,” as explained in Harnett’s article “Escaping the Evil Avenger and the Supercrip: Images of Disability in Popular Television (Harnett 22, 2000).” The term “supercrip” is used in this article to describe the common narrative that is given to characters with disabilities in television programs, making the goal of this character to succeed despite their disability and to overcome one’s disability. It is evident that the motivation behind this film is to show the reality of visual impairments and that having a disability does not need to be equated with poor life quality. To some degree, this may appear as an attempt to show triumph over disability but, unlike the trope of the supercrip, this film shows the struggles of the individuals with disabilities that cannot be overcome, creating a depiction of life with a disability that can be relatable to a greater number of people living with disabilities. This is clear as Rodney Evans travels great distances to receive a treatment that could possibly restore his vision. Following the procedures, Evans says that there is a very small improvement in his vision, if at all. Since this film is a documentary, the characters are not developed and therefore the supercrip trope would not be added into the plot but, this form of openness and honesty from Evans about his inability to overcome his disability creates a narrative for other individuals with disabilities to relate to.

This film showed the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to living with a visual impairment. Through the use of personal anecdote, this film challenges ableism by proudly exhibiting disability for what it is, providing a representation of disability that can be relatable and education rather than oppressive. This film dismissing the tropes associated with disability represented through television and provides a new understanding of disability for both able-bodied audience members and individuals with disabilities, acknowledging that everyone experiences disability differently but tend to be categorized and grouped together as a marginalized group.

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References

Ahmed, S. (2017). Being in Question | Living a Feminist Life | Books Gateway | Duke University Press. [online] Read.dukeupress.edu. Available at: https://read.dukeupress.edu/bo oks/book/1933/chapter/191590/Being-in-Question [Accessed 11 Feb. 2020].

Garland-Thomson, R. (2013). Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory. [online] English.upenn.edu. Available at: https://www.english.upenn.edu/sites/www.english. upenn.edu/files/Garland-Thomson_Rosemarie_Disability-Feminist-Theory.pdf [Accessed 11 Feb.2020].

Introduction to Reelout Film Festival

Attending the Reelout Film Festival was an experience unfamiliar to the entire group. The small environment created a feeling of inclusiveness, making it feel more personal to the audience and creating a memorable experience. The location itself was ideal for this festival as it created a sense of community among those attending. Besides, viewing numerous cinematic works that are openly viewed by the public world, it is delightful and inspiring to see there are people speaking for LGBTQ community with cinematic language. Instead of using tickets, the coordinators used beads as a way of differentiating themselves as well as being environmentally friendly. The tickets themselves were comparable in price to a ticket to a movie at Cineplex but, the slightly lower costs and student pricing options made the film festival largely accessible to more members of the community, appealing to various classes. At the end of the film, viewers were asked to use their bead as a ballot to contribute opinions on the quality of the movie based on enjoyment, furthering the interactive nature of the festival itself. Prior to the film, a screening about the Positive Space organization at Queen’s University presented the concept of creating environments, no matter how small, that are inclusive to all individuals regardless of their identities. This short film was a nice transition into the film, introducing the theme of queerness, inclusivity and creating safe spaces for people that may not feel welcomed in other locations around campus or on a daily basis in general. The members of the audience showed significant range in age including individuals around the age of sixteen to seventy years old. Although this range created diversity in the theatre, it also made us question the level of appropriateness of some of the content presented. Unlike seeing a movie at the local cineplex, the screenings for the festival had a lower level of censorship, showing very explicit content that would not be considered acceptable in a highly consumed film played to larger audiences. Since there were individuals attending the festival that appeared to still be in high school, there was some content that may have been too graphic for these viewers to view without any forewarning. The overall experience of attending this film festival was enjoyable and refreshing. The screening of the films themselves were more intimate and many of the people attending appeared to know each other or be willing to interact, creating a different atmosphere that was unique to any experience any of us have had when attending a film in the past.

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