On this page the following entries were made in the “media” category.
Archive for “media”
Wheelchairs, Jocks, Geeks & Glee
Under the influence of our 14 year old, dance-crazed neighbor I’ve watched Glee from the beginning. (Under her influence I’ve also watched every episode of So You Think You Can Dance for the past three years.)
On first watch of Glee I was impressed with how exaggerated and over the top the show was. It also had irony and a bite—a send-up rather than a satire. The characters are hyper-stereotypes. representing some of the more visible high school cliques, in particular, jocks, cheerleaders, and the glee club members (who are at the bottom of the high school pecking order.) The plot is almost always unbelievable yet based on our painful perceptions of high school, which is part of the fun.
For awhile I was confused about the role of the wheelchair-using glee club member, Artie.
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New York Times Paying Attention
Little by little, the good, gray Times has started to recognize disability. Sometimes, it’s even bold in recognizing our perception of the lived experience of disability, rather than the stereotypes. The boldest that I noticed was, of course, the articles written by the late Harriet McBryde Johnson.
Last week I noticed on my Times RSS [...]
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Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' roll
Here’s some good news from the UK disability arts newsletter, ETC. (To subscribe, silvie@disabilityarts.info)
To my mind Ian Dury’s “Spasticus Autisticus” should be the disability community’s rockin’ anthem. If this movie is successful it should help bring the disabled Dury back into public consciousness.
Here’s the news:
Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll
104 films is looking for [...]
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Music Within, a new big budget movie REDUX
Well, I spoke too soon about Music Within, the ADA movie. It was universally panned and when I saw a few more clips I realized it would be as boring as the critics said it would be. I don’t think I’m even going to rent this one.
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Disability Film Series-NYC
El Cochecito (The Little Coach) is a new dark comedy with disability and freedom at its center. It’s being shown at the diTHIS! Film Series. The Series showcases films on disability that you probably won’t see anywhere else.
The description for El Cochecito says it is, “a dark comedy about an old man who would kill [...]
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Where Have I Been?–Horrors of Malformed Men
According to a New York Times story (registration needed) Teruo Ishii’s 1969 “Horrors of Malformed Men” has been reissued. I’ve never heard of it, which is not surprising as I don’t see very many non-mainstream movies these days. Unlike when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I thought nothing of driving forty-five [...]
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Love the Phrasing "…able-bodied and disabled"
This morning in our local paper, the Press Democrat, a columnist said, talking about the invitees for an upcoming community supper, “The idea is that folks wealthy and poor, native-born and immigrant, able-bodied and disabled…will sit and visit… .”
I wrote to thank the columnist, Chris Coursey. When I read the column I was struck and [...]
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New Lady Chatterly's Lover
Another version of “Lady Chatterly’s Lover” is coming to the US after the San Francisco Film Festival and winning 5 Césars (the French Oscar). For those who’ve never read D. H. Lawrence’s book or seen the other, usually tawdry, versions, Lord Chatterly is a wheelchair user after an injury in World War I. As is [...]
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Blind, Black, and Singing the Blues
KPFA, the Bay Area’s Pacifica station, now has a disability show. It’s Pushing the Limits. Broadcast at 6:30 PM on Sundays, it’s broadcast on the web and archived on KPFA’s web site.
On Sunday, February 15 they broadcast a half hour show on blind blues singers, “Blind, Black, and Singing the Blues.”
Please excuse the patronizing comments [...]
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Triplets of Bellville
I’m fascinated that disability keeps showing up in different venues. The Triplets of Bellville is an animated movie from France, Canada, Belgium, and the UK. The primary character is the Grandmother. Her right shoe has a significant lift, so when she walks she makes a clumping noise. It’s a style of orthopedic shoe one just [...]
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