The first clip that was shown is titled, “Jazz
Hands.” The setting is at a dance audition, featuring Ms. Votan, Ms. Spina and
Ms. Archbold, who has a prosthetic hand. While performing, Mary Archbold’s hand
fell off onto the floor. The dance instructor was appalled at the sight of
Mary’s missing hand, which is picked up by one of the other dancers. Throughout
the audition, Mary screwed her prosthetic hand back on.
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The main screening that was shown is
called “The Importance of Tying your Shoes,” which the story follows the main
character, Alex. Alex was fired from his theater-acting job and has been
unemployed for some time. His wife, Lisa, gets frustrated when Alex forgets to
pick up their daughter, Josefine. Lisa kicks Alex out, telling him that he
needs to find a job. Alex goes to an employment agency and reluctantly accepts
a caretaking job at Paradise. There, he is employed by Anna-Lene, and he works
as an assistant for Hanna, the human resources director. On his first day, Alex
is twenty minutes late. He meets Katarina, Leif, Ebbe, Kristina, Kjell-Ake, and
Filippa, the people that he and Hanna are taking care of. Alex learns that the
group is consisted of people with disabilities and are taken on a bus, driven
by Hanna, to work at Paradise, cutting and packaging lumber throughout the day.
On
the second day, Alex is still a little bit late. During the day, the group
reviews how to tie shoelaces. Kristina hates doing the activity. Alex doesn’t
understand why they have to keep on repeating the activity when they can just
wear shoes with Velcro, which is much easier to fasten than shoelaces. Hanna
admonishes Alex, saying that the group needs to learn control. In the
afternoon, Alex takes the group out for a walk. They come upon a statue, and
Alex encourages the group members to climb on top of the wood plank surround
the statue. Everyone refuses, except Kjell-Ake, who is able to get on the wood
plank, but is too scared to climb back down the stairs. Alex is unable to
encourage Kjell-Ake to use the steps. He had to call the fire department to
help get Kjell-Ake off the wood plank. The group’s parents are unhappy with
what happened and with Alex. Back at the field where the group cuts and
packages lumber, Leif feels suddenly ill from having a weak heart. Alex goes to
get Leif’s medicine for him. At the end of the day, the group goes to Alex’s
apartment and they listen to music.
On
the third day, Hanna is unable to come to work. Instead, Alex drives the bus
and neglects to follow the daily procedures. He forgets to do the seatbelt
check and is warned by the police. Rather than doing their daily chores of
cutting and packaging lumber, Alex suggests that they play soccer, but soon
ends when Alex accidently hits Ebbe in the forehead. They then go to a bar to
watch a soccer game and orders ice cream, cola, and beer. As the group starts
yelling at the soccer game, some customers who are also watching the game
become angry. Alex defends the group when the other customers start making fun
of the group. Alex and the group leave and go back to the working field. Hanna
finds Alex and the group lounging inside the building rather than working. She
soon orders them to go back to work.
The
parents are unhappy with Alex, but Alex is becoming closer to the group and
questioning the methods that Paradise and the parents are imposing on the
group. On the fourth day, Alex brings the group to a theater and Hanna gives
them costumes to wear. They soon talk about auditioning on “Amateur Hunt.” Alex
heard them sing the other day and realizes that the group, while having
disabilities, has abilities as well. He tries to reason with the parents, but
fail. Instead, the group goes to the auditioning alone. They manage to sing for
a little bit, but have to stop because Leif’s heart. However, having seen their
children on television, the parents force Anna-Lene to fire Alex. Alex secretly
stays with Leif and the others at their apartment.
Bothered
by the strict limitations that the parents have for their children, Alex asks
his friend, the bar owner, but also a musician, to let the group perform at his
gig. Alex believes that his friends have more abilities than they are given
credit for, simply because they are considered as disabled. His friend
reluctantly agrees. However, that night, Alex finds Leif unresponsive in the
bathtub. A funeral is held, and Katarina and Filippa sing for Leif. Leif’s mom
thanks all of them for accepting Leif and being wonderful friends to him. She
encourages them to continue to perform even if Leif is not there. She says that
he would like them to.
The film ends with the group performing
at “Glada Hudiks Dag,” where Hanna gives everyone in the group Velcro shoes. At
first she was reluctant to be open-minded because she did not want to get
fired. However, seeing them at the theater made her more aware of how much fun
everyone was having. Once the performance is over, everyone cheers, and the
parents realize how much their children can do.
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After the film, there was a discussion with two
professors and Mary Archbold. They talked about visibility among the disabled
and that being a part of the community means taking risks of being rejected,
failure, etc. They pointed out how choices made for how people with
disabilities should live are decided by people without disabilities. The
question they asked was “What is the nature of the problem with disability? We
learned how to tie our own shoes not how to be creative or be artists.”
This film and discussion made me think about my own
impressions of people with disabilities. Similar to most people, I initially
thought of disabled people as “objects of pity or charity.” However, this film
made me realize that everyone has disabilities. At first, I thought Alex’s
forgetful mind of his responsibilities was a disability, which it might be.
But, it is something society thinks of as “normal” as opposed to Down syndrome.
However, people with diagnosed disabilities are people as well. They, too, have
their own abilities albeit different than others. But then again, everyone has
different abilities. And, as a society we need to realize that no one is
perfect. There is no such thing as a “norm,” because everyone has his/her own
disabilities. However, we all have abilities and potential to succeed. This
film really changed my view about life and people, as well as educated my
limited knowledge about people with disabilities.
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