I've been asked (below, in the comments for "WTF Is Happening in Class?") to initiate a thread for discussion of The Men. There's way too little in fiction about disability community: most often the person with a disability in a novel is an isolated hero or villain. Movies, however, sometimes can show community a little better; and I find that The Men is one of those rare movies that doesn't use disability in a tragic or negative way.
A couple of you indicated in that thread below what you liked about it --anyone else want to chime in on what impressed you or ask about parts you found obscure?
8 comments:
From reading Fielder pity and fear the patrayal of the disabled Brando wouldnt serve people with disablity no justice according to Fiedler "I am thinking primarily of the wave of tv scripts and quickie films by which not so long ago we were inundated, in which a sympathetic protagonist is tramatically disabled, but emerges finally from an intial deep depression and learns to cope with life, love, work and play. i find it difficult to identify with those protagonists, however, since they are portrayed not as ordinarily unattractive and inept human beings, but as super-beautiful super-jocks and jockesses.
I think Brando charecter potrayed exactly what fieldler said he couldnt relate too. At first I liked the movie and thought it gave people with disablity a good potrayal and also with the doctor who was not trying to heal Brando and the other patience but to help them accept who they were, but now I dont know if the movie did any justice or not.
*portrayal
I wrote my previous comment after the first day of the movie (in WTF is happening in class part). DUring that first day, I don't recall there being any sort of pity and fear from Ellie. The second half of the movie I saw it, so my comment wouldn't suffice. But I still think that Ellie isn't given enough credit. I think that Bud started showing abusive signs and that disturbed me as i'm sure it would anyone, including her. Right, she was a little fearful of him and probably wondered what she had just gotten herself into, but I think that's an important feeling and step toward acceptance. She had to get used to it, and I think that her parents played a big role in making her feel uneasy. But, in the end they both realized that they both loved each other enough that they could do it. So her fear was a natural reaction, but she showed it wasn't a roadblock.
I agree with Anna on the part when she said her parents played a major road in her being fearful of marrying a paraplegic. That is what parents tend to do anyway when they are trying to give you advice it does make you think a lot and that is what Ellie had done.
On another note, I was wondering did Bud get discharged? If the answer is yes, then would things have been different if he did not get discharged? Like as far as him going back to Ellie's? Because I feel as though he probably would have stayed in that hospital and ignored Ellie, but then again I could be wrong.
It was just a thought that I had.
LaShera -- Yes, he got thrown out of the hospital; and yes, we don't know if he would have gone back to her otherwise. Good point.
This movie was very moving, but Bud in the end was not believable. This might of been because of time for the film to run, but very few have a epiphany just because somebody says something person. For example, Dr. Broch missing his wife made Bud change. The idea of them being in the hospital was the ideal thing, because war heroes are poor and living in the streets. This is a problem, because the government uses them for service and avoids the outcome of disability. Bud is the most real character, because his avoidance of society is a possible outcome to his situation.
Bud can be considered a hero of war and a villian, because of his attitude toward society. He acts like he is a victim of society and takes it out on the people that surround him. He wants to blame someone, but there is no one for it to fall on. This emotion is very real, which makes Bud realistic.
Actually, I have a question regarding disability and the contents of the course so far. The question has to deal with substance and abuse and those who are addicts. What made me think of this was how wounded soldiers [e.g. like those in the men] and others sometimes get addicted to pain medication. I know that Dr. Lukin has mentioned how P. K. Dick was popping pills while he wrote "Dr. Bloodmoney." But, has addiction been addressed as a disability in the fiction and also in the critiques of fiction that we have encountered? I would think that this aspect of our lives would put far more of us into the category of living with a disability if we defined it that way. It seems obvious that substance use is huge part of many of our daily existences [e.g. caffeine, alcohol, and other drugs].
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