Oscar Bravo

[baddad]

So. Fer fer fer fer fer Firth's a ker ker ker ker ker King's Speech winner at the Oscars then?

Good on him, and everyone else involved, but I couldn't help thinking of Kate Winslett in 'Extras' saying you're a shoo-in if you play a holocaust victim or a 'disabled'. And that in turn got me thinking that unlike the real world of DLA benefits or Carer's Allowance etc the eligibility criteria in cinematic terms is getting easier to fulfil every year.

 

Not that long ago, Daniel Day Lewis portrayed Christy Brown - a profoundly disabled man with cerebral palsy who overcame massive communication and physical handicaps as well as extreme poverty to tell his story to the world. Tom Cruise got his Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July, depicting a man torn apart physically and emotionally by the ravages of war. Sean Penn and Dustin Hoffmann may have set back understanding regarding autism by years with their stereotypical portrayals, but at least the storylines of those films tried to address the realities of disability for disabled people by exploring issues like social stigma, value judgements and long-term institutionalisation... But the Kings Speech? A film about one of the richest, most privileged men on the planet, with access to the most up to the minute professional Speech and Language input from the most highly regarded practitioners available... Am I missing something here?

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting for a moment that a severe speech impediment doesn't have a potentially devastating impact on the life and opportunities of an individual, or overlooking the additional pressures implied by status, position and public duty, but I can't help thinking that any disadvantages were probably more than compensated for by having access to all that MONEY.

 

So what for next year’s Oscars? Bill Gate's ongoing struggle to overcome Athlete's Foot? Warren Buffett's dramatic fight against verucca infection and his eventual rehabilitation via duct tape and a rubber swim sock? The Queen's Cold Sore?

 

For anyone going to the cinema to see The King's Speech, I hope you enjoy it. For anyone losing their DLA benefits in the latest round of cuts, I hope you can still afford the price of admission.

 

L&P

 

BD

[dana]

Spot on, Baddad! I couldn't agree more!

 

Danaxxx

[justine1]

That was well thought out However I saw it more of, even rich and famous people have problems and his difficulties would have been the same for anyone else in the same situation.Though I completely agree that without money most people,especially at that time,could not afford such help.

 

Another thing is,to me personally,I felt it was more about the speech therapist,the different techniques/methods he used and how those have evolved today to help other people.Bearing in mind I have not seen the film,but just going by what I have seen and heard.

[bid]

I haven't managed to see the film yet, although I really want to. What I did see was this documentary a few nights ago, The Real King's Speech:

 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-real-kings-speech/4od

 

I thought it was fascinating, especially as they interviewed 3 old chaps who had also been patients with the king's speech therapist, although they were boys at the time. It was extremely moving to hear them talk about the impact of having a stammer, and their memories of how they had been treated.

 

From an historical perspective I think certainly the documentary, and possibly the film, give an invaluable insight into how disabilities were treated in the past. Am I right that it was the King's younger brother, Prince John, who had severe epilepsy and consequently lived apart from his family with just a nanny? According to the documentary, the King had a pretty miserable childhood because of his difficulties, shouted at by his father for stammering, and forced to write with his right hand even though he was left-handed. One of the old chaps interviewed explained how the speech therapist had told his father he had to change the way he was treating him. All-in-all, I think it seems as though it was pretty cutting-edge, innovative stuff for the times.

 

As for the money angle...well, my feeling was that the film (and documentary) show that disability has no respect for money or social standing. It's all children and then adults with acute difficulties, isn't it. I don't begrudge anyone who does have the good fortune to be able to pay for therapy, etc. That only really riles me when such people then tell the rest of us what we should be doing (thinking of the likes of the dreaded 'Baps-aht-fer-autism-Tomy' here :shudder: ).

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the film myself

 

Bid

Edited March 1, 2011 by bid