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Movies About Rare Diseases and Disorders That Are Awesome

movies about rare diseases

This fantastic list of movies about rare diseases and disorders that you might be interested in reading was pulled together by Rae Hower. Rae is joining me to coordinate the Disability Book & Movie Club. Get to know her through her bio at the end of this post.

The movies below are linked to wherever I could find the movies – Netflix, YouTube, Amazon.  When there are buttons saying “click to watch,” it will take you to the Netflix link.  I tried to provide the free version whenever possible. If you find a better link than what we have here, please let us know in the comments and I’ll update this post (same goes for movies that should be in this list!).

As you watch these movies, please keep in mind that there is not a lot of disability representation in these movies. Most of these actors are just acting disabled, and this is problem in our disability community. The movies may also be inaccurate with regard to the disability. Keep that as fodder for discussion and learning.

Also! Don’t forget: the US library carries movies and will accept requests for movies. If you want to watch something listed below, but can’t rent, buy or find it for free, request it from your local library!

Rare Diseases and Disorders:

February largely features rare diseases and disorders in terms of Disability Awareness focus:

This being so,  we’ve collected books and movies about rare diseases and disorders to read and learn more. 

Also:

  • Interesting statistics about how many people are affected by rare diseases can be found here: https://taylorstale.org/rare-disease/
  • Please join in our Disability Movie Club discussion on Brain on Fire, happening February 28th. Information about it is linked here.

Movies on Rare Diseases that You Might Be Interested in Watching:

Mask
Mask the movie

Mask

The story of a boy who has craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare disorder. This is a fantastic movie that has it all: fierce mom, alternative living, fighting with the school for inclusion and more. A must-see. You can watch it on Netflix DVD (not streaming, unfortunately), and on Amazon. I couldn’t find it on YouTube either. Request it from your library if they don’t have it: this is a classic.

The Mighty
the mighty movie

The Mighty

A movie about the friendship between two boys, one of whom has Morquio syndrome. Rent it on YouTube for $2.99 and it’s available on Netflix DVD (not streaming in America though).

The Life We Live
the life we live - black background and text

The Life We Live

A full free documentary that is not captioned about a family with daughters who have NUBPL.

Click to Watch on Netflix
Unrest

Unrest

A Netflix original (so only available on Netflix streaming) about chronic illness, ME.

We discussed it in our Disability Movie Club.

Click to Watch on Netflix
The Tic Code
the tic code movie

The Tic Code

A movie about friendship, love and Tourette’s! It’s available on Netflix DVD (not streaming),and Amazon – I couldn’t find the full movie on YouTube, sorry.

Brain on Fire
brain on fire

Brain on Fire

A Netflix original movie (so, only available on Netflix streaming) about a woman who is eventually diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis) – We’re discussing this February 28th (information linked here).

Click to Watch on Netflix
The Elephant Man
the elephant man

The Elephant Man

A film  about a man who lived in the late 1800’s who most likely had Proteus Syndrome. Also available on Netflix DVD, $2.99 rental on YouTube, and there is also a free QED documentary about the real man on YouTube.

Love & Other Drugs
movies about rare diseases

Love & Other Drugs

A movie about a woman with Parkinson’s who falls in love with a drug company representative. It’s available on Netflix DVD (not streaming) and Amazon.

Afflicted
afflicted movie series on netflix

Afflicted – a Netflix series about people who have chronic illnesses – got slammed in HuffPost. That something is hated by us in the disability community isn’t necessarily a reason to not watch a movie (- Million Dollar Baby comes to mind); it could be fodder for some great discussions. So keep the door open and walk through it  knowing that this series is hated by a lot of people with chronic illnesses.

Click to Watch Afflicted on Netflix
Lorenzo's Oil
Lorenzo's oil movie

Lorenzo’s Oil

The story of parents search to find treatment for their son Lorenzo’s adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a deadly genetic disease. It’s available for rent ($3.99) on YouTube, on Amazon, and Netflix DVD and streaming. Click the link below to watch it via Netflix streaming!

Click to Watch Lorenzo's Oil on Netflix
The King's Speech
the king's speech

The King’s Speech

The true story of King George and his stuttering (is stuttering really a rare disease? I’m not sure, but it seems rare enough to include here…please correct if wrong!). You can watch it on Netflix DVD  and streaming (linked below), and on Amazon. Your local library is likely to have it, too, as it’s recent (but not brand new!)

Click to Watch The King's Speech on Netflix
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble Movie

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

Early (pre-Grease) John Travolta! This is the story of a boy born without an immune system and his reach for love with the girl next door. You can watch it on Netflix DVD, and on Amazon.

Bubble Boy
Bubble Boy Movie

Bubble Boy

Inspired by the Boy in the Plastic Bubble (see previous movie), and written by the same authors. It’s about a boy born without an immune system who builds a protective bubble for himself so he can chase his love across the country and win her. You can watch it on Netflix DVD, and on Amazon. 

There We Go: The Movies About Rare Diseases and Disorders

That completes the list right now. Please drop a comment with a better way to watch a movie (free is great!) or movies about rare diseases and disorders that you recommend. We want to keep this list growing, relevant, informative and awesome.

Don’t forget to order these movies at your local library (keep disability in the scheme of things) and your local disability organizations.

Finally, come on over and join us in the Lit League Disability Book & Movie club on Facebook!

 

Books About Rare Diseases 

Rare diseases and disorders are something we’re always interested in learning more about.

These books will help to shed light on some aspects of a few rare diseases

Also, don’t forget to join the Disability Book and Movie Club on Facebook for more discussion.

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Books About Rare Diseases
great books about rare diseases and disorders: image of alternating squares. some square of solid color background with the title of the post interspersed; other squares have images from the cover of the books on them)
rae: a woman with dark hair is smiling at the camera. her skin is light

Rae is a mom of three whose eyes were opened to the beautiful diverse disability community (that she previously ignored!) when her daughter was diagnosed with Down syndrome. She is learning to be an ally by listening to people with disabilities and reading/watching their books, blogs and movies, and by going to as many trainings as she can. Rae is a part time international public health practitioner who likes yoga, loves the beach, and used to cook (she never cleaned). She occasionally dabbles in textile arts.

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Love and Disability in the Movies: Disabled Love Movies for You to Watch!

love and disability in the movies: image of a pink background with text reading "love" - each letter in the text is a photo of various movies that are featured in the post

This post is about love and disability in the movies – I have 9 movies that go across the disability spectrum and are about love for you to watch.

I tried to get the free versions on YouTube for you, and linked to both Netflix and Amazon as well, when possible. I know finding and watching movies can be a little screwy when we are hunting down captions or descriptions.

Love and Disability in the Movies

Hollywood loves disability (just not disabled actors). It also loves love. There are a lot of movies that have intersections of both love and disability; it’s just super rare to have movies with disabled actors playing disabled roles with intersections of love. That’s super annoying to me, which is why even though I included The Theory of Everything in this list, I wasn’t crazy about it.

Many, many movies have disability and love in a portion of the film, but the love itself wasn’t a central part of the story.

Then there are plenty of movies (- 50 First Dates comes to mind, for example) that are about love and have this twist of disability for flavor but it’s not really the focus or it’s so off-kilter that I didn’t want to add it to this list.

So, here we go with some love and disability (- lovin’ disability?!)

Autism in Love

A  documentary following 4 adults with Autism as they navigate romantic relationships

Autism in Love

Monica and David

A documentary following the weeks before and after the marriage of a couple with Down syndrome.

Monica and David

Children of a Lesser God

A Deaf woman and hearing man’s relationship, set in a Deaf school. The film below is on YouTube but costs $2.99 – you can get it in DVD from Netflix (not available via stream), or on Amazon, linked here.

Children of a Lesser God

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

A man develops locked-in syndrome, and finds love. I couldn’t find a  captioned trailer, but the YouTube rental movie should be – it costs $2.99. It’s also available through Amazon, linked here.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Trailer

Yo, También

One of my very favorite movies related to Down syndrome (- see my post on Sex and Down syndrome).

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it on YouTube for you. I’m pretty sure it’s on Netflix DVD (not streaming though, I checked) and it’s on Amazon, linked here.

Yo, También: Trailer

The Theory of Everything

The full movie is on YouTube for free, sans captions. It’s available to rent on YouTube (with captions), here. I think it’s on Netflix (both streaming and DVD) and it’s linked here for Amazon.

The Theory of Everything

The Phantom of the Opera

My all-time favorite love story, disability-related or not. You can find it in full on YouTube (but I think the captions are only in Spanish in the free version? better check on that!), and on DVD with Netflix; Amazon is linked here.

The Phantom of the Opera

The Fault in Our Stars

It’s there (and captioned) for free on YouTube, but should also be available on Netflix DVD. Amazon is linked here.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Way He Looks

Brazilian gay coming of age film with a blind teen. Available to rent on YouTube (here), you can stream it on Netflix here, or watch on Amazon, linked here.

The Way He Looks

The Waterdance

This looks good! I haven’t seen it personally, but it’s the story of a man struggling to deal with his paralysis (with the intersecting love story).  The full movie is below on YouTube (captions are embedded in Portuguese and auto-captions available in English, a little confusing but there you go…). It seems to be available on Netflix streaming and DVD, you watch on Amazon, linked here

Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs

A love story about a woman with Parkinson’s and a drug company representative. Available on Netflix (DVD and streaming), a wonky-captioned YouTube version (linked above), non-wonky version available for rent on YouTube and also on Amazon.

The true story of King George and his stuttering (is stuttering really a rare disease? I’m not sure, but it seems rare enough to include here…please correct if wrong!). You can watch it on Netflix DVD  and streaming (linked below), and on Amazon. Your local library is likely to have it, too, as it’s recent (but not brand new!)

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble

Early (pre-Grease) John Travolta! This is the story of a boy born without an immune system and his reach for love with the girl next door. You can watch it on Netflix DVD, and on Amazon. The YouTube movie linked above is apparently the full movie but it’s only captioned in Spanish.

Bubble Boy
https://youtu.be/iR7xOnHuZuw

Bubble Boy

Inspired by the Boy in the Plastic Bubble (see previous movie), and written by the same authors. It’s about a boy born without an immune system who builds a protective bubble for himself so he can chase his love across the country and win her. You can watch it on Netflix DVD, and on Amazon. The full YouTube movie linked above is not free; it’s for rent at $2.99.

PS

I don’t have more information about this video (- the description on YouTube is all in Hebrew, which I don’t read, unfortunately).

Nevertheless, I loved this celebration of their union and love and wanted to include it in this post.

A Couple with Cerebral Palsy Wed in Israel

That’s the short list for now. I’d love to hear your suggestions and what love and disability movies really floated your boat.

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Beyond Children of a Lesser God: 20+ Best Deaf Movies

the best deaf movies

Affiliate links are in this post! That means that if you buy something using a link in my post, I’ll get a percentage of the profit from Amazon (thanks Jeff!), but you pay no more. It’s a great way to support the work I do, so thanks!

This post is a collection (list post) of the best deaf movies – including deaf narrative movies and ASL movies – as well as the best deaf documentaries. I am deaf myself, but this post was compiled by the input from the deaf community on Facebook.

For the purpose of this post, “deaf movies” can be movies that have actual deaf characters in roles meant for the deaf, they can be movies by or specifically for deaf consumption (usually but not always in signed language), they can be movies about the deaf or Deaf culture.  I will not be talking about movies that deaf people watch, as that’s just anything that has captions.

Movie links below are with Amazon. They are available for purchase, but many of them are also available through Amazon Prime Video. If you don’t have Prime membership, get a month trial here: Amazon Prime Free One-Month Trail. There is a student special membership – get the 6 month trial membership (and only $6.49/month after the trial expires, and also an EBT and Medicaid Card Holder’s in which you can get Prime for $5.99/month- find out more by clicking here.

Amazon Prime Free Trial

Best Deaf Documentaries – Documentaries About the Deaf or By the Deaf

 See What I’m Saying (English Subtitled) – This award-winning documentary follows four extraordinary Deaf entertainers – an actor, comic, drummer and a singer – over the course of one year, giving viewers a rare and powerful glimpse into the lives of Deaf artists. New York Times Critics’ Pick.

 Sound and Fury – Two families, one deaf and one hearing, make decisions about cochlear implants for their children

 Through Deaf Eyes – “Interwoven throughout the film are six short documentaries produced by Deaf media artists and filmmakers. Poignant, sometimes humorous, these commissioned stories bring a personalized sense of Deaf life in America to the film. Through first person accounts and the film as a whole, Through Deaf Eyes tells the story of conflicts, prejudice and affirmation that ultimately reaches the heart of what it means to be human.

Nowness – free movie based online (the link will lead you there) – Christine Sun Kim is a Deaf performance artist working to reclaim the world of sound for herself. Todd Selby is a blind filmmaker.

 Touch the Sound – A Sound Journey With Evelyn Glennie – A sound journey with internationally known Scottish deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie.

– In the Land of the Deaf – documentary features hearing-impaired people of all ages and from all walks of life, focusing on the students and teachers in a French school for deaf children and exploring the personal lives of some of the pupils and various adults, including an actor, a sign-language teacher, and an engaged couple.

– Hear and Now – the story about  deaf parents’ decision to undergo risky cochlear implant surgery at aged 65.

Best Deaf Narrative Movies

– Beyond Silence – French CODA story of a young woman’s battle for independence and her deaf parents’ struggle to understand her gift for music.

– Children of a Lesser God – the story of a relationship between a hearing special education teacher and a  deaf woman.

– No Ordinary Hero: The Superdeafy Movie – SuperDeafy must reveal the man behind the cape to find true love and inspire a young deaf boy to believe in himself

– Sweet Nothing In My Ear – Family drama about a deaf and hearing couple who struggle to decide whether or not to give their deaf son a cochlear implant

– A Quiet Place – terrifyingly suspenseful thriller in which  a family must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound.

– The Legend of the Mountain Man DVD movie in ASL – The Legend of the Mountain Man, set in picturesque Montana, features a typical, dysfunctional family of five. The father, who has been at odds with his parents for many years, decides to send his three children to his parents’ ranch for the summer. The children unexpectedly encounter a creature, one that has never been seen nor recorded in history books.  American Sign Language, No audio.

– Claustrophobia – a young deaf man lives in the country with his girlfriend and everything in his life seems absolutely perfect until something knocks on his door. Horror movie.

– And Your Name Is Jonah – Jonah is a lonely deaf child who has been misdiagnosed as mentally challenged. Jonah’s mother and father struggle to establish communication from their withdrawn son

– Oscar Nominated Short Films 2018. Select Animation and Live Action. – The Silent Child – Oscar winner short film

– See No Evil, Hear No Evil – Dave is deaf, and Wally is blind. They witness a murder, but it was Dave who was looking at her, and Wally who was listening..

– Mr. Holland’s Opus – “Heartwarming tale about the importance of following your passion”.

Zoom Focus, The End: British Sign Language free film (click the link) Drama: What happens to the Deaf world when deafness is ‘cured’?

Zoom Focus, Reverberation : British Sign Language free film (click the link) In 2167, the Government wipes out deafness. A young Deaf time traveller travels to 2018 to try to change the future.

The Tribe: Russian Signed Movie, available on Youtube (click the link)

– Listen to Your Heart – A struggling NYC songwriter becomes enamored with a wealthy hearing-impaired girl from Connecticut who tragically cannot hear the music she inspires him to write. After falling in love against the wishes of her controlling mother, Ariana becomes torn between hanging onto the shelter her controlling mother provides and fighting for a love that, if given the chance, might just change her life.

– The Family Stone – an uptight, annoying girlfriend is introduced to her boyfriend’s family. Her boyfriend has a deaf brother and the family knows ASL. The deaf/hearing piece is the most interesting part of this holiday movie!

– A Silent Voice: The Movie (Region A Blu-ray) (Japanese Language 日本語. Cantonese 粵語配音 Dubbed / English & Chinese Subtitled) Japanese Animation aka Koe no Katachi / 聲の形 / 聲之形 – Shoya Ishida, who is afraid of being bored, is curious about Shoko Nishimiya, a hard of hearing transfer student in his class. Later Shoya leads the class in bullying Shoko as she brings troubles to the class. Eventually, when the class is forced to take responsibility for bullying Shoko, the class turns to bullying Shoya to shift the blame. Until years later, when Shoya, tormented over his past, decides he must see Shoko once more?

ASL Films: a wide variety of films in ASL, free and not. Check it out by clicking the link.

– What the Deaf Man Heard – In response to childhood trauma, a man pretends not to hear or speak for twenty years while living in a small town.  He eventually needs to tell the truth in order to save people he loves.

– Love Is Never Silent – a classic CODA (child of a deaf adult), about deaf parents and their hearing daughter and her life with them.

– Mourning (Soog) (English Subtitled) – A deaf couple keeps a tragic secret from their nephew, debating the child’s future in a language not as private as they believe, whilst on a road trip home to Tehran.

– Bridge To Silence – After her husband is killed in a car accident, Peg, who is deaf, has a nervous breakdown. Her mother assumes custody of Peg’s daughter Lisa but after Peg recovers, Peg’s mother refuses to let her daughter take back custody,

– The Hammer – A coming of age drama following the life of Matt Hamill, the first deaf wrestler to win a National Collegiate.

TV Shows with a Deaf Character or Deaf Person

– Switched at Birth – 5 seasons of tv shows about a deaf girl and hearing girl who were switched at birth (also available on Netflix)

In Summary

There are a hell of a lot of good movies that relate to us deaf in some way. There is also a hell of a lot of appropriation out there, with hearing people acting in ASL-driven roles. This frankly really gets my goat; I can’t stand it.

Some of those types of movies are included in this post. I thought they might  provide fodder for discussion.

My best loves here are the ASL ones and the ones that I had an impossible time finding links for – ones made by the super talented people over at the Rochester Institute of the Deaf. Art films or independent movies are my favorites. They can be hard to find. When I do though, better believe I’ll come on back and update this post so that it will REALLY include all the best deaf movies!

In the meantime, I hope you find new content here that will stimulate discussion, provoke thought, make you feel something and do all the great things that great movies do.  I know I have.

Reminder About Amazon Prime & there Ways to Watch the Best Deaf Movies for Free or Cheap:

I just have to write this reminder, because I don’t want money or not being able to afford to buy a movie to come in the way of enjoying great deaf movies.

Library: Check out your local library and if they don’t have the movies, request them. Most libraries will order content that you want, sometimes for $1 and sometimes for free.

Netflix: If you have a Netflix subscription, some of these titles are available via DVD or streaming. I’m currently catching up on the super awesome Switched at Birth that way.

Amazon Prime Video: Get a month trial here: Amazon Prime Free One-Month Trail. There is a student special membership – get the 6 month trial membership or  an EBT and Medicaid Card Holder’s special,  Prime for $5.99/month- find out more by clicking here.

Amazon Prime Free Trial

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My 3 Favorite Movies from 1998

favorite movies from 1998

I am a member of Netflix #DVDNation. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are of course, my own. #ad

This post is about my favorite movies from 1998. Why 1998? Well, I love Netflix, and Netflix is celebrating 20 years of DVD‘s right now. In honor of Netflix, I took a look back at my favorite movies from the year that Netflix was born, 1998.

It was kind of trippy, because I hadn’t realized what an amazing year 1998 actually was for movies. Some of my all-time favorites are here, and it’s pretty cool to think of how they all just coincidentally came out that year…or not? I mean, Netflix came out, too: maybe it was a just a really good year for creativity and things movie-related?

Here are mine (and are all available via DVD on Netflix; some are available to stream). I also included links to iTunes and Amazon for the sake of your convenience.

My 3 Favorite Movies from 1998

favorite movies from 1998Pleasantville

Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy and Jeff Daniels star in this modern day fairy tale where an entire fictional town is granted a chance to experience the comedies and dangers of real life when two late 20th Century teenagers accidentally bring living color to a mysterious suburb trapped in a black-and-white ’50s utopia–and set off a revolution.

This movie was super creative in it’s use of color and imagery and in it’s thought-provoking and heart-grabbing look at race and culture in America.

The Truman Show

He’s the star of the show – but he doesn’t know. Jim Carrey wowed critics and audiences alike as unwitting Truman Burbank in this marvel of a movie from director Peter Weir about a man whose life is a nonstop TV show. Truman doesn’t realize that his quaint hometown is a giant studio set run by a visionary producer/director/creator, that folks living and working there are Hollywood actors, that even his incessantly bubbly wife is a contract player. Gradually, Truman gets wise. And what he does about his discovery will have you laughing, crying and cheering like few film stories ever have.

This movie is an awesome re-watch 20 years later, in this day of “Facebook’s Always Watching” and creepy feelings of social media and online invasions in our lives. Take another look.

American History X

Edward Norton delivers a searing performance as Derek, a former neo-Nazi skinhead whose life was almost destroyed by his own hatred -and who now struggles to prevent his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) from following in his footsteps.

I was living in Tokyo in 1998, and despite the outrageous $30 movie tickets (in 1998, to boot), I went to see this in the theatre twice.

It literally blew me away and left me speechless on the curb for a full hour after the film, just processing it all. It’s a powerful story about hatred and change.

My Other Favorite Movies from 1998

I loved There’s Something About Mary (omg, I don’t think I ever laughed so hard in a movie before), and I keep on trying The Big Lebowski because people whose opinions I care about love it: I’m going to try it with captions now that they are a lot more reliable and see how that affects it. I loved the cinematography in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – but I understood absolutely nothing of the movie without captions, so I need to give that another go too.

Shakespeare in Love was a top movie from 1998 and I hated it! For love, (besides There’s Something About Mary), I really liked The Wedding Singer  (because back then Adam Sandler was actually really funny).

That’s about it for me: what were your favorite movies from 1998?

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You Know Why “The Shape of Water” is Compelling, Don’t You?

the shape of water and disability deaf expression and culture

I am a member of Netflix #DVDNation. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are of course, my own. #ad 

14 years ago, I lined up my first movie from Netflix. It was The Phantom of the Opera (2004) one of my all-time favorite movies. As a kid who grew up on the outside of things, and with scars splayed all over my face, I have always easily identified with the Phantom.

So, with 20th Anniversary special Netflix’s 20th Anniversary here, I wanted to watch something in the same vein. A love story, but one that I could identify with (which is never going to be something like Roman Holiday).

I chose The Shape of Water.

The Shape of Water

A 2017 movie by one of my favorite directors, Guillermo del Toro. The Shape of Water is a love story about a mute cleaning lady and a humanoid aquatic creature from the Amazon. So, you know, right there it bagged all the unrealism I crave!

I wanted to see the movie because, besides being by Guillermo del Toro and besides being a love story, it really pissed off a lot of people in the disability community. I wanted to see why it pissed off so many people.

The Setting

The movie is set in the ’60’s, between this awesome living space above a theatre (seriously, how cool would it be to live there?!) and a government experiment facility. Elisa is the mute main lady. Here is the trailer:

The Shape of Water: Trailer

This is clearly del Toro’s work, right? All the murky-dark weird artsy-ness that I love him for.

The story is about a mute cleaning lady, Elisa, whose two best friends are another cleaning lady (who is black, played by Octavia Spencer) and a man she is neighbors with (who is gay, played by Richard Jenkins). There you have it: the disabled, the black and the gay: the perfect trifecta of the outcast minorities without rights in the 1960’s!

The trio join forces to rescue the Amphibian Man from the experiment zone, because Elisa and Amphibian Man have somehow fallen in love. They accomplish their mission in a rad heist, then again when the “bad guy” catches up with them.

That’s all I’m going to tell you about the story – if you want more, see it for yourself! Let’s talk about the disability and other pieces now though. I think those are worth dissecting.

What Was Good About The Shape of Water

Some people were pissed off because Elisa felt like an outcast, less than a full-human. She falls in love with Amphibian Man because, she says, “does not know what I lack or how I am incomplete. He sees me, for what I am, as I am.”

This was criticized as meaning that the movie was a sending a message to us (disabled), telling us that we are not whole.

I didn’t get that message, personally. I felt like Elisa was clearly saying she didn’t feel complete or whole, and that she loved him for how he made her feel. I understand that, I can relate to that. I know for myself that feeling complete or proud of my physical self and my disabilities takes an act of consciousness. My own personal “overcoming” is always in overcoming what our culture has told me about myself; not in overcoming my disabilities themselves.

Feelings of Being Incomplete

I think there are a lot of people without disabilities that feel incomplete, and the role of love for feeling that vacuum is pretty common. It’s all over the place in Western popular culture: you meet “the one” who somehow fills this void inside and makes one “complete.” People say, “my better half,” because without that One, they are incomplete.

Am I right?

That being the case, I think one of the reasons why The Shape of Water was so compelling to non-disabled people was precisely because it speaks to that sense of the incomplete. With so many people without disabilities identifying with that, they connect to that message almost viscerally.

… About the Monster…

I  did not feel, as Kim Sauder suggests in her blog post that the movie connects us with monsters, or that The Shape of Water is suggesting that we should be hooking up with monsters.

I felt that the movie was painting a pretty clear picture that Strickland (the “bad guy”) was the real monster in this piece, and that through otherness, we can find affinity.

I agree with that completely. There is a strong thread of understanding that laces us all in marginalized, discriminated, oppressed communities. We’ve walked in similar shoes and we understand what it feels like to have stones thrown at you because of something you do not have control over (be it the way you walk, the color of your skin, physical difference, sexual orientation or whatever else).

I also really liked how sexual Elisa was. I thought that was pretty radical, to be honest: WOW, a sexual mute leading lady?! I’ve never seen such a thing! I’m so used to disability being portrayed at sexless and ugly; her beautiful body and the sexuality of her body was, I thought, a powerful statement.

the shape of water disability and deaf experienceWhat Was Bad

Elisa was played by a hearing, speaking woman who studied ASL for this role. Sigh. PUH-LEEEEEEZE. I’m so sick of non-disabled people taking on disabled roles! And don’t give me any of that malarkey about how the role would need to hear or whatever; this was a role that a d/Deaf person should have had; not a hearing, speaking person (it’s funny for me to write that actually, because the ASL sign for “hearing” looks like “speaking”).

NO: I’m done with it. No more excuses, yo.

Nyle DiMarco showed you all how a Deaf man can dance flawlessly on Dancing With the Stars; let more from our community show you how we can flawlessly imitate a hearing person while we express ourselves in OUR OWN LANGUAGE.

Shape Of Water Fuck You GIF from Shapeofwater GIFs

 

To be clear: sure, the actress who played Elisa (Sally Hawkins) did a great job. She is dyslexic but does not identify as a person with a  disability. She worked hard to learn the ASL for this movie, and she learned her words well.

But it is not okay for these roles to be going to people outside of the communities that they represent. “Blackface” would be unthinkable now. Unfortunately, this hasn’t carried over to the disability spectrum and that needs to stop.

What Was Compelling About The Shape of Water

Themes of otherness, incomplete hearts being fulfilled by love, vulnerability and tenderness were what I think made this movie compelling to audiences. Guillermo Del Toro wielded his expert artistic flair through the film, creating captivating, stunning imagery, evocative sets and costumes. It was gorgeous, and gorgeous is compelling.

This movie did not make me go, “a-ha!”, it didn’t make me think of things in a new way. It was just an interesting story with superb visuals. That might be, in and of itself a reason for some people to watch it, and if so, I hope you love it.

other alternative love stories:

I can’t imagine anyone not being a member of Netflix already, but if you aren’t, you can get a trial month for free  here, at the 20th Anniversary special. Lots of fun movie stuff going on there too (quizzes, prizes, etc).

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22 Funniest Family Friendly Movies of All Time

22 Funniest Movies of All Time: You Are Going to LAUGH!

Funniest Family Friendly Movies of All Time

Funniest family friendly movies of all time: we all need a handy-dandy list to turn to when we forget what once made us laugh, right?

I’ve made this list “family friendly” which means that the bulk of the movies I’m recommending are really kid movies. I have to do this because I’m a mom and I almost never get time to watch movies on my own; for me, it’s watch with the kids or not at all.

These are the ones that I think are funny.

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally watched. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Funny Kid Movies

Minions.

Minions is our family’s go-to funny movie. We have watched it a million-billion times and it never gets old. It’s easy, hilarious, non-offensive and light.

The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie is a bit of a satire and the humor is kind of edgy. It always makes us laugh.

 

Despicable Me 1 & 2

Despicable Me 1 & 2. We love them. I guess it figures, since Minions is our go-to movie. But yeah, we can watch Despicable Me 1 or 2 over and over and not get tired of it. The jokes are classic to us, and Mack loves Victor’s dance moves.

 

Storks

Storks made us laugh. It’s not particularly deep, but we aren’t looking for that. We’re looking for funny, and we laughed.

 

Enchanted

Enchanted was a winner – it was frothy and princess-y enough to hold Moxie’s attention, battle-prince-y enough for Mack and with a fun enough story line to make Micah and I laugh.

A Simple Wish

A Simple Wish. Mack and Moxie don’t like this movie much, but Micah and I die of laughing when we see it (in a holy-cow, ‘nooooooo!‘ kind of way). It’s hilarious and awful. Awfully hilarious.

The 3 Amigos

The 3 Amigos: 8-year old Micah’s on the fence about this (a little too slapstick for him) but my husband Mikey and I love it!

 

Finding Dory

Finding Dory is funny and doubles as a disability-awareness movie. Win-win for our family. We love it, along with Finding Nemo (of course! Nemo!!!!)

Kung Fu Panda 1, 2 & 3

Kung Fu Panda 1, 2 & 3 are all super funny, with lovely life lessons woven in the tight story threads. All 3 kids love it, which is saying something, because there is no frothy-princess-y stuff in here.

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story – Christmas or not, this movie always makes me laugh. My kids seem like they are just laughing at watching me laugh (more than laughing at the movie itself). Whatever floats their boat, it works. I love this movie.

Rio 1 & 2

Rio 1 & 2. I personally like Rio 2 more than Rio 1 – I think it’s funnier and the music is awesome. But Rio 1 wasn’t a slouch of a movie either – my daughter Moxie likes Rio 1 better. Watch ’em both if you haven’t already – they are both funny and your kids will love them (but if you have to choose, I’d say go for Rio 2).

Shaun the Sheep & Timmy Time

Shaun the Sheep is a TV series and a movie. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t say if it’s any good, but the TV series is the kind that is so funny that it has you rolling around, crying. If you sign up for Amazon Prime (Try it for free for 30 days here), you get free shipping and bunch of stuff in addition to access to Shaun the Sheep and Timmy Time.

Zootopia

Zootopia – I was torn between adding this or not. It’s funny, yeah, but it’s also really deep. It’s a powerful movie that I think I’d recommend more as an introduction to getting kids to think about race, privilege and social justice more than as a movie to sit down with and laugh-your-cares-away. You know what I mean? So, if you are looking for a funny movie with a little more to chew on, this one is for you.

Book of Life

Book of Life isn’t the funniest movie out there. I think it qualifies more as “mildly amusing and light-hearted.” It’s also a hit with all 3 of my kids and the soundtrack is the best-loved one after Moana.

Movies That Are Iffy For Kids: Use Your Discretion

Rat Race

Rat Race. This movie makes me laugh. Full stop. Super funny, not particularly deep, but funny.

 

Office Space

Office Space. Anyone who has ever worked in an office has to love this movie. It’s ridiculously on-target with every little annoying detail an office has ever offered to it’s workers: the boss, the copy machine, “flair” – it’s awesome.

Airplane!

Airplane! – hey, don’t hit it. It’s a classic!

 

The Naked Gun

The Naked Gun. If we have Airplane, we have to include The Naked Gun. The Naked Gun was my brother and my own favorite movie for a long time, along with the Police Academy series.

Dumb and Dumber

Dumb and Dumber is a fantastic non-thinking movie. It’s the one you put on to space out with, having checked your brain in at the door.

This is accompanied by all of the Ace Ventura movies.

That's it

I’m going to stop here, before I get too carried away with more movies.

The point of this was to give you a handy list of funny movies that you can watch with your kids, because it’s almost impossible for you find the time to watch anything without them, right?!

Pop one in and laugh a little.

(and add your own favorites in the comments)

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Funniest Family Friendly Movies of All Time: 2017 Edition

Funniest Family Friendly Movies of All Time: 2017 Edition

Funniest family friendly movies of all time: we all need a handy-dandy list to turn to when we forget what once made us laugh, right?

I’ve made this list “family friendly” which means that the bulk of the movies I’m recommending are really kid movies. I have to do this because I’m a mom and I almost never get time to watch movies on my own; for me, it’s watch with the kids or not at all.

These are the ones that I think are funny.

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally watched. Please read my disclosure page for more info.

Funny Kid Movies

Minions.

Minions is our family’s go-to funny movie. We have watched it a million-billion times and it never gets old. It’s easy, hilarious, non-offensive and light.

The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie is a bit of a satire and the humor is kind of edgy. It always makes us laugh.

 

Despicable Me 1 & 2

Despicable Me 1 & 2. We love them. I guess it figures, since Minions is our go-to movie. But yeah, we can watch Despicable Me 1 or 2 over and over and not get tired of it. The jokes are classic to us, and Mack loves Victor’s dance moves.

 

Storks

Storks made us laugh. It’s not particularly deep, but we aren’t looking for that. We’re looking for funny, and we laughed.

 

Enchanted

Enchanted was a winner – it was frothy and princess-y enough to hold Moxie’s attention, battle-prince-y enough for Mack and with a fun enough story line to make Micah and I laugh.

A Simple Wish

A Simple Wish. Mack and Moxie don’t like this movie much, but Micah and I die of laughing when we see it (in a holy-cow, ‘nooooooo!‘ kind of way). It’s hilarious and awful. Awfully hilarious.

The 3 Amigos

The 3 Amigos: 8-year old Micah’s on the fence about this (a little too slapstick for him) but my husband Mikey and I love it!

 

Finding Dory

Finding Dory is funny and doubles as a disability-awareness movie. Win-win for our family. We love it, along with Finding Nemo (of course! Nemo!!!!)

Kung Fu Panda 1, 2 & 3

Kung Fu Panda 1, 2 & 3 are all super funny, with lovely life lessons woven in the tight story threads. All 3 kids love it, which is saying something, because there is no frothy-princess-y stuff in here.

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story – Christmas or not, this movie always makes me laugh. My kids seem like they are just laughing at watching me laugh (more than laughing at the movie itself). Whatever floats their boat, it works. I love this movie.

Rio 1 & 2

Rio 1 & 2. I personally like Rio 2 more than Rio 1 – I think it’s funnier and the music is awesome. But Rio 1 wasn’t a slouch of a movie either – my daughter Moxie likes Rio 1 better. Watch ’em both if you haven’t already – they are both funny and your kids will love them (but if you have to choose, I’d say go for Rio 2).

Shaun the Sheep & Timmy Time

Shaun the Sheep is a TV series and a movie. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t say if it’s any good, but the TV series is the kind that is so funny that it has you rolling around, crying. If you sign up for Amazon Prime (Try it for free for 30 days here), you get free shipping and bunch of stuff in addition to access to Shaun the Sheep and Timmy Time.

Zootopia

Zootopia – I was torn between adding this or not. It’s funny, yeah, but it’s also really deep. It’s a powerful movie that I think I’d recommend more as an introduction to getting kids to think about race, privilege and social justice more than as a movie to sit down with and laugh-your-cares-away. You know what I mean? So, if you are looking for a funny movie with a little more to chew on, this one is for you.

Book of Life

Book of Life isn’t the funniest movie out there. I think it qualifies more as “mildly amusing and light-hearted.” It’s also a hit with all 3 of my kids and the soundtrack is the best-loved one after Moana.

Movies That Are Iffy For Kids: Use Your Discretion

Rat Race

Rat Race. This movie makes me laugh. Full stop. Super funny, not particularly deep, but funny.

 

Office Space

Office Space. Anyone who has ever worked in an office has to love this movie. It’s ridiculously on-target with every little annoying detail an office has ever offered to it’s workers: the boss, the copy machine, “flair” – it’s awesome.

Airplane!

Airplane! – hey, don’t hit it. It’s a classic!

 

The Naked Gun

The Naked Gun. If we have Airplane, we have to include The Naked Gun. The Naked Gun was my brother and my own favorite movie for a long time, along with the Police Academy series.

Dumb and Dumber

Dumb and Dumber is a fantastic non-thinking movie. It’s the one you put on to space out with, having checked your brain in at the door.

This is accompanied by all of the Ace Ventura movies.

That's it

I’m going to stop here, before I get too carried away with more movies.

The point of this was to give you a handy list of funny movies that you can watch with your kids, because it’s almost impossible for you find the time to watch anything without them, right?!

Pop one in and laugh a little.

(and add your own favorites in the comments)

Keep Reading
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