Murderball

I have never seen the movie murderball so I thought I would check to see what all the hype was about.  I thought it was a fantastic documentary showing how " normal" people with a certain subset of disabilities can be in their day-to-day lives in comparison to their able-bodied peers.  From competing athletically to parenting to handling relationships to driving etc. they also do an incredible job of showing these guys in chairs as they really are, not as inspirational heroes or models on a pedestal, just simply human beings.  That is something that often gets lost when people encounter people with disabilities out and about.  Like the one dude said when he encountered someone when he was out who said "it's so nice to see you out in public", and he thought,  "What was I supposed to be doing hanging out in the closet?”  It is those remarks, which really show subtle but visible ableism and ignorance of people without physical disabilities.

         I also love how they demonstrated openness and willingness to educate people about themselves to people who are genuinely curious, especially children since it is important that younger generations been conditioned from a young age to be accepting of all people despite their religion, ethnicity, age, or disability.  If no one is going to teach these kids about how one can be disabled and still live a "normal" life than the cycle of ignorance will continue and people with disabilities will never get the respect that they deserve.

         I believe this movie should be part of the standard curriculum for high school students since it may help them get over the pity part, which their disabled peers and others go through on a daily basis.  I think by making them watch people colliding violently in wheelchairs similar to football it will get them to see that having a disability does not make you automatically fragile.  Sure, there are people with certain disabilities which make them relatively more fragile than there able-bodied counterparts, but it doesn't mean that every person in a wheelchair or using other orthopedic devices are by their nature fragile.  This is because if one watches the film becomes even some of the hits these guys take a pretty violent, and may change their outlook about the ability part of disability and not the disability part.

         It also does a great job of demonstrating the psychological and emotional trauma that people with spinal cord injuries have to deal with after such a life altering event, and how it can be overcome at least partly by having a positive attitude and a persevering drive to becoming as independent as possible.  There is some parts which can be constituted as being inspiration porn in the sense that the film shows how mentally tough someone has to be in order to cope with a spinal cord injury, especially at first.  However, I do believe that it shows that not in a deferential or pitiful way, but just as another part of living a human life.  At least that is my opinion.

         I would highly recommend this movie for anyone above a certain age of course, because some of the content is not suitable for children, but overall it would be a great teaching tool and way of exposing people to the life of low level quadriplegic.  I personally would give this movie a 9.5/10.