Movies portraying "disabilities"

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Rainstorm Jenny

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I think there is alot of different ways to see movies on disabilities like the ones you mentioned, Shrr. What catches my interest more are the films that deal with someone or even some people that have mental disabilities such as the movie The Other Sister. I loved how it showed that two people who are mentally challenged can take care of themselves and can be in love just as a couple who arent mentally challenged.
 
I haven't heard of that movie...I'm always looking for recommendations---will have to check it out soon.
 
Erm - well, yes, that is the issue, but this isn't the place to discuss it per se.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but I think those people who have posted on this thread so far are the ones who actually do regularly post and discuss their ideas - the main reason I've kept it open.

So...beginning the discussion on THIS thread, I'm curious to know if people consider drug and alcohol (redundant, I know) addiction a true disability. I do, but that's because they're a disease and manageable but not curable, which is essentially the definition of long-term disability.

So films with movies about addicts - recently Blow, Leaving Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Requiem for a Dream - would count.

Even more en pointe to my own life are films about mental disabilities, aside from down syndrome or those who are developmentally disabled (the most commonly portrayed mental disabilities). For example, Niagra, Niagra and As Good As It Gets, not to mention Benny and Joon.

As for the latter two films, I loved the first but not so much the second...but I had problems with both. Jack Nicholson has gone on record to say he portrayed his character in As Good As It Gets as angry and aggressive because that's how he'd feel if he had the disability.

However, he portrayed the aggression in such a way that it appeared to be a tick, like with Tourette's (a related disorder), not just an angry person. This led to people thinking those with OCD are commonly aggressive, which is not true, and generally very much the opposite. That really pissed me off. (for a more realistic, albeit TV version, of the disorder, watch USA Network's Monk)

As for Benny and Joon, what's-her-name combined multiple disorders in order to exaggerate the characterisitcs of her character. Again, I like everyone involved with the project but felt dissatisfied by the misrepresentation.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?
(How's that for discussion. ;))
 
I know this is an old thread, but we can still talk about movies with these themes in them. Has anyone seen the movie Bill starring Mickey Rooney as a mentally handicapped man and Dennis Quaid as his friend who wants to make a film about him? It's heart-breakingly sweet and very well done. You really forget that Mickey is acting which is very difficult in a movie where the character is so obviously different from the actor.
 
I agree. Im just doing some research for myself cause My BOYFRIEND suffers from it. They, being doctors and all, want to take him off alot of his meds right now. So...

Angie
 
wouldn't that require some thought and some effort before we post to a thread?.....i've always tried to do that in the past.....but now i've gotten fed up....i've quit posting to any thread that might require any kind of insight or reasoning on my part, because from what i've observed here and in other forums.....most posters just post one line responses to up their post counts....and the treads and their ideas go nowhere.....

an example of most threads ....."what was the last film you saw in a theater?".......



which tells me absolutely nothing about why the poster liked 'king kong'.....did they like the opening of the film showing the street scenes in new york city?....did they like the girl doing gymnastics for the monkey?.....the monkey and the girl ice skating in central park?....the sad ending?......even i know enough about the film to talk about it...and i didn't even see it!!!......

i'm afraid this is just one small example of someone stopping by a thread...whether it requires any thought at all....to up their post count....(aka :star: posting).....
i'm lucky that i have more than a few people in my life, that are just as passionate about the medium of film as i am.....individuals that i can talk to face to face if i really want to discuss cinema....


my 2 cents...........
 
No, no - I'm so sorry for my crankiness last night. :(

I'd really like to have a thread discussing disabilities - not only for personal reasons but because I think it's an interesting topic. I just didn't want people to come on, post a movie name, and leave, you know?

But we can certainly discuss the films amongst ourselves. :)
 
I knew someone that I think had most signs of schizophrenia (or at the least she suffered from paranoid delusions..which is just as devastating). I agree with you shrrshrr...why take creative license with a story like that...I bet you that the "real" story was a hundred times more fascinating then the "reel" story that Ron Howard told.

I also just got finished watching What's Eating Gilbert Grape and I love the movie. I enjoyed how they portrayed Arnie..they didn't just make him a stereotypical "retard". They created a character that was funny, sincere, strong and loving and who is someone that the audience can relate to. I wasn't sure who to atribute this characterization to: Leonardo Dicaprio or to the screenwriter/director team--but after watching the commentary on the DVD it was obvious that the credit for how Arnie comes across is completely due to Leonardo (most stuff was improvised by him)

Arnie's final scenes in the movie were fantastic and realistic. The slow realization about what has happened to his mother was deeply moving. The way he hit Gilbert at the birthday party (after Gilbert had done the same the night before) shows that just because Arnie has a "disability" that he isn't just going to let things happen to him. It was his way of saying to not let it happen again.

I always enjoy a movie that is honest and real and this movie has it in spades. Unlike other stories with similar characters or characters with disabilities.
 
Those are some good questions Shrr! If the poster actually gets all the info they need, do you think we can keep this thread open to talk about movies with disabilities and what to recommend to watch and what not to, or is this thread going to be closed soon? :)
 
Hmm...for some reason I'm just not interested in A Beautiful Mind...

I think it's because I don't like it when filmmakers take real people and take dramatic license with their lives, portraying them differently than they really were. Why not just make up a fictional character?

Anyway, I know a couple of people who suffer from schizophrenia - one was even a friend for a while when he was compliant on his meds (which he wasn't when we lost contact with each other), the other is finally compliant with his meds and no longer considers me a white-slaver (I'm not kidding). It's a devastating disease and I think realistic portrayals of it are what we need, not romanticizations, you know?
 
Okay, yes - there are, as I've said several times before, HUNDREDS of films we could list, possibly thousands.

Since we're not getting answers let's ask the poster questions to find out what s/he's looking for. Here's a start:

little_Quest, can you answer the questions below for us, please?

What time period do the films have to be from? (modern, classic, 50s, 70s, when?)

What genre do they have to be? (Comedy, drama, thriller, horror, action, romantic comedy, etc.)

What sort of disability are you looking for? (Physical, mental, addiction - which is a little of both, etc.)

What is the role of the disability to the film? (Physical, mental, the main character is disabled in some way, the film just happens to have a person with a disability associated with it even though that's not the main theme of the film, etc.?)

When do you need to know all this?

What's the project for (school, personal knowledge, church, etc.)?

That's a good place to start. :)

ETA - look, I'm not trying to come down on you. I just don't see the point of this thread when you can just as easily go to the movie database site, type in 'disability' for a search, and come up with more than 600 titles. I know that becaues I just did it.

So why do you need us? :look:
 
Yes. I agree.


Thanks MarkedBlackBehr for all the recommendation

I really wish they had more movies about this subject :(

Angie
 
The one I can come up with is Mask (the one with Cher in it) in which one of the main characters has this really rare disease that disfigures his face.
 
I thought Radio was a pretty good movie about a developmentally challenged man.
 
Erm - okay, you're welcome - but you still haven't answered our questions. :look:

Perhaps if you told us a little more about your project. What's it for? What's your thesis? Why are you doing this - why you chose this topic (or did someone choose it for you)?

We REALLY need a better idea as to what you're looking for, because right now all this thread is doing is encouraging people to list films without discussing them, and we discourage that around here.

We want to help, but we need more information from you. :)

Also, it would help us if you didn't use net-speak. Meaning, it took me a while before I could figure out what sth meant (I presume it means, "Something?") - we ask that board members do not post like that. It's in the rules because it's really hard to read. (Not trying to come down on you at all, just trying to make things easier for everyone, and make sure we're all following the rules).

Is there a time period you're working for?

As I said in my reply above - there are literally hundreds if not thousands of films that have disabilities associated with them one way or another and there's just no way we could list all of them - again, need more information. Thanks.
 
Recommended reading on schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

Crazy by Pete Earley

Suffering delusions from bipolar disorder, Mike Earley broke into a stranger's home to take a bubble bath and significantly damaged the premises. That Mike's act was viewed as a crime rather than a psychotic episode spurred his father, veteran journalist Pete Earley (Family of Spies), to investigate the "criminalization of the mentally ill." Earley gains access to the Miami-Dade County jail where guards admit that they routinely beat prisoners. He learns that Deidra Sanbourne, whose 1988 deinstitutionalization was a landmark civil rights case, died after being neglected in a boarding house. A public defender describes how he—not always happily—helps mentally ill clients avoid hospitalization. Throughout this grim work, Earley uneasily straddles the line between father and journalist. He compromises his objectivity when for most of his son's ordeal—Mike gets probation—he refuses to entertain the possibility that the terrified woman whose home Mike trashed also is a victim. And when, torn between opposing obligations, he decides not to reveal to a source's mother that her daughter has gone off her medications, he endangers the daughter's life and betrays her mother. Although this is mostly a sprawling retread of more significant work by psychologist Fuller Torrey and others, parents of the mentally ill should find solace and food for thought in its pages.
 
Ooh, thank you for the recommendation and welcome to the boards! :wave:

I just spent the last 30 minutes trying to find well-made films on schizophernia but the only ones I'd recommend are documentaries not available on DVD or VHS. Perhaps this speaks to the bias of not dealing well publicly with mental illness... :(
 
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