This is a 3-part episode in response to the recently released, controversial film Me Before You. Guests include disabled actor, comedian and activist, Liz Carr, spouses of disabled men Elizabeth VanArragon and Jill Smit, and disabled filmmaker Cheryl Green.
Discussion Questions:
- Why is Me Before You considered a controversial movie?
- Why is it considered an “unlikely bond” when a nondisabled person falls in love with a disabled person?
- Why is it important to question the representation of disability in movies and media in general?
- What assumptions does the general public make about the value of a disabled life and how does the movie reinforce these common stereotypes?
- How different might this movie be if disabled actors, writers, directors, and producers were part of the process of making the film?
- According to Simi Linton, disability activist, “Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to have disabilities. Ableism characterizes persons as defined by their disabilities and as inferior to the non-disabled.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ableism) Where do you see ableism in the movie?