Dexter-it gets worse
My friend was certainly right to tell me I was not going to be happy with Dexter. I’m not sure that I can keep watching this show, it upsets me so much. This time the problem isn’t with portrayal of disability, but with portrayal of devotees. The police are looking for a devotee in connection with this serial killing. It isn’t clear to me why. One of the characters tells another that there is indeed an amputee fetish and gives the scientific name for it, then says,”but don’t let them hear you call them that, they prefer the term ‘devotee.'” Really? I have no idea who came up with that word for it, but I think it’s stupid. I wish there were a better one. But yes, it is better than having it referred to like some kind...
Read MoreSaved
Really the main thing that bothers me here is that the paraplegic character is standing up on the cover. I don’t know who in all the people involved in the making of a movie is responsible for cover art, but I find this happens a LOT.  When there is a character in a wheelchair, you can’t see it on the cover, and all the characters are shown at exactly the same height.  What is the purpose in that?  Trying to hide something?  (I’m also bothered that the cover of Pay It Forward has an unblemished Kevin Spacey, though his character in the movie had burn scars on his face).  I find it messes with my suspension of disbelief as I get ready to watch the movie.  The actors photographed on the front are not portraying the characters from the movie!  It...
Read MoreBreaking Bad
This is another show I gave up on. Â I was really interested in it because the main character’s son has cerebral palsy and that isn’t the focus of the show, just a background detail. Â What a promising start! I got through about eight episodes before I became frustrated that the main character seemed to have more chemistry with and interest in his drug partner than his son. Â I didn’t get any feel for them being a family at all. Â I had a hard time picturing the main character being married to the wife he had. Â None of the family members felt like they had any connection. The show is doing really well, though. Â Maybe I should give it another chance. Â Maybe these issues have improved. Â The son is a really interesting character and I hope that...
Read MoreMad Men
This is another show that I haven’t actually watched. Â Well, I watched the first four episodes and it didn’t grab me. Â I just found it depressing and not very interesting, but I seem to be alone in that. Last week in my class the teacher (for reasons that are not entirely clear to me) showed a YouTube clip of an office party in Mad Men where someone gets his foot run over by a lawnmower. Â The teacher said that because of this injury, the character’s foot is amputated and his career is over. Seriously? I can’t blame the writing of the show for this one if that is accurate to early 1960s in America. Â It depresses me to think that it is accurate. Â Tell me why losing a foot would stop your career in writing ad copy. Â Anyone? Â Anyone have a...
Read MoreDexter
This is another show I only just started watching.  I’m on episode five.  I watched it last night at a friend’s house and as it came time to interview a kidnap victim who had had one foot and one hand chopped off, my friend said, “Oh, you’re going to hate this next part.” Do my friends know me or what? He was right.  I was quite irritated when this man said that probably a woman would never even look at him again.  In support of this idea, one of the main characters buys him a hooker. Seriously?  Once he puts on the prostheses that the hospital was donating to him it would be hard for anyone to even notice he was missing anything.  But even going beyond that, there are people with much more noticeable and debilitating disabilities...
Read MoreRear Window, remake
A shame, but this straight-to-tv movie staring Christopher Reeve (after his accident) is nothing but a vehicle for him to talk about disability issues. Â The whole story gets completely bogged down in this educating. I’m all for teaching people about disability issues, that’s a real passion of mine. Â If you’re going to use a fictional story to do that, though, it has to be gentle, in the background, and not overwhelming the plot. Â This feels more like a documentary on quadriplegia than a fiction movie. The original Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window has the main character in a wheelchair with a broken leg, and his immobility is used to up the ante on the fear. Â Similar to my comments on Bone Collector and MonkeyShines, it isn’t surprising that...
Read MoreProgress Trackers
At proofreaders; available for pre-order
What Is Meant To Be
Second draft
Homework & Homicide (working title)
Second Draft
Book Montage
RFW winner October 7, 2011
