Disability

I am writing about the Anti Self Portraits of Laura Swanson

" Peggy Lee"

"Shower"

"t-shirt"

Anti-Self Portraits by Laura Swanson

Pillow (2008)

White (2007)

Shower 2008

I was so tickled pink by Monica & David's representation of two people living with Down's. I was worried, from the beginning, that the film might include condecension, but was pleasantly surprised with how neither the representation of the two protagonists nor the commentary about them by friends and family seemed to. Each mother of the couple explained that they ocassionally have the tendency to try to protect them from the world, but that they recognize that instinct and actively try to work against it. It was pleasing to see how Monica so admired her mother, even adopting some of her phrases, like "This is ridiculous."

What struck me the most about the documentary was how dedicated Monica's mother was. She stated in the beginning that Monica was her life. I respected her for focusing so much on Monica's happiness yet, I wondered if she held any resentment since her life has been surrounding around Monica since she was 20. I wonder if Monica would be more independent if her mother would have been less focused on her. Throughout the movie various people in Monica and David's lives reflected on how capable of independence they both were. Although Monica's mother gave them a seperate section of the house, didn't really give Monica and David much freedom.

From the front page of today's New York Times, another story about intellectual disability focused on a wedding:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/us/a-couple-gaining-independence-and-finding-a-bond.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A10%22%7D

I found Monica & David to be an incredibly hopeful, heartening film. This film humanized what is so often an incredibly stigmatized condition, Down's syndrome. The generally rosy outlook of the film didn't feel at all artifical, though I do have to question some parts of it. The filmmaker did in fact come to them at an incredibly happy and successful (by the subjects' own standards!) time in their lives. I do fear for what has happened to them, to some degree--Monica and David are such effervescently happy people that I want nothing but good for them. Sadly, life cannot always be happy, and that's true for people regardless of disability or ability. 

Going off of what bridgetmartha said about Monica’s mother’s double-standards, I want to first talk about the primarily symbolic nature of Monica and David’s wedding, and then about Monica’s desire to have a baby. I found it troubling that with the obvious wealth they have, they were able to buy a special day for Monica. While it was a kind gesture to honor their relationship in that way, I agree with bridgetmartha when she says that it is a purely symbolic ceremony. After their marriage, David moved in with Monica’s family, and her mother seemed to have no inclination to push the couple in the direction of living a more independent life together.