A digital ecosystem, fueled by serendipity. Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!
In conjunction with the dilemma Sunshine and Hummingbird addressed on whether our perception of Monica and David's seeming dependence on Monica's parents is accurate or is only a result of how they are treated by those around them, I was deeply troubled by the presentation of their wedding.
I agree with Sunshine--the film really suggested to me that having money has a lot to do with intellectually disabled individuals living safe and healthy lives. Monica's mother mentions several times that she does not want Monica and David to work because she does not want them to be exposed to people who could be rude or insensitive about their disability. However, they are only able to give up on the idea of work (if only for a short time) because Monica's mother is wealthy enough to feed and clothe them.
bridgetmartha mentioned that the upcoming 4th season of American Horror Story is entitled "Freak Show." It premiers this Wednesday, Oct. 8. I just saw a clip in which Mat Fraser, crip performance artist and actor, is interviewed. Mat is also one of Riva's portrait subjects. Here's the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_IsA8NC8k
And here's another interview clip, also under the category "Extraordinary Artists," with Rose Siggins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DObsODg8y2s
I think Monica and David portrayed disability as something that has its limitations, but is not debilitating. Monica and David were limited to staying with their parents for the rest of their lives, or living with another family. When David developed diabetes, Monica’s step-father gave his insulin. However, after a while David was able to do it himself. I couldn’t help but compare it to my family vacation over the summer.
I left class today feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. This wasn't the usual stress of the semester. This was a direct response to the absence of space I felt in today's class. Not necessarily for myself, but more generally.
I want us to return to some of the ground rules we agreed to at the beginning of the semester:
– making space for one another
– stepping back
– remembering to avoid speaking as though one's truth is the only truth
– allowing some silence in our classroom
I started this post looking for other artisits who have done representations or "portraits" of disability and kept feeling pulled back to Riva's work. The piece I looked at is "Neil Marcus: a Menorah for Gene Kelly":
The image I chose is a portrait by Chris Rush. I tried to find some information on him before doing my close reading, but I found it exceedingly difficult to find much of anything about him. Even his website has no information about the artist. I did find information about a Christopher Rush who is an artist for Magic cards, but I don't think it's him, and if it is, I'm having a hard time understanding why there's plenty of information on his illustrations for a game and very little about his portraits on disability.