I just viewed the trailer ABC's new comedy Speechless, for me it hit all of the cords that I am looking for. I laugh the whole trailer, but when the brother is speaking up about wanting more mom time, I could relate very much to this. Until now no body really thought about the impact of having a child with a disability on the other children. In fact it made me tear up thinking about my own family since so much of my Mom’s time was focous on me, what did that do to my siblings?
I was laughing and being “entertained”, but at the end of each joke, I had to stop and think what was just presented to me. For example, the accessibled ramp at JJ’s new school. Most people would have a conniption fit if they had to smell trash each time they went in and out of a building, but some how it’s acceptable for the disabled since its accessibled.
I have come to the hypothesis that when disabilities are present in any media. It is not there to represent people with disability as a group, but to challenge the way people think about that situation. When it comes down to it any form of entertainment, it is art and good art is there to evoke one’s emotions and thoughts. My hope is that Speechless can stay on this path and I will be rolling right along with JJ and his family.
