Next week Jeff and I are planning to catch a few movies at the Sprout Film Festival, an annual showing of movies portraying people with developmental disabilities. “People with developmental disabilities as subjects and performers remain marginalized in film and television,” the organizers believe. “This festival aims to raise their profile by showcasing works related to this population.”
Last year I gave a talk about portrayals of people with developmental disabilities in mainstream Hollywood movies (”Rain Man,” “Pumpkin,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “I am Sam” — I have a very long list) and how they mostly don’t get it. One movie …read more