The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Posted by Larry the Rolling Filmmaker at 3/23/2008 1:37 PM and is filed under uncategorized 
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
AKA: The desperate isolation of a pre-scuba diving suit and the renewal metamorphous of a butterfly! How profound, poetic and deep that is! According the movies that is what people with a disAbility are good for and that is what they do for society and not much else! But that is a pretty big role in life, huh? Yes it is but it is not the only significant role of those with a disAbility in our society.
Okay I finally was able to see “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” last Thursday night. Fortunately it finally made it here in the little city in the very north east corner ofUtah
I did go into the theatre with my pre-conceived notions and bias toward the images that are so stereotypical and in fact terrible for those with a disAbility because this is what the general public, what society contends that we are all like this transcending the human condition and an inspiration to everyone around us and if we do not fit into the stereotype that we do not have a place in society. When will we get any other depictions of our lives with a disAbility?
I still believe that this movie does fall into that stereotype and feel somewhat degraded by an able bodied director who was given so much artistic praise for his camera angels being from the point of view of the main character in the beginning because I wrote a short story/screenplay with what I thought was an innovating camera style by having the first half from that same POV. But at least in my short film story you do not know that the POV is from a person who is paralyzed and traveling through the able bodied world on his way to work – until the second half when the entire first half is replayed from the POV of one of his friends/co-workers! Here in Schnabel’s perspective and portrayal of a person who is severely paralyzed we learn that the POV is the main character right from the beginning. Overall though I did like Schnabel’s direction with the only additional exception was with so many hard cuts. I don’t know if that was by Schnabel’s design, the DP’s or the Editors. I understand the use or at least what I presume was his use in trying to show how the long days were filled with many of the same long and tedious actions – but it was done in many places that were not part of that typical daily routine and I do not know how others felt about it but it was bothersome to me.
Still despite it perpetuating the stereotype, and not really showing anything new about the world of those with a disAbility that wasn’t already done over and over again and in fact not that long ago with “The Sea Inside”, and the feeling that an able bodied director has stolen my thunder – my artistic method – I surprisingly did enjoy the film. The pacing and length of the film was good and it did inspire me, just not like it did for many others!
As I was sitting in the very back row of the theatre, the typical seating before wheelchair seating became more integrated (this is an old theatre and the main reason it shows the art films) and as I read the dialogue (despite having taken a year of French in high school it was too long ago) in the sub-titles I was struck by the lines that I had previously read from reviewers, “Besides my left eye the only two things not paralyzed is my imagination and my memory.” Ah, that I can surely identify with and because I have more functioning ability but still have my limitations being paralyzed from the mid-back down I had to add my passion, ambition and dedication. Then I realized – damn this is something I have been saying for a long time. If you read other entries to this blog or my bio on my website or in a letter I have written to raise awareness and gain support from one of the nearly one hundred person’s I have contacted in the industry, there are two commons phrases I use about my paralysis. The first that my accident happened on April 1, 1995 and I am still waiting for someone to jump around the corner and scream “APRIL FOOL’S!” and the second more serious common phrase is that my passion for filmmaking, storytelling on film which began a few years before when I was at the Art Institute – was that it was not paralyzed with the bottom half of my body! Proof that those with a disAbility do identify and have similar experiences with others with a disAbility despite the varying degrees or types of disAbilities that they share. But because I am sure that this statement was taken directly from the autobiography written/dictated by Bauby, it is probably more surprising that a Frenchman and an American saw things the same way!
Bottom line: See this movie and enjoy it – just keep it in perspective. Remember this is one of the common stereotypes and that not all of the 650 million people with a disAbility from around the world – or to be more specific those who are paralyzed to any degree, are the Dali Lama giving you perspective on your life and inspiring you to be a better person because you never know what will happen! I find this stereotype similar to comedians that I have heard say that when they are out and about meeting people for the first time are often and immediately being asked to “tell a joke, say something funny!” I am not saying that you won’t be inspired by some people, those with a disAbility but know that that is not our purpose in life! We cannot be expected to be one of the only stereotypes that society is exposed to through the media. We are as diverse as the general population of the world. Those with a disAbility make up members from every race, nationality, social and economical class, every age, gender, and of every creed. And the diversity of both types of disAbilities as well as varying degrees within each disAbility!
As a reminder theADA
AKA: The desperate isolation of a pre-scuba diving suit and the renewal metamorphous of a butterfly! How profound, poetic and deep that is! According the movies that is what people with a disAbility are good for and that is what they do for society and not much else! But that is a pretty big role in life, huh? Yes it is but it is not the only significant role of those with a disAbility in our society.
Okay I finally was able to see “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” last Thursday night. Fortunately it finally made it here in the little city in the very north east corner of
I did go into the theatre with my pre-conceived notions and bias toward the images that are so stereotypical and in fact terrible for those with a disAbility because this is what the general public, what society contends that we are all like this transcending the human condition and an inspiration to everyone around us and if we do not fit into the stereotype that we do not have a place in society. When will we get any other depictions of our lives with a disAbility?
I still believe that this movie does fall into that stereotype and feel somewhat degraded by an able bodied director who was given so much artistic praise for his camera angels being from the point of view of the main character in the beginning because I wrote a short story/screenplay with what I thought was an innovating camera style by having the first half from that same POV. But at least in my short film story you do not know that the POV is from a person who is paralyzed and traveling through the able bodied world on his way to work – until the second half when the entire first half is replayed from the POV of one of his friends/co-workers! Here in Schnabel’s perspective and portrayal of a person who is severely paralyzed we learn that the POV is the main character right from the beginning. Overall though I did like Schnabel’s direction with the only additional exception was with so many hard cuts. I don’t know if that was by Schnabel’s design, the DP’s or the Editors. I understand the use or at least what I presume was his use in trying to show how the long days were filled with many of the same long and tedious actions – but it was done in many places that were not part of that typical daily routine and I do not know how others felt about it but it was bothersome to me.
Still despite it perpetuating the stereotype, and not really showing anything new about the world of those with a disAbility that wasn’t already done over and over again and in fact not that long ago with “The Sea Inside”, and the feeling that an able bodied director has stolen my thunder – my artistic method – I surprisingly did enjoy the film. The pacing and length of the film was good and it did inspire me, just not like it did for many others!
As I was sitting in the very back row of the theatre, the typical seating before wheelchair seating became more integrated (this is an old theatre and the main reason it shows the art films) and as I read the dialogue (despite having taken a year of French in high school it was too long ago) in the sub-titles I was struck by the lines that I had previously read from reviewers, “Besides my left eye the only two things not paralyzed is my imagination and my memory.” Ah, that I can surely identify with and because I have more functioning ability but still have my limitations being paralyzed from the mid-back down I had to add my passion, ambition and dedication. Then I realized – damn this is something I have been saying for a long time. If you read other entries to this blog or my bio on my website or in a letter I have written to raise awareness and gain support from one of the nearly one hundred person’s I have contacted in the industry, there are two commons phrases I use about my paralysis. The first that my accident happened on April 1, 1995 and I am still waiting for someone to jump around the corner and scream “APRIL FOOL’S!” and the second more serious common phrase is that my passion for filmmaking, storytelling on film which began a few years before when I was at the Art Institute – was that it was not paralyzed with the bottom half of my body! Proof that those with a disAbility do identify and have similar experiences with others with a disAbility despite the varying degrees or types of disAbilities that they share. But because I am sure that this statement was taken directly from the autobiography written/dictated by Bauby, it is probably more surprising that a Frenchman and an American saw things the same way!
Bottom line: See this movie and enjoy it – just keep it in perspective. Remember this is one of the common stereotypes and that not all of the 650 million people with a disAbility from around the world – or to be more specific those who are paralyzed to any degree, are the Dali Lama giving you perspective on your life and inspiring you to be a better person because you never know what will happen! I find this stereotype similar to comedians that I have heard say that when they are out and about meeting people for the first time are often and immediately being asked to “tell a joke, say something funny!” I am not saying that you won’t be inspired by some people, those with a disAbility but know that that is not our purpose in life! We cannot be expected to be one of the only stereotypes that society is exposed to through the media. We are as diverse as the general population of the world. Those with a disAbility make up members from every race, nationality, social and economical class, every age, gender, and of every creed. And the diversity of both types of disAbilities as well as varying degrees within each disAbility!
As a reminder the
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