Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Bohemian Crip Watches Movies: Give Me Liberty

Give Me Liberty  may be the single most representative non-documentary I've ever seen(I'm 47). As such, it's not exactly a restful viewing experience as it reminds me of about a year's worth of paratransit trips, complete with noise, chaos, missed intentions and a destination that's "ten minutes away, tops," but seems to be receding in the distance.Everyone with a disability in the movie has a disability, which is rare enough that some viewers, including my mom, found it off-putting at times.  I think it's pretty awesome, even if every other movie I've ever seen sort of makes me think that the most "mainstream-salvageable" riders will both have a meet-cute and hit Publisher's Clearinghouse and somehow be rescued from being who they are.


Paratransit driver Vic has already brought his work home, living in a senior-living complex with his grandfather while he drives clients around working-class sections of Milwaukee, pretty much knowing going in that doing his job for one client may mean disappointing someone else, and always keeping dispatch(the closest to The Man that this story features) one step behind. Somehow, he ends up driving Grandpa's posse of old-timers on a day when there's a protest march in the city and a full complement of disabled riders(Some of whom run late all the time because they don't have enough support at home, which is often the fact, Jack. Although there are little wins in this movie, it doesn't try to tell us the United States leaves no crip behind.)

1 comment:

  1. Vic is, you know, the best paratransit driver in the world, really, even though he's really inefficient, but he errs in trying to help others, which doesn't always happen IRL.

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