Friday, August 6, 2021

Crip Camp (2020, R)

I really loved this documentary. It tells about an interesting slice of history and offers insight into a pretty badass movement for change. It’s the sort of thing that’s not really taught in schools but absolutely should be.

We begin in the early ‘70s, where a group of well-meaning young hippies take charge of Camp Jened, a summer camp for teens with disabilities. Disabled teens from all over meet, canoodle, and commiserate in between summer fun and activities. The solidarity and self-respect they learn at camp is reinforced every summer and then carries over into their adult lives, where a number of former campers band together to fight for disability rights in employment and public accommodations.

I love so much about this story. I love that disabled teens had a place to get together in the ‘70s, some of them being away from their parents for the first time, some of them meeting other people with disabilities for the first time. I love that their hippie counselors don’t exactly know what they’re getting into and have a learning curve in regards to safe carrying techniques/other aspects of care, but they still know they want to provide a place for kids with disabilities to have fun and learn some independence. I love that they encourage the kids to take pride in themselves, to recognize what they’re capable of, and to work together for the betterment of everyone. I love that the kids aren’t a monolith, that they come from different backgrounds and perspectives, that many are dealing with internalized ableism of their own, and that they learn to debate among themselves while still respecting one another as people. There’s that saying, “You have to see it to be it,” and I think, for a lot of these teens, Camp Jened allows them to see the sort of life they could make for themselves.

Case in point: following them into adulthood, where many of the former campers congregate in Berkley and get involved in activism together. The sit-ins and street protests that they organize are awesome. At Camp Jened, some of the teens grew from campers to counselors over the years, such as Judith Heumann, and the leadership skills she developed there serve her well in encouraging her fellow activists, creating a solid plan for change, and rallying others to the cause. Their time at camp helped them all realize that their disabilities aren’t what’s holding them back in the world – it’s the world that’s inaccessible to them. It’s employment discrimination, inaccessible public transportation and bathrooms, lack of access to housing and independent-living resources, and more. Lack of access is limiting their rights far more than their disabilities are, and if they want the kinds of lives that Camp Jened helped them imagine, they need to make noise and force Congress to listen to them.

One thing that’s really cool about their movement is how “leave no one behind” it is. Accommodations for everyone are critical to them. When they launch one of their first big visibility campaigns, a massive sit-in occupying a government building, they’re concerned with getting the supplies they need to ensure that as many people are able to take part as possible, whether that means bedding or diapers or oxygen tanks, and it’s a rule that no planning meeting can begin until there’s an interpreter on the premises. We also see how they lean on one another’s abilities and skills. For example, participants with more mobility pitch in to assist folks with greater needs, helping out with feeding or bathrooming. And I love that they communicate to their people outside the occupied building by having Deaf participants inside relating messages in ASL to Deaf folks outside looking in through the windows.

Within the main narrative of the teens coming into their own at camp and becoming activists in adulthood, we cover a wide range of accompanying topics, including institutions, independent-living resources, love/sex, parenting, and more. Both the historical footage and the present-day interviews offer input from a wide variety of people with a range of abilities, and people with speech disabilities are respectfully included as well. Just really well done all around – I’m glad that this documentary exists.

Warnings

Strong thematic elements (including ableism and images of severe neglect,) language, drinking/smoking, and sexual references.

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Less than a month until Shang-Chi is released, and we've got new character posters! Check out all of them at the link, but obviously Wenwu is the one that holds my particular interest. Just give me all the Hung Gar Ten Rings and fingerless black-leather gloves action - so cool and badass. There's also a new promo and a "Who's Most Likely To..." featurette, although the latter only features the younger cast members (we're going to get some kind of press from Tony Leung Chiu-wai for this movie, right? Even just a tiny bit?) After more than two years of waiting, it's almost here!

And yes, once again, I'm hoping that we get our stupid butts in gear and start getting case numbers under control. I've only seen Leung on the big screen once in like 15 years, I do not want to have to see his Hollywood/MCfrickin'U debut on Disney+. Get it together, people!

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