On April 8 we observe Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and remember the 11 million people who perished throughout the Holocaust. When we think about the Holocaust, we generally think about the 6 million Jewish people that were killed. But there were other populations that were targeted in the Holocaust: Roma, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities. [continue reading…]
Washington, D.C., April 1 – 13-year-old Israel Thomas-Bruce has not had the opportunity to see himself represented on TV in the way that many other children may have. That is changing with the addition of a new neighbor in Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood – Max, Teacher Harriet’s autistic nephew.
The show authentically cast Thomas-Bruce, who was diagnosed with autism when he was four years old, as Max. Thomas-Bruce said this experience gave him “an extra boost of confidence.” [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, April 1 – A Warner Bros. blockbuster film starring CGI monsters of mayhem and destruction is now being streamed across the world in living rooms, dorms, and select doomsday bunkers that just so happen to have Wi-Fi, as Godzilla vs. Kong goes live on their streaming service, HBO Max.
Godzilla vs. Kong is exactly what you want from a giant monster movie. It has a fast-moving story, a couple of funny moments, and most importantly, epic monster fights that show just how tiny humans are by comparison to their skyscraper-like sizes. Overall, it’s a pretty by-the-books monster movie. One where you can just sit back and enjoy the destruction and be thankful you don’t live in a coastal city.
There aren’t a lot of surprises in this movie, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Not every film has to have twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout the duration of the movie. Sometimes two monsters just throwing hands in order to determine who the most powerful being on Earth is, is enough. However, there is one pleasant surprise in this film, and it is the performance given by Kaylee Hottle, who was just 9 years old when she filmed Godzilla vs. Kong. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, April 1 – The theme of this year’s Easterseals Disability Film Challenge was “mockumentary,” and RespectAbility 2020 Summer Lab alumna Rachel Handler and Catriona Rubenis-Stevens’s comedic satire balanced with an inspired message truly champions their short film, So You Wanna Be an Actor, as a vehicle to promote authentic disability inclusion in entertainment. As director, writer, producer and lead actress of the film, Handler’s creative direction helped her filmmaking team highlight how limiting the casting process in Hollywood can often be for people with disabilities, all in under five minutes.
During one of the film’s opening scenes, the camera angle is focused only on a prosthetic leg of an aspiring young actress, to which this rising star responds, “Hey, my eyes are up here.” Not only is this a hilarious juxtaposition of dialogue because of the phrase’s more adult connotations, it also is a satirical metaphor that shows how cinematic objectification is truly intersectional and isn’t exclusive to sexualization. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, April 1 – The 2021 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge has provided some fantastic short films again this year, and as always, gives great examples of best practices when it comes to disability representation in entertainment. For those unaware, the Easterseals Film Challenge is a filmmaking competition where competitors are given a topic along with a series of other elements to include, and must write, direct and edit a short film all in a single weekend, while involving people with disabilities in front of and behind the camera.
This year, 2019 RespectAbility Lab Alumna Natalie Trevonne created a short mockumentary called NayNay Too Bomb. Trevonne wrote and stars as the title character in this hilarious short film. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, April 1 – Last week, HBO Max became the latest streaming giant to add audio description to their content. They join the ranks of other huge streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and Disney+ to provide accessible content to their audiences.
For those who are unaware, audio description is a secondary audio track, which consumers can turn on and off, that narrates the scene in between lines of dialogue to help low-vision/blind viewers better understand the scene. Audio description helps blind consumers get the full experience of a piece of entertainment, similar to how captioning helps deaf consumers. With the addition of this service, HBO Max now joins other streaming services like Netflix, which has been providing audio description on all of their original content for several years. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, April 1 – Diving In is a fun and exciting short film premiering at the Aspen Film Festival this year. A familiar story about the thrills of high school crushes, the quick seven-minute film follows Alex’s epic adventure to delete the texts his friends sent to his crush before she can read them. It’s tough to say more about the film without spoiling it, as it is only seven minutes long, but it is most definitely a must see. The film is full of clever comedic characters, hilarious moments, and brilliant cinematography. It’s truly a feat just how much this crew was able to accomplish in only seven minutes.
Diving In is a shining example of how people with disabilities can and should be depicted in media. [continue reading…]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author.
Nicole LeBlanc (on the right) with other panelists at RespectAbility’s 2019 Summit
As we celebrate Women’s History and Developmental Disability Awareness month, we must recognize the struggles women continue to face in our society. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the social and economic injustices that women, and especially women with disabilities, face. Millions of women, especially mothers, have dropped out of the workforce due to caretaking responsibilities and layoffs. Since the start of the pandemic 2.5 million women left the labor market, compared to 1.8 million men. As a society we must do better to ensure our workforce can accommodate the unique needs of women and women with disabilities in general. [continue reading…]
Washington, D.C., March 22 – As the nation continues to grapple with the lessons learned from one year of lockdown, virtual education and the other results of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education solicited new ideas to support the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2021 School Survey. In response to this opportunity, the RespectAbility team rapidly solicited insights from board members, partner organizations and self-advocates to push for the collection of better disability data as part of the NAEP.
“Distance learning has been a disaster for teachers, parents and students alike. Over time, some of the impacts are recoverable,” said Jaime H. Pacheco-Orozco, who serves as the Assistant Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability and on RespectAbility’s Board of Directors. “It won’t be easy, but there is a path forward. That path must include capturing clear data that will help future generations of students with disabilities.” [continue reading…]
Carol Gould smiling in front of a painting of Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion
In my first essay for RespectAbility I mentioned the problems single, sick or disabled congregants of modest means have in this modern world because we as a people have excelled in so many pursuits. From the outset I must make it clear the second part of my essay is not a bitter mega-kvetch about poor cousins envying rich cousins. It is an overview of modern Jewry contrasted against the world my grandfather inhabited – a world of tzedakah. [continue reading…]
