Disability In The Film Born Of The 4th Of July

(1)” The author tries so hard to make a point in saying that the discrimination needs to stop, yet many times throughout the article, Snow states things like, “When we see the diagnosis as the most important characteristic of a person, we devalue her as an individual. (1)” Or, “Too often, we make decisions about how/where the person will be educated, whether he’ll work or not, where/how he’ll live, and what services are offered…. (1)” For me, it was hard to agree with the author who was writing an article persuading people to stop discriminating people who have disabilities and to stop grouping these groups of people together, when Snow clearly states in her main points words like, he or she. I found that by using these words, Snow was generalizing, and that completely wipes out the main point of not generalizing these groups of people. After reading this article, I have a much better understanding on how words can hurt people, or grouping people together because of a certain descriptor can hurt, and how different words would be a better fit. However, I think that Snow could have done a better job on bringing forth some of her main

Disability is a definition of a physical or mental condition which impacts on a person’s movements, activities and senses. People with disabilities were informed of bias and disadvantages compared to an ordinary person. There are many biases and prejudices contributed to the discrimination of individuals with a disability. Partly because of social connotations the disabled people are useless, cannot work. In fact, these extraordinary people always bring and do incredible things. They not only overcome their grim fate, but also bring good things to life, especially those who are perfectly considering better than an ordinary person, they are not aware of the capacity of individuals disabilities with them characteristics such as loyalty, dedication, and hard work.

The film Radio is a true story about James Robert Kennedy who is a mentally disabled man. James is nicknamed Radio because of the fascination that he has with them. Radio’s day consisted of pushing or riding his grocery cart around town and listening to his radio. In the opening of the movie, it shows the abuse that he encountered from society every day. It seems he cannot walk down the street without receiving strange stares from the locals and rude remarks from the football players. This is the normal routine that he went through every day, until a man named Coach Jones from the local high school football team approached him. Coach Jones has observed Radio as he walked by the practices and has seen him get tormented by his players. Jones became interested in Radio and befriended him. He invites him to help out at the football practices and assist at games. The once bullied man who used to shyly walk by the field ends up becoming the star of the team. This concerns some of the community who thinks that he might be a danger and a distraction due to his disability. The movie does not exactly say the name of his disability, but when Jones asked the mother, she says

In the movie Radio starring Cuba Gooding Jr. that was made in 2003 which portrays a man that is mentally retarded. This movie is based on a true story about James Robert Kennedy who was known as Radio. He got that nickname because of his liking of collecting and listening to them. The events of the this story take place in the time of 1976. He was often seen pushing or riding a grocery cart down the street.

Born on the Fourth of July was a very captivating and powerful film that will have a lasting effect on me. Oliver Stone, who won the 1989 Best Director Oscar for the film, also wrote, and produced it. He tells the true story of Ron Kovic, an American kid from Massapequa, Long Island that fought in the Vietnam War, who is played by Tom Cruise. It also stars Kyra Segwick, Raymond J. Barry, William Dafoe, and Frank Whaley. This film accurately illustrates not only what went on for the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War and the effects that the war had at home, but also the social attitudes throughout the country during the 1950s and other major movements during the time of the war, that like the anti-war sentiment, were largely a response

The argument that “people who haven’t lived their whole lives as women, shouldn’t get to define us” which is presented in Elinor Burkett’s article "What Makes a Woman", is very biased and could be strengthened. The conclusion that people who hasn’t lived their entire life as a woman shouldn’t define a women is based on Burkett’s opinion of Bruce Jenner coming out as Caitlyn Jenner. The premises are all very dependant on each other, the support for Burkett’s propositions are easily challenged because for the majority it is all just an opinion. In this essay I will go through the articles most important propositions and assess whether the premises are supported and also if they can be improved.

My perspective is vastly different from that of a homosexual Hispanic man, and a bisexual African American woman. In addition to gender and sexuality, Koppelman discusses socio-economic status as another element of an individual’s culture. He notes that income levels affect social class, which, in turn, affects the attitudes, beliefs and practices of members within that class; socio-economic status adds yet another lens that can change how an individual experiences the world. One of the elements I did not consider was someone’s ability. Koppelman contends that those with a disability should be considered a minority group, as their disability can affect their sense of identity. I was surprised as I read more about the negative historical perceptions of people with disabilities. I have always been attuned to the negative ways that racial minorities are portrayed, but I had never considered the ways in which those with disabilities were represented. As my current school utilizes the inclusion model, this will be an important lens for me to remember as I teach students with

Douglas C. Baynton argues in his article, “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History”, that the concept of disability is culturally constructed and has been paid little to no attention to throughout history. He also argues that the term disability plays an important role in justifying discriminations against minority groups, based on gender, race, and ethnicity. He states that “Disability has functioned historically to justify inequality for disabled people themselves, but it has also done so for women and minority groups. That is, not only has it been considered justifiable to treat disabled people unequally, but the concept of disability has been used to justify discrimination against other groups by attributing disability to them.” (Baynton 94) He used women’s suffrage, African American freedom, and immigration restriction as examples to show how disability played an essential role in illustrating how minorities who were labeled as disabled were treated with discrimination. As they were labeled with disability, discrimination against them became justifiable, which ultimately proves that discrimination against disabled was thought as justifiable and were looked over.

There are existing stigmas for people with disabilities, both physical and mental, that cause them to be avoided, looked down upon, or abused by more able-bodied people. In Feminist Theory, the Body, and the Disabled Figure, the article discusses the experiences of Cheryl Marie Wade’s feminine appeal. According to Marie’s poem, she describes her body as a sock in the eye, which “..subtly reminds us that the disabled body is not of the appropriating gaze but of the stare” (Garland-Tomson, p.236). This quote shows how our society views disabled people, where even the people with disabilities themselves, feel that they are an eyesore. As a result, people with disabilities are seen as inferior and unattractive according to our society’s beauty ideals.

“Born on the Fourth of July” opens with some young children playing war in the woods with one of them being Ron. This flows into a Fourth of July parade featuring crippled veterans which Ron looks up to and is excited to serve in the marines when he is older. It then proceeds with the excitement of Ron telling his parents that he is signing up for the marines after recruitment. Veteran father is not thrilled by his decision, but his mother is supportive. Ron sees this as an opportunity to fight like his dad and grandfather. Farther into the movie Kovic is in his second tour in Vietnam in a chaotic retreat, Kovic kills one of his men in a friendly fire incident. This is part of the exposure to a traumatic event involving death,

In Journal of Human Rights published in 2014, after the Equalities Act of 2010 enacted, the United Kingdom sees sexuality and gender identities as “protected characteristics,” with legal imperatives to address discrimination, and in Canada in the early 1990s, there were an opposition against gays and lesbian rights, but after sexual orientation recognized in 1995, gradually by 2013, gays and lesbians have equality rights. (Browne, 2014)

The role of a friendship in caring for a mentally disabled person is about becoming closer to them and helping them with things their disability limits them from doing.

Portrayal of Disabled People and Reaction of People towards Disabled People Disability is a continuous

People with a disability are in many ways othered within our society. Othering was expressed by Canales (2010) as, power within relationships for domination and subordination, with the potential consequences of being alienated, marginalized, decreased opportunities, internalized oppression, and excluded. Canales (2010) also suggested that “exclusionary othering is often influenced by the visibility of one's otherness and that these stigmatizing features that are immediately apparent, construct one's identity as other (p.19)… Their otherness is signified by their relational differences; when compared to the ‘ordinary’ and ‘natural’ attributes of persons perceived as socially acceptable (p.19)”.

Over the years, perceptions towards disability have been significantly changing as result of the long pathway the disable community has taken fighting for Civil Rights, inclusion and against discrimination. Unfortunately, this last one has not been totally accomplished yet. Barriers to social integration still exist in the society. Perhaps the greatest barrier is not the disability itself; is the attitude of people.