Documentary Summary: Secret Of The Wild Child

Firstly, it is important to understand how the documentary form is best suited to illustrate the film’s theme. In order to do this, one must have an overview of the documentary style of filmmaking. Documentaries concern themselves with the “exploration of

Susan Wiley, or most commonly known as Genie the Wild Child was born on the 18th of April 1957. She was the fourth child of Clark and Irene Wiley and was one of two children that survived childhood. Her parents were married in 1944 Clark was 20 years his wife’s senior and their marriage was riddled with domestic violence. Their first two children were both suspiciously killed before their first birthday. It was reported that Clark Wiley extremely disliked children and was very mentally unstable. The third of the Wiley children John lived with Clarks mother Pearl, when she was killed in a hit and run accident Clark held his son responsible which only added to his fragile mental health.

After reading through some documents from Eric Foner's Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History, Volume 1, Fifth Edition, I found two documentaries that really grabbed my attention. Ones that I can actually say I learned something from them. The first document would be from Giovanni da Verrazano when he encountered Native Americans in 1524 on page 4-8. The second document can be found on page 8-11 which is from Bartolome de las Casas on Spanish treatment of the Indians, from History of the Indies back in 1528. Both these documents brought some attention to me that I did not know.

Lost in a Desert World relays the story of the life of Roland Johnson, a man born with an intellectual disability and placed in an institution who eventually went on to be the president of Speaking for Ourselves, a group that encourages those with disabilities to stand up for themselves and their rights. This memoir offers a rare first-person, nonfiction account of the life and experiences of someone with an intellectual disability. Though filled with the harsh realities of the treatment of those with intellectual disabilities, the book is also one of passion, strength, and hope.

A documentary is a genre of film that provides a factual report on a particular story, viewpoint, message or experience. In this essay, two documentaries, Bowling for columbine by Michael Moore and Made in Bangladesh by CBC news will be explored to show how persuasive techniques are used to make an audience feel a particular way.

For example, Genie Wiley, whom is the child who was locked up and tied to a toileting chair in a room on her own for 13 years as her father believed she had a disability. This act of isolation has had a detrimental effect on her development. When Genie was found she was unable to walk properly, was unable to eat solid food and could not talk, this was believed to be because indications showed

The nurture both of these girls experienced was very neglectful, but it just shows how much nature and nurture both impact a child’s development. Without interacting with people in the world starting at a young age, it puts the children at risk of not being on the correct developmental path. They fall behind the rest of the children their age, and this is a critical period for learning to talk and socialize properly. This is a stage where branching and pruning happens. Which is when the neurons start branching and making connections to new things they are learning so they can develop properly. Then, the neurons that the children aren’t using prune away. If a child doesn’t experience social interaction, speech, or even something as simple as learning to walk properly in this critical period then it will make it very hard for them to develop those skills later in life. When they do start to learn those skills it might take them twice as long, or they may never even fully learn or understand. For example, Rapunzel didn’t experience the world outside the tower until she was a teenager, so when she finally had to socialize with people she was very awkward and didn’t exactly know how to react at first. Later on in the movie, she began to grow and learned how to socialize and maintain social interaction. In a real life situation, Genie on the other hand didn’t know how to socialize at all because she had been cut off from society for basically her whole life. She grew

Children who have disabilities, physical, emotional., and mental all need someone to care for them and give them their needs. Every year one-third of the more than half of million youngsters in foster care in the United States have dishabilles, ranging from minor developmental delays to significant mental and physical delays (Waldman, Perlman, & Lederman pg. 20). There are a mass growing in the world of children with disabilities whether it come from abuse in womb or genetically. There is a significant growth of children with disabilities in foster

On November 4th 1970, Los Angeles child welfare authorities became aware of the abuse, neglect, and social isolation of Susan “Genie” Wiley. Upon farther investigation, they discovered that Susan, a thirteen-year-old, had been severely maltreated by her father. Susan’s father came to a conclusion early in her life that she was socially unfit or “retarded’ and was ashamed of her. He hid her in the back bedroom of the Wiley home and kept her from neighbors, family, and friends. Thus leaving Susan unable to develop language skills learned from communicating and interacting with other people. She was taking away from her home and placed in the care of the state. Scientist and Psychologist took this as an opportunity to test hypotheses and theories on language acquisition skills. Susan learned gradually, but because she was not exposed to early childhood language skills, she was not able to retain the information permanently. Even today in her late fifties, she is ward of the state in California and has limited verbal skills.

In today’s society, many try to steer away from talking about mental disabilities as best as they can. However, in some cases, they need to be talked about to develop a better and more accurate understanding for not only the disability and the effects it has on the brain, but also for those who are victims of these matters. The novel, Brain On Fire by Susannah Cahalan, addresses what those are afraid to talk about; the truth of mental disabilities. Cahalan’s story starts where any great story starts, in the bounds of her own home with her first real love by her side. Having a regular night watching PBS quickly turns into one of the most unimaginable nights, a nightmare if you will.

The Genie´s case is about a girlwho lived thirteen years of her life isolated from the world, without interacting with people, without having any contact with the outside. When they found her she still wore diapers and only emitted sounds like a baby, she didn't have the ability to walk or even to speak, also she hadn't developed

Doctors and researchers took advantage of and exploited Genie’s situation. At first the professionals were mesmerized by her situation and wanted to know more about her case. Doctors came from all over the country to exam Genie to make a name for themselves. She was used for research on cognitive development and speech development. But she was being over tested because the doctors and researchers wanted fast results. They tested her to the point that they stopped video recording the testings. They would visit her at all times. Genie was also abused by her foster parents and caretakers. One family that she lived with punished her for vomiting and Genie speech never recovered after that incident.

Genie’s case is heartbreaking. Not only did she suffer unimaginable traumas during the first 12 years of her life, but her case resulted in a tug-of-war from researchers who wanted to help her, yet wanted to further their own agenda. It was particularly sad to hear that she had returned to live with her mother at age 18, and then entered the foster care system when her mother realized that she was ill equipped to care for her daughter. She was subjected to further trauma and abuse,

This documentary has a voice which is the most important part of any movie, furthermore, it has it own way of living and breathing and speaking to

While a mother was escaping an abusive relationship in search of welfare assistance, she took her thirteen-year-old daughter along with her. “Genie,” as she was called, intrigued the social worker in the welfare office. She was mesmerized by Genie’s posture, size, and stance. Curiously enough, the worker thought Genie might have been a case of unreported autism in a possible six- to seven-year-old (Rymer 1993). As a result, the worker notified her supervisor, who contacted the police.