Murderball
Disclaimer: this was written by John Ivey but posted by Rosa as his voice recognition software acted erratically, as it often does, and he could not copy and paste.
I recently saw the documentary Murderball, and as suspected had some issues with it, more from a personal viewpoint than a critical one.
As a film, it was very well made and may well deserve the Oscar nomination it received for best documentary. It focuses on quadriplegic rugby or "Murderball" as the game was first dubbed in its fledgling years. Now it has become one of the events in the Paralympics (Olympic style games for athletes with disabilities), which is not to be confused with the Special Olympics, an event for those with intellectual disabilities (is this PC for mentally retarded?).
Quadriplegic rugby is a sport for quadriplegics, as the name suggests, but includes athletes with other similar disabilities as well, such as with the American quadriplegic rugby team which has a player with amputated limbs. Each player has a customized wheelchair fitted with aluminum armor so that he can ram players of the opposing team and vice versa. Such impacts can be violent enough to upturn the recipient's wheelchair who does his best to avoid landing on his head. As the players use no body protection such as helmets, shoulder or elbow pads, one can see how the sport got its nickname.
Most people, as I do, think of quadriplegics as individuals impaired from their neck down and unable to move their arms or legs. I am a quadriplegic, and though I can move my left arm enough to drive a power wheelchair, it seems that the accepted definition of a quadriplegic has come to be one who has some, however little, impairment in all four limbs.
I will be the first to admit that I am biased against referring to these athletes as quadriplegics—they are more like paraplegics with limited finger motion—but I will acquiesce for the purpose of the film. I am also biased against organized sports in general, but that could be because I never enjoyed sports myself. Okay, I'll admit that I grew up as a klutzy, self-conscious kid who threw like a girl. But that I dislike jocks is not an extension my own shortcomings, but rather an utter contempt for any macho male bonding that boosts its collective ego to a we-are-better-than-you state.
To this end I did not care for the documentary's subject matter: a bunch of gimp-jock gladiators fighting to the death in chariot wheelchairs. That death in this case is the agony of defeat doesn't make it seem any less a blood sport. That the athletes overcame the trauma of their disabilities is commendable. I'll give them that. But I'd much rather see the kudos going to a real quadriplegic who has struggled to put his or herself through college. (Strangely enough, I know one such individual, and she loved the movie. I think it's just sex appeal.)
But with all my negative criticism aside, I hope the film wins tonight, which I bet it will, as the Academy Awards are quite political. (In this case one might say politically correct. "Let's give the film about the handicapped athletes the award—it's the right thing to do.") I'll wait till morning to find out.
I recently saw the documentary Murderball, and as suspected had some issues with it, more from a personal viewpoint than a critical one.
As a film, it was very well made and may well deserve the Oscar nomination it received for best documentary. It focuses on quadriplegic rugby or "Murderball" as the game was first dubbed in its fledgling years. Now it has become one of the events in the Paralympics (Olympic style games for athletes with disabilities), which is not to be confused with the Special Olympics, an event for those with intellectual disabilities (is this PC for mentally retarded?).
Quadriplegic rugby is a sport for quadriplegics, as the name suggests, but includes athletes with other similar disabilities as well, such as with the American quadriplegic rugby team which has a player with amputated limbs. Each player has a customized wheelchair fitted with aluminum armor so that he can ram players of the opposing team and vice versa. Such impacts can be violent enough to upturn the recipient's wheelchair who does his best to avoid landing on his head. As the players use no body protection such as helmets, shoulder or elbow pads, one can see how the sport got its nickname.
Most people, as I do, think of quadriplegics as individuals impaired from their neck down and unable to move their arms or legs. I am a quadriplegic, and though I can move my left arm enough to drive a power wheelchair, it seems that the accepted definition of a quadriplegic has come to be one who has some, however little, impairment in all four limbs.
I will be the first to admit that I am biased against referring to these athletes as quadriplegics—they are more like paraplegics with limited finger motion—but I will acquiesce for the purpose of the film. I am also biased against organized sports in general, but that could be because I never enjoyed sports myself. Okay, I'll admit that I grew up as a klutzy, self-conscious kid who threw like a girl. But that I dislike jocks is not an extension my own shortcomings, but rather an utter contempt for any macho male bonding that boosts its collective ego to a we-are-better-than-you state.
To this end I did not care for the documentary's subject matter: a bunch of gimp-jock gladiators fighting to the death in chariot wheelchairs. That death in this case is the agony of defeat doesn't make it seem any less a blood sport. That the athletes overcame the trauma of their disabilities is commendable. I'll give them that. But I'd much rather see the kudos going to a real quadriplegic who has struggled to put his or herself through college. (Strangely enough, I know one such individual, and she loved the movie. I think it's just sex appeal.)
But with all my negative criticism aside, I hope the film wins tonight, which I bet it will, as the Academy Awards are quite political. (In this case one might say politically correct. "Let's give the film about the handicapped athletes the award—it's the right thing to do.") I'll wait till morning to find out.
posted by Rosa at 8:32 PM
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