Running Head: A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC EYE ON THE MEDIA A Critical Ethnographic Eye on the Movie Music Within Movie

Summary

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 2007 film Music Within (Sawalich, 2007) is based on the true story of Richard Pimentel, a man who dedicated his lifes work to helping all disabled people, including war veterans like himself. Pimentel was born in 1947, in Portland, Oregon. His mother was mentally ill and he grew up passed around through the foster care system, his father, and his grandmother. Richard dropped out of school to serve in Vietnam, where he lost his hearing as a result of an explosion. He developed tinnitus - a persistent ringing in his ears. In the movie the base doctor tells him Some days will be better than others, but it wont stop. Ever (Sawalich, 2007). When Pimentel returned stateside, he was told that he could not attend college due to his condition. Flouting the system, he enrolled anyway, and there he met a foulmouthed man named Art Honeyman a sufferer of cerebral palsy destined to become his lifelong friend. Richard and Art venture to a generic pancake restaurant to celebrate Arts birthday, but when they try to order, the waitress in the movie asks them to leave because theyre creating an awkward environment for the people around them. She continues by telling them that the restaurant reserves the right to refuse service at their discretion, and finally, tells Art You are the ugliest, most disgusting thing I have ever seen (Sawalich, 2007). Despite this overtly cruel treatment, Art and Richard refuse to leave the restaurant, and the waitress calls the police. They are arrested in violation of an Ugly Law described in the movie as a law that made it a crime for anyone to appear in public who was diseased, maimed or deformed in any way so as to be an unsightly or

METHODS OF VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION: A META-ANALYSIS

disgusting object (Sawalich, 2007). I was absolutely shocked that such a law existed; the fact that it was cited as sufficient reason for arresting someone, even in 1972 after the civil rights law was passed in the 1960s is absolutely atrocious. Out of this traumatic, embarrassing event, however, Richard Pimentel became inspired to work on behalf of disabled veterans. In a speech by Pimentel, (one of the special features included with the movie) he states, I went from a silent observer of disability apartheid, to an intolerant observer of disability apartheid (Sawalich, 2007). This work leads him to the opportunity to develop employer training programs, encouraging companies to hire disabled veterans and helping establish working relationships between employers and disabled employees. In this film, Pimentel questions the social values of a society where we are allowed to deny other human beings basic humane treatment, simply because they dont look the way we expect people to look. His work in diversity training successfully brought about changes in attitude concerning employing and working with disabled individuals, and his voice brought notice and recognition to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), finally passed in 1990 (Adams, Blumenfeld, Casteeda, Hackman, Peters, and Ziga, 2010). Evaluation In Coloring Epistemologies Scheurich and Young (1997) detail the four levels of prejudice: The civilizational level, the societal level, the institutional level, and the individual level. Though their analysis is directed specifically towards racial prejudice, these levels of prejudice certainly apply in an analysis of treatment toward the disabled. Music Within specifically addresses the oppression of the differently-abled: this

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is seen explicitly in facts like the existence of the Ugly Law, and implicitly in the resistance Pimentel faces in his advocacy of equal treatment toward the disabled. Though in turns Music Within can be dark and depressing, (Pimentel struggles with suicidal thoughts at one point, as well as with losing his girlfriend, his mother, and a close friend, all in quick succession), it is overall a heartwarming and encouraging film. Through the narrative, underlying themes of cultural change and cultural pluralism are evident as Pimentel tackles the daunting task of addressing social norms of behavior toward the disabled. People marginalized because of physical disabilities are viewed as repulsive, disgusting, and unworthy of being treated fairly, and Pimentel strives to raise awareness and bring about changes in these social norms. At one point, a character speaking to Art says, I thought people like you died at birth (Sawalich, 2007). This is evident of a persons own individual prejudice, but its still indicative of a deeper prejudice operating at the institutional level evidenced by the Ugly Laws in place in 23 different cities in Oregon alone at that time (Sawalich, 2007). According to a book review on the website for the National Federation for the Blind, Ugly Law is an invented term about ordinances that were once in place to prevent people who were unsightly to be out in public (Morman, 2009). This review emphasizes that most of these laws included wording stating that any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object shall not expose himself or herself to public view (Morman, 2009). This wording is virtually identical to that used in the film to explain the Ugly Law. When Pimentel and Honeyman were arrested, it was because Art was physically disabled, and by refusing to leave the restaurant, he and Richard found themselves in

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violation of that law. Pimentel endeavored to change that pervasive attitude so that those marginalized groups now have laws protecting their right to be treated equally. The shift in cultural attitudes toward the disabled, I think, came from a variety of places. The groundwork was certainly laid by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, but Pimentel, and Music Within, pushes the envelope further, and encourages that we as a society question our presumptions about one another. Instead of merely advocating for a law on the books that insists we cannot discriminate against disabled people, Pimentel worked to open peoples minds and to help them change their own perceptions of the disabled. Richard Pimentels work; others work, along with the Americans with Disabilities Act being passed, illustrates cultural pluralism for disabled Americans, as it came to be and as it exists now. Physically disabled Americans, whose malformations are outwardly visible more often than not, do not have the luxury of blending seamlessly into the dominant culture of the society. With the notion that it is now illegal to discriminate against a person based on looks, not just skin color but also physical, bodily appearance, disabled persons have achieved a cultural pluralism; they maintain their own culture as a minority group based on Ableism, but they are no longer marginalized (legally at least) from the mainstream dominant culture as a result of their minority group traits. They have come to be acknowledged as functioning and valuable members of society as a whole (Adams, Blumenfeld, Casteeda, Hackman, Peters, and Ziga, 2010). The emphasis of Music Within rests on the action Pimentel and others took in an effort to change legislation in the U.S. with regard to persons with disabilities. Changes

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to the laws mean that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity for housing and work; buildings and public walkways are being renovated in an effort to make them more wheelchair accessible; Ugly Laws no longer exist. Still, while legal changes are a great step in the right direction, there is much work left to be done in order to truly achieve social justice for persons with disabilities. Laws give people an option to fight discrimination, but while it is helpful to have the opportunity for recourse in the event of prejudicially motivated crimes, laws do not stop the occurrence of those crimes entirely. They can only begin to address the behaviors they serve to protect people against, and so it becomes the task of advocates for social change to further promote equality, safety, and opportunity for all people, including those with disabilities. Music Within aims to show the terrible treatment and disfavor towards the disabled, through the voices of those persons who experienced differently-abledness and those voices who were advocates for change. The voices of the oppressors were offered only to demonstrate the oppression experienced by this marginalized group, and then were made examples of to elucidate the problem inherent in the system of treatment toward these marginalized individuals. This is where civilizational prejudice is evident; when Pimentel initially starts working to help disabled veterans find employment, he runs into many employers who are reticent about hiring them (Scheurich and Young, 1997). The gist of the hesitations expressed relate to doubts about disabled persons abilities to satisfy job requirements, simply because of physical limitations. It was ingrained in those employers to assume that the limitations of peoples differently-abled bodies meant that they were in some way less than human unable to perform tasks expected of them, or somehow unworthy of fair treatment.

METHODS OF VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION: A META-ANALYSIS

Application I found it very interesting to apply Scheurich and Youngs four levels of prejudice to Ableism. In this case, I approached this movie about Ableism and the ADA from a relatively ignorant perspective. I was born in 1987, and the ADA was passed in 1990. This means that the changes it demanded were more or less in effect by the time I was old enough to critically evaluate my surroundings. I never thought twice about disabled people having to fight prejudice and other cruel forms of subjugation, because everywhere Ive been in my life, there have always been handicapped ramps, handicapped stalls in bathrooms, wheelchair counters at stores, etc. Still, now that Im older and more aware, I have still heard people using the word retard to mean stupid or the like. The use of a label that simply names a characteristic of a person, such as retarded or homosexual then being appropriated to mean something negative and undesirable, is certainly an example of civilizational racism. The fact that educated individuals can misappropriate terminology in such an abusive way tells me that we as a society still hold prejudices against the disabled that they are still somehow less than less than human; less than able, etc. The ADA aims to eliminate the institutional racism at work in regard to the disabled and the federal government mandates that institutions and businesses accommodate disabled persons. This is an excellent start to undoing some of the racism at the societal level, and as far as the relevance of the ADA to America today, I am grateful that there was consistent advocacy to undo and change the discriminatory nature of certain laws and beliefs held by our society for a long time.

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After taking a more critical look at Ableism and prejudice within the framework of Scheurich and Youngs four levels, I vow to ensure I always do everything within my power to create and maintain a safe and open learning environment in my classroom. I already respond when I hear someone call someone else retard, and I vow to work adamantly at changing my own knee-jerk reactions when I see people who are overtly physically different from the norm. As a public education teacher, I am very familiar with IEP and 504 forms; forms related to the ADA as it applies to education. Yet while there are laws in place that ensure students with disabilities are having their needs met, I still know how important it is to ensure students are treated fairly and equally in the classroom dynamic, not just in the ways their assignments and assessments are provided.

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References

Adams, M., Blumenfeld, W.J., Casteeda, C.(R.), Hackman, H.W., Peters, M.L., Ziga, X. (2010). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Routeledge. Morman, E. (2009). The ugly laws: A review. Retrieved from https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm09/bm0910/bm091011.htm Sawalich, S. (Director), & Donowho, B. (Producer). (2007). Music Within [DVD]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Scheurich, J.J. & Young, M.D. (1997). Coloring epistemologies: Are our research epistemologies racially based? Educational Researcher, 26:4, 4-16.