I've just watched the film, and it was delightful! Roland's disability was used as a way of teaching the audience at times, but fair enough, they handled it well and it really is needed. As you said, they didn't just lump the bigots in a corner as unsavable unmentionables, they included the main character (and by implication the audience) making a daft mistake, and they did it with a nice light touch rather than harping on it in the way some people will spend five infuriating minutes apologising to you for using an idiom which mentions disability.
I also liked the way that while they avoided making him tragic or a saint, making him a likable chap, they didn't make out that he was perfect and that disability never carries any problems. They showed Cassandra wondering if he was entirely paralysed below the waist, and kudos to them for later showing that they are indeed having sex, and obviously good sex, without actually answering that question!
The one scene I stopped to think about was when Cassandra and Roland had a little tiff, found each other the next day, and he talked about how his sister had always been pushing him around (both literally and metaphorically) and how he didn't want to be the guy who was just with the girl because she'd take care of him, he wanted to be with her because he wanted her. I decided that I liked it, because it's a realistic problem, one that wasn't built up to be more than it really was, and that he overcame easily. I don't want to have to pretend that I'm perfect, it's unnatural and a hell of a strain, but I also want issues to be brought up only when appropriate and not blown out of proportion, and I think they did a good job there.
Oh, and another cute bit: when Mary meets up with Dean again, and he introduces his boyfriend, and she bravely says, "Your life partner?" and he says, "Er, my prom date."
yeah, I thought the whole thing was really well done and I feel bad that I'm using it as an example to point out thinks that are NOT okay!
I liked that scene too, where Roland said he wanted to be with a girl because he wanted her, not because she didn't mind him. I like that it wasn't overdramatized, just, you know, acknowledged and dealt with accordingly.
Romantic comedy that acknowledges that couples have to work through stuff and manages to be nonchalant about it. Where will it all end?!
Incidentally, I also like the way Mary was still close to her ex even after his revelation, that it wasn't presented as something simple of the "dump him now and never look back" variety. I'm queer and an atheist from a Jewish background, so I was latching onto the outsiders in this film in particular. I have just been reading the Amazon reviews, and have noticed that while practically everyone loved it, Roland rarely got a mention and was usually described as "wheelchair-bound", while a few kind souls helpfully remarked that the explicitly non-Christian characters were Christians really because they showed such lovely Christian virtues. Oh, and there was the person who was thoroughly disapproving because the homosexuals were let off so lightly. Grr.
And yet another thing: the wheelchair dancing bit was cute as well. I remember my cousin dancing in her wheelchair at her wedding, she did a great job, and they even lifted her wheelchair up as is traditional for Jewish weddings.
Of course, it's telling that we're still at the stage where a gently humorous approach is the best we can hope for, just imagine if a film today kept on making equivalent jokes about someone's being black, but it's probably a necessary stage and this film did it well.
I also liked the way that while they avoided making him tragic or a saint, making him a likable chap, they didn't make out that he was perfect and that disability never carries any problems. They showed Cassandra wondering if he was entirely paralysed below the waist, and kudos to them for later showing that they are indeed having sex, and obviously good sex, without actually answering that question!
The one scene I stopped to think about was when Cassandra and Roland had a little tiff, found each other the next day, and he talked about how his sister had always been pushing him around (both literally and metaphorically) and how he didn't want to be the guy who was just with the girl because she'd take care of him, he wanted to be with her because he wanted her. I decided that I liked it, because it's a realistic problem, one that wasn't built up to be more than it really was, and that he overcame easily. I don't want to have to pretend that I'm perfect, it's unnatural and a hell of a strain, but I also want issues to be brought up only when appropriate and not blown out of proportion, and I think they did a good job there.
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I liked that scene too, where Roland said he wanted to be with a girl because he wanted her, not because she didn't mind him. I like that it wasn't overdramatized, just, you know, acknowledged and dealt with accordingly.
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Incidentally, I also like the way Mary was still close to her ex even after his revelation, that it wasn't presented as something simple of the "dump him now and never look back" variety. I'm queer and an atheist from a Jewish background, so I was latching onto the outsiders in this film in particular. I have just been reading the Amazon reviews, and have noticed that while practically everyone loved it, Roland rarely got a mention and was usually described as "wheelchair-bound", while a few kind souls helpfully remarked that the explicitly non-Christian characters were Christians really because they showed such lovely Christian virtues. Oh, and there was the person who was thoroughly disapproving because the homosexuals were let off so lightly. Grr.
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Of course, it's telling that we're still at the stage where a gently humorous approach is the best we can hope for, just imagine if a film today kept on making equivalent jokes about someone's being black, but it's probably a necessary stage and this film did it well.
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