[nfb-talk] Fw: Blindness movie

[tribble]

A very thoughtful comment.
Oh, but we should never think that other groups don't get stigmatized in 
similar ways -- your friend points out that blindness is an unfortunate 
metaphore for willful ignorance and/or implacable stubbornness -- but look 
at the use of the word "dumb", which means simply mute, but the word has 
become synonymous with stupid or dim witted.  (I'm sure there are millions 
of intelligent deaf persons out there who suffer from this stigma.)  And of 
course paralyzed persons are not capable of reproducing, and people with 
speech impediments are mentally impaired... and mentally impaired persons 
can't live a full and rewarding life...
Hmm -- this post is getting depressing.
So I'll end by suggesting we do all we can to dispell the blindness stigma, 
and be open minded toward those with different challenges.
Take care.
--le



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ed Meskys" <edmeskys at localnet.com>
To: "nfb-talk" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "nfbnh-officers" <nh-board at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 1:58 PM
Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: Blindness movie


These comments are from a visually impaired friend of many years who lives
in Brooklyn, NY. I am glad to hear that the movie DID vanish. I did have to
remind him that blind do NOT count steps. In a new location we would use a
cane, at home we pick up the subconscious clues as to when to turn, etc.

Ed Meskys


Edmund R. Meskys
NIEKAS Publications
National Federation of the Blind of N.H.
Moultonboro Lions Club
edmeskys at localnet.com
322 Whittier Hwy
Moultonboro NH 03254-3627
----- Original Message ----- 
    Subject: Blindness movie


Ed, now that the movie Blindness has vanished, and the NFB protest with
it, I had some thoughts that I wanted to run by you.

The NFB was right to be concerned about the movie showing blind people
descending to, well, animal level.  This undercuts, eg, NFB's efforts to
have blind people acknowledged as competent & capable, to a large extent.
 (It's hard for, say, someone like you to get a job lecturing in physics
if the person hiring thinks that - Mr. Magoo-like - you'll spend class
lecturing to a coat rack instead of to students.  So, unfairly, a sighted
person who may not be as knowledgeable is hired instead, and the blind
unemployment level rises disproportionately.)

But as I understand it, the movie doesn't show blind people per se as
incapable of the simplest things.  Leaving aside that it's a metaphor -
and blindness has always been used as a metaphor, regrettably, for
willful ignorance and/or implacable stubbornness - it shows people
suddenly struck blind not adjusting at all well.  In the movie, it's
apparently a metaphor for the collapse of society due to a pillar being
suddenly removed.  (In other post-apocalyptic movies, it might be the
sudden loss of drinkable water or of modern technology or the ability to
procreate.)

There are 2 types of blind people, those blind from birth and those, like
you, who became blind.  Yes, the average blind person may do many things
as well as a sighted person, but habits and tricks have to be learned.
Using a cane.  Folding different denominations of money different ways.
Holding a thumb over the edge of a cup.  Memorizing number of steps and
turns.  Once I had both eyes bandaged; I was shown how to walk from the
hospital bed to the bathroom using my arms at different heights to check
for obstacles.  The habits, tricks and training that allow a blind person
to be capable aren't learned overnight.  The victims in the movie don't
reflect on genuine blind people, but it's plausible - and not overly
offensive - that some people suddenly struck blind would freak out and
not know how to cope.

Mark L. Blackman

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