[stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

Tue Feb 11 13:49:38 UTC 2014

I don't know if anyone has been watching the Winter Olympics, or can tell 
from the commercials, but NBC is plugging a new show called 'Growing up 
Fisher' that is about a family with a blind father. My wife says the 
commercials show him riding a bike, cooking, and cutting down a tree with a 
chainsaw. The show is based on the life of one of the writers who grew up 
with a blind father. Maybe there's hope after all.

Here's what I found in USA today:

PASADENA, Calif. - NBC's Growing Up Fisher is another family comedy, but 
there's a difference: the father, Mel Fisher (J.K. Simmons), is blind 
(pictured).
It's not arbitrary. Fisher, which premieres following Olympics coverage on 
Feb. 23 (10:30 p.m. ET/PT), is based on the childhood of series creator DJ 
Nash. It moves to its regular Tuesday slot (9:30 p.m. ET/PT) on Feb. 25.
"My dad went blind when he was 11 and hid his blindness (to) pretty much 
everyone outside the family" until he and his wife divorced and he got a 
guide dog, Nash said Sunday at the Television Critics Association winter 
press tour. A scene where the father cuts down a tree with a chainsaw is 
based on his own experiences.
Fisher's premise is not a gimmick, said executive producer Jason Bateman, 
who provides the voiceover for Mel's son, Henry, looking back on his youth. 
"It's his true story. Cynicism, be gone," he said.

The show, which is set in the present day, looks at the Fisher family after 
Mel and his wife, Joyce (Jenna Elfman), decide to divorce. They remain 
"amazing parents" to teenage daughter Katie (Ava Deluca-Verley) and 
11-year-old son Henry (Eli Baker).

There were challenges to the situation at the time, Nash said, but "looking 
back, I wouldn't change a thing."
Simmons, who is not blind, said he had help from Nash, a visually impaired 
consultant and another consultant in learning how to play a man who can't 
see.

"Your whole life is naturally fixed on picked-up movement, so it's a simple 
case of throwing your eyes out of focus," he said. "The main things I 
learned (were) all the other bits of behavior, how you handle things, what 
you do with your hands, how you interact physically with other people."

Although Mel's blindness may stand out initially, Nash said that's only one 
aspect of the character's personality and one element of the family's story.

Some viewers may "see the first thing about Mel is that he's blind. My dad 
being blind is like the 17th thing wrong with him. He's stubborn. He hugs 
too much. He's a lawyer. There's a lot of craziness going on over there," he 
said. "I don't want this to be every visually impaired person's story. ... 
We're trying to tell Henry's perspective of what that was like and how it 
informs who he is as a father today."

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 10:51 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] My New Book

> It's very true. And most of us have come across literary characters who
> are less than positive examples of blindness, so why not combat it by
> writing our own strong, independent blind characters? Writing in any
> form is a potentially great tool for change. When you look at history,
> it's not politicians or their legislation that has made the most change,
> but it is the artistic community who have organized and used their
> talents to create change. The Civil Rights movement, LBGT issues,
> feminism... The deepest change has occurred through art, theatre, music,
> dance and yes, writing. So why can't the disabled community do the same?
>
> Bridgit
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of P.
> Campbell
> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 6:39 AM
> To: newmanrl at cox.net; Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] My New Book
>
>
>    Thank you.  I feel that fiction, accurate fiction, is a good way to
> promote the blind.  People who will not read an article, no matter how
> well
> written, will read fiction.
>
> I feel that in some cases this is equally true where the blind
> themselves
> are concerned.  This is especially true for young people, who often feel
>
> that their problems are unique to them.  Reading about a character who
> may
> have the same problems is often inspiring.
>
> "Mrs. Campbell, I didn't know that happened to other people." or "Do
> other
> people feel that way, too?"  are things I often hear from young people
> who
> are blind.
>
> Phyllis
>
>
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