Inside the Little Plastic Castle

Kevin Gotkin, a Phd student in Disability Studies, made the half-hour film, "The Rupture Sometimes." Watch it on YouTube, with subtitles and audio description. He interviews half-a-dozen people at a disability studies conference on movement and inclusion. (Promoting the movie on a Disability Studies listerv, he referred to those interviewed as "planets in disability studies." That decentering of attention from the star to the planet is one of the film's themes.)

Gotkin says at one point:

begin quote Disability is, in some sense, a useless term, because it fails to make meaningful distinctions between types of experience. the world economy is as likely to be disabled as someone who uses a wheelchair. So it's odd, then, when we talk about disability, we often swing between extremes, where disability is often profound and total or widespread and infinitely regressed. quote ends

After two times through I understood most of the ideas. I was struck by the glaring Whiteness of those interviewed. Here's the video — click to start.

The Wisconsin Film Festival was a lot of fun. Fascinating movies; stunning web site; helpful volunteers. (Access at some theaters was sub-optimal.)

In order of viewing:
( On a tightrope rating 4 out of 5 )

( Jumate/Jumate rating 5 out of 5 )
( In a Dream rating 4 out of 5 )
( Blind Loves rating 1 out of 5 )
( Vincent: A Life in Color rating 3.5 out of 5 )
( Youssou NDour: I Bring What I Love rating 5 out of 5 )
( Sita Sings the Blues rating 4 out of 5 )
And then the bus, and good night, and several days to recuperate from all the sitting still and head tilting.