When I first was looking all of the Op-Docs on New York Times, I was unsure of what to expect. Naturally, I gravitated towards ones that had an interesting title and an interesting cover picture. This video was about a boy named Ethan who had Autism.
The film-maker asking Ethan's siblings to describe Ethan as a person and they seemed to express worry for him because they are unsure of where Ethan will be in the future and they made him sound like a "chore" to take care of. In Ethan's school program, they often write goals for themselves and they read them out loud for their family to hear. Ethan's parents often said that Ethan's goals do not seem rational for his current state and they wanted him to have more practical goals for himself.
Towards the end of the Op-Doc, Ethan wrote his goals all on his own and followed through with them. His goals that he wanted to do were to stay living at home with his family, mow lawns for people and save the money he earns from it, and be able to go on the bus on his own. He did all of those things towards the end of the video and it was really amazing to see how happy he was that he followed through with his goals.
Autism is not something that is often talked about and it is something that myself and a lot of other people (especially my age) are very naive about. I personally do not have anyone in my life with Autism, nor do I have anyone in my classes with Autism but I think that it is something that we should talk more about and be more educated about, especially since there are multiple people in our school with Autism.
When I first clicked on this Op-Doc I was expecting a fun little clip about a teacher explaining the importance of forgiveness in life and learning tips on how to be open to forgiveness. I was very wrong with that assumption.
The opening clip is a man in front of a class room talking about forgiveness but then it goes to showing his travels to his home country, Singapore. He and his brother were going back to see their family for the holidays and they do not see each other often. His brother, Jeremiah, was narrating most of the film and he was explaining how he did something so horrible to his brother. He didn't say it at first but when him and his brother were alone, he tried to see if his brother was upset about what he wanted to apologize for, but he seemed to block out a lot of his childhood.
Jeremiah was planning on apologizing for outing his brother before he was ready. His brother is gay and that is extremely against their families religion and it tarnished the relationship their family had. Jeremiah's brother explained that he forgave him for it because he volunteers hours on top of hours at his local church and he knows that God forgives him for his "sins" of homosexuality, so he has accepted himself and swore to never pursue with a relationship because of his sexuality.
This had me in a rollercoaster of emotion. It broke my heart to hear that someone wants to be alone because they don't want to be judged for their sexuality. Though he seemed really happy with his life and he genuinely forgave Jeremiah for outing him, it is still so sad to me that he choses to be alone because of the judgement he thinks he would receive.
I think this was very interesting and I agree with it completely. I didn’t originally watch the two op docs you chose, but I think you explained it very nicely. I also think that we need to be less naive about Autism and other things of that nature, and also be more conscious of the feelings of others.
ReplyDeleteThe way you explained these op-docs made me feel like I'd watch them myself. You were very thorough and expanded very well. Reading your description of "Forgiveness Day" especially was very upsetting and I felt the emotion through your writing.
ReplyDeleteYou explained both of these op-docs very well; your descriptions made me want to watch them. I think it's interesting that "forgiveness day," the brother forgives him for his sins, but won't accept him for who he is. This is a real eye-opener about gay people with homophobic families.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, Jolie. I commend you for your choice in Op-Docs. Both can be so different from each other, but a little bit alike at the same time. Your writing even encouraged me to find these two Op-Docs and view them for myself. First, speaking on the topic of autism, I completely agree with you that there should be more awareness and sensitivity drawn to the subject. Not just autism either, but intellectual disabilities a whole. Too often, are these disabilities mocked and used as jokes in our modern culture. Ever since 10th grade, I served on the Youth Activation Committee, promoting Unified Sports within our school, Section III, and the NYSPHAA as a whole. Through attending Summit events and meetings, spending time with the disabled athletes, and learning more about the problem as a whole, I have gained a whole new prospective on the topic. There are so many different levels of severity, challenges, and so much more. I really enjoyed this Op-Doc. It furthered my belief and our YAC message of using Respect as our R-word. Great work, Jolie.
ReplyDelete