I Am Sam
The 2001 movie I Am Sam moves beyond the role of an entertaining film and into the function of a social dissertation on the cultural depiction of disability in contemporary life. Directed by Jessie Nelson (Megan Dowdy, 2009), I Am Sam follows a mentally challenged father, on his integral pursuit to regain custody of his 7 year old daughter Lucy. As a result, I am Sam received acknowledgment for its aptitude and capability to approach the susceptible subject of cerebral disabilities and parenting.
In 2002, the Producers Guild of America awarded the producers and directors of the film with the first Stanley Kramer award for their ability to bring understanding to collective concerns. (Goodridge, 2002), therefore, the arrangement of the views articulated in this film can be assessed to establish how the representation of Sam as a disabled person fits within social constructs. I Am Sam show’s two distinct techniques that framework influence of perception: the medical model and the social model.
Medical Model
In the medical model, societal perception is found in the physiological or psychological cause of the disability (Darke, P. 1997). As a result, disability is viewed as an illness that must be cured. According to editors Ann Pointon and Chris Davies, in the medical model, “it is the impairment that constitutes the disability, made worse or better by the individual’s own attitude towards it”. In the medical model, the resolution for dealing with disability is particular; as a whole, disability and any symptoms of abnormality must be cured in order to be classed ‘typical’. Although an individual’s attitude can help or harm the situation, the act of being disabled can only be solved through curing the impairment (Darke, P. 1997). This standpoint conforms to the shared view that “people must change to fit the norm of society, instead of society changing to fit the diversity of people” (Megan Dowdy, 2009).
A specific scene throughout this movie expresses
In 2002, the Producers Guild of America awarded the producers and directors of the film with the first Stanley Kramer award for their ability to bring understanding to collective concerns. (Goodridge, 2002), therefore, the arrangement of the views articulated in this film can be assessed to establish how the representation of Sam as a disabled person fits within social constructs. I Am Sam show’s two distinct techniques that framework influence of perception: the medical model and the social model.
Medical Model
In the medical model, societal perception is found in the physiological or psychological cause of the disability (Darke, P. 1997). As a result, disability is viewed as an illness that must be cured. According to editors Ann Pointon and Chris Davies, in the medical model, “it is the impairment that constitutes the disability, made worse or better by the individual’s own attitude towards it”. In the medical model, the resolution for dealing with disability is particular; as a whole, disability and any symptoms of abnormality must be cured in order to be classed ‘typical’. Although an individual’s attitude can help or harm the situation, the act of being disabled can only be solved through curing the impairment (Darke, P. 1997). This standpoint conforms to the shared view that “people must change to fit the norm of society, instead of society changing to fit the diversity of people” (Megan Dowdy, 2009).
A specific scene throughout this movie expresses