Far from the Tree
After reading Far and Away, I wanted to get another dose of Andrew Solomon, and decided to revisit this documentary film based on his book Far from the Tree.
A theme of the book and film is the acceptance of what we usually call disability. Solomon argues that the line between disability and identity is blurry. He came of age in a world that still saw homosexuality as a disease, and during his lifetime, he’s seen attitudes change to the point where he can live openly as a gay man. In particular, his parents had a hard time with his coming out, but eventually came to accept him, and this is the experience that he wanted to document in the book: that of parents coming to terms with the ways that their children diverge from expectations.
The documentary profiles several people: a man with Down’s Syndrome, a couple with dwarfism, a boy on the autism spectrum, among others. We see the challenges that they and their families face, but mostly, they live fulfilling lives and are comfortable with who they are. They’re not defined by their problems.
I wanted to rewatch this film because I’m about to start a new job as a school bus driver for special needs children, and it served as a good reminder for me to look beyond disability. It’s a comforting watch, and I was left with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
A small side-note: the boy on the spectrum is shown following the rapid prompting method, where he communicates by pointing to letters on a board. I covered another documentary with a similar story, The Sunshine Boy, a long time ago, and discussed my skepticism around the technique. I won’t get into it here, but I was a bit disappointed that Far from the Tree did not acknowledge the controversy. I can kind of see why, because the film’s focus is on relationships and not on science, but I still wish that a more skeptical perspective had been given.