Cripple Threat

Today our friend Justine joins us to finally talk about Me Before You, a film about a rich paraplegic who hires a lowly barista to keep him company during the last six months before his assisted suicide in Switzerland. We devote much of the episode to tearing the film apart, since despite an engaging romance and attractive leads, it argues that life isn’t worth living if you can’t be an extreme sports douche. Also we discuss waterlogged powerchair joysticks, salty tequila shots, movie theatre choking hazards, and sexy food diaries.

You can follow Justine @justineskourtis

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Today our friend Michael Cumming joins us to talk about the Sound of Metal (2019), a film about a young drummer who goes deaf very suddenly and scrambles to keep his life together. Throughout the episode we discuss the need for more disabled role models, the evolving and harmful notion of normal, the promise of technology as a distraction from healing, the perils of burnt porridge, and the privilege of an expedient piss.

Follow Michael on social media @michaelcumming and check out his website at michaelcumming.tv

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com

Today our friend Dan Link joins us to watch The Elephant Man, a combination cripple biopic and creature feature about a severely deformed man in late 19th-century London who is recued from the circus by a renowned physician and subsequently embraced by high society. Throughout the episode, we discuss the hilarity and harmfulness of clinical language that describes disability, the significance of sound design in sustaining unease, the conflation of cripple courage and learned helplessness, and Lynchian first dates.

Follow Dan on Instagram @danashtreelane and on Letterboxd @damienkarras73

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com

Today we watched Penguin Bloom, a true story about a recently paralyzed nurse who adopts a wounded magpie in the early months after her injury. Throughout the episode, we discuss precarious early morning transfers, the restorative power of pets, coffee assisted bowel movements, childcare from a wheelchair, and the nuances of able bodied envy.

Follow us on social media @cripthreatpod

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com

Today our most able-bodied friend, Geoff, joins us to analyze the nightmare ergonomics of Jake Gyllenhaal portraying an amputee in the 2017 film Stronger. Throughout the episode, we discuss when it's acceptable for a disabled person to be deemed an inspiration, Tony's ongoing popsicle stick saga, the power of humour and close friends to help set the standard for proper wheelie treatment, how disability can exacerbate bad habits, and the tyranny of inaccessible toilets.

To get in contact with Geoff or learn more about his physical fitness philosophy, check out in(Tension) Physical Training here: https://www.intensionphysicaltraining.com/

You can follow Geoff on Instagram @intension.geoff

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com

Today we are joined by filmmaker, disability advocate and stroke survivor Maggie Whittum to discuss the controversial new wheelie film Music. Through Sia’s directorial debut, Maggie offers her insight into our ongoing exploration of what constitutes an authentic disabled film. Unfortunately for Music, no amount of skillful choreography or arresting imagery can distract us from its deeply offensive caricature of autism and a misguided desire to redeem able-bodied characters through the burden of attendant care.

Throughout the episode, we also discuss the tedium of slow and disobedient disabled bodies, how covid isolation has unexpectedly improved accessibility, the importance of creative outlets in communicating chronic pain, and the continual struggle of reconciliation with an acquired disability and the resulting gap between past and present self.

Watch the trailer for Maggie's upcoming documentary "The Great Now What" here: https://www.thegreatnowwhat.com/

Phamaly Theatre Company: https://phamaly.org/

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com

Today we watched Benjamin Button, a deeply misguided fantasy romance film where Brad Pitt ages in reverse and is barred from sleeping with Cate Blanchette until they both look age appropriate. Throughout we discuss the parallels between agism and disability, the Orwellian nature of vaccine sites, the pain of empty proverbs, hollywood's vapid obsession with de-aging, and funny fart noises.

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Inside I'm Dancing, also released under the title Rory O'Shea Was Here, is an Irish 2004 comedy-drama starring James McAvoy and the ever dependable Brenda Fricker. The film is a fun bromance between two wheelies who escape institutional care and try to live independently. Despite mediocre review scores, it turned out to be one of our favourites, mostly for the authenticity of its disabled aesthetics, light hearted tone, and thoughtful smaller moments. Throughout the episode, we discuss the significance of hairgel, the tragedy of displaced cripple laundry, deadbeat parents, and speech impediments.

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com

Today we watched The Descendents, a 2011 dramedy from Alexander Payne in which George Clooney faces the dual crises of marital infidelity from a partner in a sudden coma. Throughout the episode, we talk about the anxieties of new or worsening disability, the need for closure in the face of heartache, and we ask how an unconscious offscreen wheelie is written with more humanity than Redmayne's Hawking. Anthony also proudly unveils a new cripple parody song.

You can check out lyricist and graphic design aficionado Michael at michaelcumming.tv

Find out more at http://cripplethreatpodcast.com