Public Contribution To Knowledge "Deej"
SOCI 4421 R01
Catherine Cain
5/12/20
"Deej" is a film about autism, the family structure, competence, and the right of every person to be able to communicate effectively and be included in schools and communities. The movie Deej is directed by Robert Rooy and follows Deej Savarese, who is a young man that is autistic and nonspeaking. When we first encounter Deej, he is a student attending classes at his regular high school. He communicates using facilitated communication devices and aides, which have been seen as controversial. However, this is not explored in the film, probably due to the fact that I could imagine this would be very offensive to someone like Deej and his family due to his time and time again proving his vast knowledge on different subjects. Throughout the film, DJ shares his experiences of being autistic, along with hopes for the future and his fears and his poetry. This is paired animated sequences made by Em Cooper. They are soft oil painting animation, which highlights the Deej's insightful poetry. Throughout "Deej," we learn how Deej navigates through his life as an autistic person with profound sensory differences and challenges with communication. I feel that this film does well at giving Deej a space to speak on this without being exploitative of him or misstepping boundaries. The film follows him as Deej repeatedly succeeds, graduating with honors from high school and getting into his dream school at Oberlin College, an incredibly inclusive school. We also learn about the DJ's past life before (his parents adopted him from an abusive situation). The film does an excellent job showing that all people, including autistic people, are worthy. We can see Deej for who he is in this film, not just as an autistic person, but for who he is a friend, a classmate, an intellect, a community member, a son, a grandson, and a cousin. A person who is treasured and valued by many. The part of this film that I enjoyed the most is seeing the excellent relationships between Deej and his family; his mom often helps him communicate his dad is an expert himself in disability studies. There an unbreakable bond and great mutual respect between them. Often there is not a good representation of and narrative around autism in the media negative. So, I feel it is fantastic this film is showing an example of a family that is so accepting of their autistic child because family is the child's first model of inclusion. It was a heartwarming thing to watch. I recommend "Deej" to anyone interesting in learning more about autism. I loved "Deej" because it is not a film about "overcoming" autism or disability. It is about a person who has an opportunity that too many autistic people are denied. Deej's talents and achievements are realized because he is supported and included due to his ability to communicate using his facilitated communicated devices and support system. Maybe not all nonspeaking autistic people have the same ability to achieve what Deej has, but not everyone can do what Deej can. However, every single one of us has the right to communicate and to realize our whole worth and potential.
"Deej" is a film about autism, the family structure, competence, and the right of every person to be able to communicate effectively and be included in schools and communities. The movie Deej is directed by Robert Rooy and follows Deej Savarese, who is a young man that is autistic and nonspeaking. When we first encounter Deej, he is a student attending classes at his regular high school. He communicates using facilitated communication devices and aides, which have been seen as controversial. However, this is not explored in the film, probably due to the fact that I could imagine this would be very offensive to someone like Deej and his family due to his time and time again proving his vast knowledge on different subjects. Throughout the film, DJ shares his experiences of being autistic, along with hopes for the future and his fears and his poetry. This is paired animated sequences made by Em Cooper. They are soft oil painting animation, which highlights the Deej's insightful poetry. Throughout "Deej," we learn how Deej navigates through his life as an autistic person with profound sensory differences and challenges with communication. I feel that this film does well at giving Deej a space to speak on this without being exploitative of him or misstepping boundaries. The film follows him as Deej repeatedly succeeds, graduating with honors from high school and getting into his dream school at Oberlin College, an incredibly inclusive school. We also learn about the DJ's past life before (his parents adopted him from an abusive situation). The film does an excellent job showing that all people, including autistic people, are worthy. We can see Deej for who he is in this film, not just as an autistic person, but for who he is a friend, a classmate, an intellect, a community member, a son, a grandson, and a cousin. A person who is treasured and valued by many. The part of this film that I enjoyed the most is seeing the excellent relationships between Deej and his family; his mom often helps him communicate his dad is an expert himself in disability studies. There an unbreakable bond and great mutual respect between them. Often there is not a good representation of and narrative around autism in the media negative. So, I feel it is fantastic this film is showing an example of a family that is so accepting of their autistic child because family is the child's first model of inclusion. It was a heartwarming thing to watch. I recommend "Deej" to anyone interesting in learning more about autism. I loved "Deej" because it is not a film about "overcoming" autism or disability. It is about a person who has an opportunity that too many autistic people are denied. Deej's talents and achievements are realized because he is supported and included due to his ability to communicate using his facilitated communicated devices and support system. Maybe not all nonspeaking autistic people have the same ability to achieve what Deej has, but not everyone can do what Deej can. However, every single one of us has the right to communicate and to realize our whole worth and potential.
