Well… Murderball lost to the Penguins. I will refrain from my urge to go buy an SUV to increase global warming. I admit, the penguins were cute and all, and my kids liked them, but they were — penguins. The girls liked Murderball better. March of the Penguins was nothing more than a long Nova/Imax science film, the sort of thing we can find on PBS every week. I really do enjoy watching Nova-like shows, but they aren’t deserving of an Oscar.
For the uninitiated, Murderball is a documentary about several members of the 2004 Paralympic Quad Rugby team, and Joe Soares, a chair user due to poliio, the rival Canadian team’s coach. A fair portion of the movie is devoted to Soares’ relationship with his gradeschool son.
Murderball is described as:
A film about tough, highly competitive rugby players. Quadriplegic rugby players. Whether by car wreck, fist fight, gun shot, or rogue bacteria, these men were forced to live life sitting down. In their own version of the full-contact sport, they smash the hell out of each other in custom-made gladiator-like wheelchairs. And no, they don’t wear helmets.
The description sells the movie short. Murderball is not simply a sports movie, but a movie that explores cripdom on a nitty gritty level — from discussions about sex and spinal cord injury to the realities of rehab for newly disabled individuals.
Featured in the movie is Soares and his son, and the tension that results from Soares’ devotion to Quad Rugby and his son’s very divergent interests. The type of parenting difficulty all parents experience, disabled or not. (Remind me of this when my daughter decides to become a cheerleader, I am sure I won’t be as charitable.)
Murderball deserves it’s “R” rating, but my girls thoroughly enjoyed watching a edited version that was the result of mom’s quick control of the fast forward and mute button on the DVD remote. My seven year old provided her own soundtrack yelling “bam” at each chair collision.
For those wanting to allow their children to watch the movie without having a trigger finger on the fast forward button, A&E has been showing a PG version of Murderball. There is another airing scheduled at 12 am ET on March 12.
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March 7th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Hi There -
Great post! Great blog! I’m so glad I found you. I have a blog myself where I talk about my experiences as a disabled mom raising my healthy and active toddler daughter. I’m always lurking around for other disabiity and/or parenting blogs, so you can imagine how happy I was to find you! I’ve added you to my blog roll so my readers can find you as well.
Keep up the good work. You’re amazing!
Amy
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Murderball was amazing! Well done documentary, a powerful, intense reality check for those who have preconceived notions about what a person in a wheelchair is capable of, how they should feel, what keeps them going.
Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome!
September 18th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
did you notice that murderball wasn’t captioned?? that really disappointed me, the fact that it’s a movie about disability and all. still a good film though, one of my favs.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
My version is captioned (closed captioned, not subtitled). I was disappointed that I couldn’t get open captioning anywhere, so had to wait until it came out on DVD to watch it.