Movies about disability are not too hard to find if you bother to look. Some are fiction and some are based on true stories, but many of them look very similar on screen. It's not hard to understand why such movies would be popular. We like movies about overcoming adversity. Disability gives a character something to struggle against naturally. In many ways, Out Of My Mind, available now with a Disney+ subscription, is a traditional narrative regarding disability. However, there are a couple of key ways in which it is very different, making it a welcome breath of fresh air.
As somebody who was born with cerebral palsy, like the main character of the film, I fully expected Out of My Mind to affect me in some personal way. However, what I wasn't expecting, was the ways the fictional story mirrors one element of living with disability that few other films get right.
Disney+’s Out Of My Mind Makes Disability Real Through Casting
Out of My Mind is the story of Melody Brooks, played by newcomer Phoebe-Rae Taylor. In the vast majority of movies of this type, an able-bodied actor plays a disabled character. We see it happen all the time, some great actors have won Oscars for doing such things. but the first thing that sets this movie apart is that its star is not only a fantastic actor, but is also disabled. Taylor has cerebral palsy just like her character, and needs a wheelchair just like Melody. The story is fictional, but the performance is real.
The exact details of how Melody was diagnosed with cerebral palsy or how she came by it are unclear, but entirely irrelevant to the story being told. Melody is confined to a wheelchair and is nonverbal. The majority of the story is told to us by Melody's inner voice, provided by Jennifer Aniston. In a hilarious meta moment, we're told Melody is choosing to let us hear Aniston's voice, because, being non-verbal, she can sound however she likes, and chooses the Friends actress.
Taylor's performance is about making you believe she is disabled, which means it allows you to truly see the disability.
Out Of My Mind's Plot Feels Trite And Traditional At The Beginning
Melody has been a student in special ed classrooms for her entire life. However, thanks to an optimistic grad student, Melody is allowed to mainstream by being placed in a traditional classroom for the first time. Out of My Mind follows her as she deals with traditional public school for the first time, attempting to make friends and do all the things that other kids, though her experience is certainly different.
Melody has difficulties, but she's arguably the smartest kid in her entire history class. She knows all the answers, she simply has trouble getting them out in a way others can understand. In an attempt to show what she is capable of, Melody tries out for the school Whiz Kids team. She has some difficulty overcoming the bias of the teachers, but ultimately makes the team. This is where Out of My Mind gives you the moment that you fully expect in a movie like this but in a way that you absolutely don't.
Out Of My Mind Has A “Disney” Moment That Doesn’t Go The Way You Think
Melody and her classmates, some supportive, some not so much, go off to compete in the state championships for Whiz Kids. Her school makes it to the final round and at the end of normal competition, the two teams are tied. This leads to a sudden death style heat where one member of each team is chosen to compete. While not everybody on Melody's team is supportive of choosing her, some understand that she is the smartest in the room and she's eventually given the chance. It's probably not a major spoiler to reveal that Melody is ultimately victorious in winning the competition for her whole school and sending them off to the National Championship.
In any other movie, this would be the end of the film. Melody would have won the competition for her school, the naysayers would have been proven wrong, those who doubted Melody's abilities would now become supportive, and everybody would live happily ever after. This is a Disney+ movie, that arrived on Disney+ for Thanksgiving after all. That's the sort of ending you expect from these films.
However, the film does something significantly different. After Melody wins the competition for her school and has proven her abilities, the movie isn't over yet. You get to see what happens next, and what happens is…
…nothing changes.
The kids who were bullies remain bullies. The teachers who don't want to be bothered by a disabled student are still annoyed by her presence. Even Melody, who should probably know better, thinks that her abilities will get the school to cut her a little bit of slack because if the team wants to win, they need her.
However, when it comes time for the team to fly off to the National Championship in Washington D.C., Melody is, at the very least forgotten, if not actively left behind. She feels that she has found something that gives her value to others, but really, she's just shown that the "disabled kid" is smarter than everybody else, which if anything makes them less likely to accept her.
Out Of My Mind Skips The Happily Ever After That Never Happens With Disability
That's the thing about disability. It never changes. A disability like cerebral palsy is with you for the rest of your life. And it doesn't matter what you do. You're not going to change people's minds, you're not going to get them to open up. They won't see the error of their ways.
Other than the fact that I have cerebral palsy, I don't have a lot in common with Melody. I can speak. I can walk, though I look a little funny doing it. I can pass for able-bodied a lot of the time.
I was also one of the smarter kids in class in school, so I know the drive to show that your disability doesn't define you. I also know that it doesn't really work. I know that when somebody decides that they're going to treat you as less than human, there's nothing you can do to change their mind. The bias and the bigotry of others that comes with being disabled is something that you just have to deal with every day. Some days are better than others but it never completely goes away.
Out of My Mind still has a "happy" ending. Things are certainly better for Melody at the end of the movie than they are at the beginning. But the story doesn't shy away from the fact that her life from this point on won't be perfect, and it's clear that Melody's struggles will continue.
