A movement is growing around the world to boycott the film, Me Before You, opening tonight in the USA, which calls itself a “romance” about a quadriplegic who falls in love with his care giver but eventually opts to kill himself rather than live as a quadriplegic.
Thousands have already signed a petition asking the film’s producer, Warner Brothers, to apologize for offending the disabled – the vast majority of whom do not see themselves as a burden to others or better off dead. The company is also being asked to publicly state that they do not endorse suicide.
The film stars Emilia Clarke as a caregiver named Louisa “Lou” Clark who is assigned to care for Will Traynor (played by Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker who was paralyzed in an accident a few years earlier. Traynor is portrayed as having a cynical outlook on life but starts to change when Louisa shows him that life is worth living.
When she discovers that Traynor is planning to end his life at an assisted suicide clinic, she plans a series of “bucket list” excursions during which the two unexpectedly fall in love. They spend a delightful year together before he decides to go through with his plan, a decision that appears to be motivated by his desire for her to have the best.
As one reviewer remarked, “In his mind, it was a very selfless act.”
Not everyone agrees, especially not disability rights activists at Not Dead Yet UK which called the film “a gross misrepresentation of the lived experience of most disabled persons.” The group staged a protest when the film debuted in England on May 25.
Liz Carr, an activist with the organization, condemned the terrible message being promoted in this movie – “if you’re a disabled person, you’re better off dead,” she said.
Whether or not the filmmakers intended this message, it is certainly there, because this is where the so-called right to die (i.e. the right to be killed) movement leads, the petition reads.
Even more upsetting is the way the film juxtaposes the wonderful life the disabled person lived before becoming disabled with the difficult life he or she is now leading. This creates “a negative portrayal of disability and contributes to the view that life under conditions of severe disability is not worth living. Me Before You, and the larger movement that inspired the movie, ignore the inherent dignity and beauty of human life, regardless of disability,” the petition states.
Too often, it’s this kind of prejudiced view of the disabled with its low expectations and societal pressure to be useful – which the petition calls “soft bigotry” – that ultimately influences the “choice” to commit suicide.
“All persons have inherent dignity and rights and it is a tragedy whenever an individual, disabled or not, fails to recognize that dignity,” the petition reads. “People who are contemplating suicide should be assisted to live, not to die.”
Concerned citizens are being asked to boycott this movie and the dangerous message it sends. Click here to sign the petition and be sure to use the hashtag #BoycottMeBeforeYou when sharing.
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