Hello everyone!! Welcome to week five of our Paris film journey! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I wanted fun and whimsy and beauty this spring, and although an actual trip to Paris in the spring would be better, a film journey will have to do. We are having great fun, and hope you will journey along with us!

This week, we watched The Intouchables!

First, a quick summary of the movie from Rotten Tomatoes: “After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker, and an unlikely friendship forms.”

I was hesitant about watching this movie for many reasons. I was afraid of it being “disability inspiration porn”, for one. In case you have never heard this term, it was coined by an Australian disability activist, Stella Young, and is defined as “the objectifying of disabled people as models of inspiration for able-bodied people simply because they are disabled. Inspiration porn reminds able-bodied people that no matter how bad your life may be, you could have it worse, implying the negative connotation that disabled people struggle through life and suffer constantly. ” I am happy to report, this movie was not disability inspiration porn.

I was also hesitant about watching it because my own son is a wheelchair user, which comes with its own set of emotional hang-ups, and some of these were actually touched on in the movie, but in a very sensitive and accurate way. In fact, a large part of the movie revolved around some of them, particularly being viewed with pity. Which is sort of like inspiration porn I guess, but this was just more personal, and less grandiose. Just the everyday type things – like do doctors and nurses greet Wyatt, or just speak through me? Do people talk to him like a baby, or like he isn’t there? The answer to these questions, are yes, sometimes those things happen. And let me tell you, Wyatt gives spectacular side eye. He looks at me like, “Mom, what the heck?”

However, this movie transcended my expectations, and overcame my hesitations with its thoughtfulness and consideration.

Phillipe is rich. He is a rich quadriplegic, and he even acknowledges how that does make his life a bit easier. He goes through caregivers and assistants quickly. He is full care, but has perfect cognitive abilities. His brain, his mind, anything above the neck, was not damaged in his fall. He is a man of culture – music, art, he is surrounded by fine things, a beautiful home, servants. And juxtaposed against him we have Driss. A young man in the peak of his life, healthy, strong, in shape, yet living in a situation that is less than ideal. He is living in a crowded apartment with his family, with zero privacy, and all sorts of his own troubles, including a criminal record.

On the surface, these two men could not be more different. However, they both have a capacity to listen. To learn. To try different things, even if they seem weird or embarrassing. They learn from each other, and while it should feel like Phillipe has the upper hand as an employer, or that Driss should because he has the able body, there is no upper hand. Not really. Both men are in a position where they need the other. Driss needs what Phillipe can give him – a job, stability, a place to live and take a bath without a bathroom full of children and being crunched up in a tub. A purpose. And Phillipe needs Driss, for his very lack of pity. As Phillipe says, Driss hands him the phone when it rings, because he forgets. How refreshing that must have felt to him. Driss does things that probably were unthinkable to others – he helps Phillipe smoke weed, which helps to reduce the pain he still feels, even if it is phantom. It causes him to panic, to need air, to get out. And Driss provides that for him, in a way that is not belittling. He takes him for walks in Paris at night, something Phillipe comments on, that he has not seen Paris by night for ages.

Driss and Phillipe also share their likes and dislikes, like friends. Phillipe shares his love of art with Driss, Driss shares his love of Earth, Wind, and Fire. Yes, Earth, Wind, and Fire. It’s a give and take relationship. One that pushes and challenges equally.

And that is the key here for me. Equally. As equals. Friends. And that is why I loved this movie and it transcended my fears.

It also had some very just plain joyful scenes, including a fun dance scene, which I love in a movie. I love to dance, even though I am terrible. I would have been on that dance floor in a hot second!

I absolutely 100% loved this movie. So far, for me, the movies we have chosen have been so spectacular, and this was no exception. One reason I love pairing up with Lisa for our movie journeys is because we both have such different tastes, and this pushes us too, to watch things that we normally would never probably watch. And honestly, I almost always love what she chooses. And this one knocked it out of the park.

I should also mention, this movie is based on a true story! I am sure Lisa and Cat will share all the deets with you guys, they are so good at that.

Did you watch? What do you think of this movie? Feel free to comment and link up with us! You can find Lisa’s post here!

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

And just like that, we have one movie left! We were supposed to have a Zoom group watch, but due to life situations for both of us right now, we had to cancel that this time around. I apologize for the late notice. However, if you watch Charade starring Audrey Hepburn, please feel free to post on May 8th with us! Or after, or whenever. We are flexible!!