More Actual Over Symbolism

In the iconic Huston would have been B film that defied expectations, Lionel Barrymore's character, James Temple, embodies all the contradictions of disability that are far older than the somewhat monochromatic identity games that ADAPT and Cassie and the rest of the old guard that I have written about play. This old man, Mr. Temple, as he is addressed by Bogart in close formality, perhaps Bogart's attempt to ward off the threat of caring for him and widowed daughter in law, he is a benevolent tyrant toward the indigenous natives that Huston is clearly exploiting, though in 48 this was no doubt a progressive move, of which Temple's paternalism was meant to be seen as inclusive, but Temple is also just as trapped, between Robinson's hard cruelty and the Bogart/Bacall compassion. The latter may be better than the former, but this is not a social relation between equals, and the same holds true today, despite the partisan, and false reverence for the ADA, as espoused by New Mobility and the rest of IL culture. My feature for them in 2004 was one of the few times they went under the radar, so to speak, to look at a real and troubling issue within the equally monochromatic *attendant care* paradigm, and yes, it saddens me that I sacrifice them as a market I have already penetrated, but Tim Gilmer has ignored me even before I highlighted my antagonism toward Josie, which is real and will not be undone, and though it hurts my career, and I am an aging wheelchair user who very briefly felt part of their family and then wasn't, I sacrifice them for the sake of integrity over a conflated lie. The ADA, independent living is just that, a lie, just as is the elevation of Cassie over the expense of so much suffering. For every Cassie James, for every John Hockenberry, and even Vassar Miller, for whom I have no castigation, only praise, and that is because Vassar is authentic, a real literary artist who transcends, for all those, very few of us have real control, real power to adapt to our limitations and call our own shots. Who actually has this power? The Medicare and insurance actuary, those that control transit authority budgets, and the wonderful asses that run federal and state housing. I will expand in another post after some rest.