Movie Response #1 Murderball

Tony Ive
September 24, 2008
Matt Wappet
What is Normal Anyway

Movie Response #1 Murderball

Murder ball is about the athletes who compete in the Paralympic sport wheelchair rugby. The main characters were Joe Soares, a Canadian coach who was depicted as the bad guy, and Mark Zupan, a bad ass and the star of the American team. Wheel chair Rugby is a sport for the top paraplegic athletes; it is not the Special Olympics. This is a documentary of the Paralympics battles between he U.S. and Canada. It is also an inside view into what it is like to become paraplegic, and what it means to live that way.

The cinematography annoyed me. I did not like how the camera was constantly shaking. When I watched the opening scene showing the rugby game my initial response was cool, finally an accurate movie about disabilities. I was angered by the Canadian coach’s treatment of his son and his wall of accomplishments. I was uncomfortable watching the sex scene. At the beginning, I felt uncomfortable watching the movie. It is probably because they were in wheel chairs. Ten minutes into the movie the chair was not what I focused on. I felt sympathy for the character who would never be able to ride his dirt bike again, but I was detached from the movie. I was not interested in their personal relationships. Maybe it’s because I just don’t like to get personal.

The movie complicates how we think of normality by demonstrating the ways that the athletes are typical American males. It shows the characters at their jobs. It shows the characters with their children, wives, and girlfriends. The film even shows disabled people having sex. The film shows the characters going shopping. There are interviews where the characters express their resentment of people who try to help them when they do not need help. Like any typical American male they love sports.

They are disabled because they need to use wheel chairs and cannot go up stairs. Society is what disabled them. The structures that able bodied people built made it difficult for them to get up stairs. If society made everything accessible for everyone they would not be disabled. One of the characters was recovering from a traumatic motorcycle incident. He was not able to ride his dirt bike any more so he was disabled. It was more difficult for him to function in his apartment so in that way he was disabled. People needed to do a lot of things for him. It is understandable that he was sad.

The movie showed some of the characters with their shirts off. It made the characters look tougher and admirable. Most able bodied people do not have abs like those guys. It focused on their personalities. One of the players demonstrated the role of being a rebel. He would go up to people in the street and challenge them to fights. He would not allow his story to be viewed as a tragedy.

The film told a classic sports story: an epic battle between two sports teams. It showed the scores and the intense looks on the player’s faces. It focused on their accomplishments and steered itself away from being a story of tragedy. Despite the cinematography and sex video I felt inspired.