Jul 25, 2009 - this was the paper I submitted in the film review project for my Foundations in SPED course two terms ago.
About two years ago, I was with a friend in a mall when we stopped by at a video store to check out the VCDs on sale. A movie-lover that I am but on a limited budget at that time, I couldn’t decide which movie I’d be buying so I asked my friend of her personal choices, preferably those movies that she already got to see which I haven’t yet. I also told her that I was looking for a romantic-comedy or a chick flick that’s light and funny. She looked around and named a few which I also liked, but when she saw this movie, she immediately gave it to me and very excitedly urged me to pick that one. “I am Sam?”, I asked, “What’s this about? I’ve never heard of this movie, and I’m not a big Sean Penn fan.” My friend said, “Watch it. Trust me, it’s one of my favorite Michelle Pfeiffer movies. You’re not human at all if it’s not gonna move you to tears”. Well okay, I thought to myself, I could probably use some drama over the weekend. Little did I know that this film would eventually become one of my favorites as well – not just because of the actors’ brilliant performances – but mainly because of its heartwarming values, its spirit of hope and love, and the realities it presents involving people with special needs.
Sean Penn played the role of Sam Dawson, a special individual with autism whose intellectual capacity was said to be around that of a seven-year old. The start of the movie showed Sam at work in Starbucks, cleaning the tables and arranging the condiments in a very organized pattern. He impregnated a girl who intentionally left the baby in his care. Sam named his baby girl Lucy, after the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” of his favorite band, The Beatles. Despite his disability and un-preparedness to a responsibility, it was amazing how he managed to take care of Lucy during her infancy. He got help from his kind neighbor Annie who taught him most of the child-rearing skills and valuable lessons in life. He also got support from his wonderful bunch of friends who were all persons with disability – one with Down’s syndrome and the three others with autism, all with mild mental retardation. Sam and Lucy found joy in the company of these friends and on the day before Lucy would officially go to school, these friends showed how they loved Lucy as their own when they contributed money to buy her a pair of shoes.
Lucy’s going to school, however, was the start of Sam’s dilemmas. Since he had the mind of a seven-year old, he was questioned by the school how he could take care of Lucy when she’d turn eight. He could barely read and it was even Lucy guiding him through the books. Lucy, being a brilliant kid herself, was aware of his father’s disability and mental capacity so she would sometimes fake that she no longer wanted to read so that his dad would not be left out and instead just read to her the only book he could read by heart, “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss. This behavior of Lucy became manifested in school, when she drew herself with Sam and it looked as though she was the one taking care of her dad. There were indeed times when Sam acted like a younger kid than Lucy, which sometimes embarrassed her in front of her classmates and other people, like an event in her school, in a restaurant and during her birthday party. After an incident in which Sam was briefly put in jail, the Social Service was prompted to take custody of Lucy, while Sam was only allowed to have monitored visits twice a week for two hours. This made Sam very sad so as prodded by his friends, he sought the help of a lawyer, the perfectionist character played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Michelle at first didn’t want to help Sam but eventually offered her pro-bono services just to show it off to her colleagues. Michelle played an important role in the movie because she gave hope to Sam that he could get Lucy back. Although what initially mattered to her was purely winning the case, she was later on moved by the intensity of Sam’s love for Lucy and his friends’ support and because she herself had her own problems with her family, Sam also proved to be her friend. The court proceedings turned out to be very difficult for both father and daughter, but Sam’s burden to convince the family court that he’s able to take care of Lucy was something that his intellectual capacity could no longer muster despite of all the preparation he and his lawyer went through. The court then decided to give Lucy to the care of foster parents but this did not make Sam lose hope. However, when he saw that Lucy seemed happy with her foster parents, he thought it’s better for him to stay away but then later on when Lucy scolded him for not visiting her, he moved in to a house near her. The close father-daughter relationship they had was once again revived when Lucy would sneak out at night to go to her dad’s place. This situation continued days after days and at the end, Lucy’s foster mother came to a very big decision: give Lucy back to where her heart’s happiness was – with her father Sam.
Sam was indeed fortunate despite his disabilities. First, he’s able to find jobs and earn a living. Not too many persons with disabilities are given job opportunities, even with laws in place to safeguard their means of living. This is because not all PWDs are able to find good education that will equip them for a career or better profession. With Sam’s lack of reading and thorough communication or comprehension skills, difficulty to cope with immediate changes in the environment and autistic tendencies to act like a child, it was definitely a major decision on the part of the companies who employed him to take him as part of their working staff. Such trust and confidence on what special people like Sam can do and contribute to the society is what’s lacking in the real world, especially here in our country. The PWDs in the Philippines, despite the commendable laws enacted, are sadly not given the attention and care that they’re supposed to be provided for by the government. Many of them are in the streets, uneducated, unemployed and unfortunately taken for granted because of the public’s lack of awareness on the PWDs’ rights and privileges. If only the government could give free education to our special children and ensure their livelihood by implementing agreements with the private sector, then our Filipino PWDs would be able to prove their worth, earn a decent living and live to the best of their potential.
Second, Sam was fortunate because he’s got Lucy and his friends who loved him for what he was. This unconditional love was what helped him survive the greatest battles in his life. This unconditional love is also what we, normal people without disabilities, should give to these people with special needs. It could probably be hard at first to accept this reality, especially if they are a family member, but giving them our open minds and hearts is what they need most. Acceptance is the initial step towards understanding them because it is only through the acknowledgment of their existence can we move forward to learning how to love them. Sam was accepted not only by his peers who were also PWDs, but also by normal people around him who believed that he’s capable of taking care of Lucy. He might not be able to comprehend things easily as other people do, but as what his lawyer said, “Intellectual capacity does not have any bearing with the ability to love.” This means that all people – normal or with disabilities – feel the same emotions without the need for too much thinking or reasoning. People with special needs have feelings, too. When they’re happy, they smile and laugh. When they feel sad and low, they cry. Probably the only difference we normal people have over them is our capacity to act and function using all the body parts and senses, thus the ability to love is one thing that we share with them – one thing that they, too, should not be deprived of.
Lastly, Sam was fortunate because he got to experience the flaws of the real world yet he still lived his life in his own happy vision. He was unaware of the happenings outside his own wonderland but when Lucy was brought to the world, he took a responsibility that sometimes even normal people – like the mother of his child – would choose to run away from. His days became difficult and very stressful because he not only needed to provide for himself alone, he’s also got a daughter to mind of. His vision was opened not just to the mockery of people around him but also to the oppression of his rights as a citizen. Yet, of all these things that happened to him, he remained positive and never hateful to the people who took his Lucy and ruined his wonderland. Because of this, I sometimes ask myself – what if there were more people like Sam, would there finally be peace on earth because of the absence of those senseless hate-crimes? Would there finally be less corruption or less nature degradation because people are more contented, happier for what they already have and never jealous of what the others possess? And, if more people were like Sam, would there be more people helping other people in need and not expecting anything in return because they would love others for what they are and not for what they can give back? Surely, only God can tell. He has placed everyone in this world in a unique special role and a unique mission to fulfill that matters to Him alone. God indeed works in mysterious ways and it’s just for us to discover the special talents and abilities He especially prepared for us in this world.
“I am Sam” will forever touch my heart in a very special way. Now that I’m studying again to be able to teach special children in the future, I will always remember Sam and his friends who love each other unconditionally so that I, myself, can also help my future special education students see the world as beautifully as they can and bring them towards success in life.
And yes, as fiction as this movie could be, it has again never failed to move me to tears. Thanks to you, Sam.
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