A new Hollywood film depicting a romance between a quadriplegic and his caretaker that ends in the man choosing suicide over life in a wheelchair is being denounced by the disabled community.
Two dozen activists with disabilities and their supporters protested outside a South Philadelphia movie theater Monday against the film "Me Before You," calling it "poisonous" and saying it could encourage suicide among people with disabilities.
The activists in Philly sang and chanted for more than an hour outside the UA Riverview 17, one of two theaters in the city that is showing the film. They were affiliated with Not Dead Yet, a disability rights group that is organizing protests nationwide and protested the film's red-carpet premiere in Hollywood.
For those participating in the protest, the story of the film is a painful parallel to their own experiences.
Fatale said she has quadriparesis, severe muscle weakness affecting all four limbs.
Activists said the film barely portrays any characters who disagree with the protagonist's decision to end his life in Switzerland at ..., a real assisted suicide organization.
There is also no depiction in the film of the community of people with disabilities, which activists credited with helping them live their own lives.
"In the past five years, I started meeting other people with disabilities. I stopped feeling ashamed. These people made me feel like I'm not a burden," said Liam Dougherty, 26, who uses a wheelchair due to Friedreich's ataxia, a progressive neural disorder.
Congratulations to the NDY activists in Philadelphia who effectively got their message out.