With a personal mission for advocacy and awareness, The R-Word explores how cultural attitudes surrounding the word “retard” perpetuate stereotypes and segment those with intellectual disabilities away from society. Filmmaker Amanda Lukoff details her lifelong awareness of these issues alongside her sister Gabrielle who has an intellectual disability and shares the stories of other siblings with similar dynamics. These personal perspectives are balanced with interviews of mental health professionals, experts on language and culture, advocates for people with intellectual disabilities, and individuals with intellectual disabilities.
The documentary starts with on-the-street interviews of people answering how often they hear and use the word “retard” along with probing questions into why. Despite the apparent discomfort, most admit they hear the word often and say it more than they would like to admit.
The first personal segment involves Amanda and Gabrielle growing up together, along with Amanda’s childhood advocacy for Gabrielle, and some relatable stories of Gabrielle in her adult life. This leads into an animated sequence of the history of the word “retard” and why it has become as common as it has despite decades of awareness of the harm it can cause. The media examples of usage were far-reaching and for all ages. The R-Word additionally looks at Rosa’s Law, a law that changed the official documentation from “mental retardation” to intellectual disability in 2010.
Each of the personal accounts of individuals with intellectual disabilities aims to break down the stereotypes of how people view them by giving them the space to share their hopes, dreams, and struggles. This documentary focuses a lot on individual stories to foster a sense of connection and is supplemented with the professional and historical facts about the word, so those seeking a purely factual documentary should look elsewhere. The R-Word provides a stigma-breaking look into the lives of those with intellectual disabilities and how each person can begin to bridge the gap by making one small difference in their choice of words. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P.