Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back

"Once we begin to realize that the disability is in the environment, then in order for us to have equal rights, we don't have to change but the environment has to change." These words, spoken by a political science professor who is also disabled, are illustrated by footage of protest actions, including the 1990 "Capitol Crawl" where dozens of disabled people dragged themselves up the monumental steps of the U.S. Capitol Building. However, that's about the only attention paid to accessibility issues in this video; rather the program cobbles together interviews taken during the 1995 Conference of Disability, Arts, and Culture held at the University of Michigan, with excerpts from some of the sessions, plus an overabundance of performance art. Individuals obsess over slights from thirty years ago. They fret about what to call themselves ("crippled" presently has a rad chic ring, as opposed to the now-obsolete "Persons with Disabilities" euphemism or the current preferred label, "Disabled Persons"). They have (bad) poetry readings and "perform art" loaded with consciousness-raising clichés, for audiences primarily consisting of members from their own community. A frequently amateurish presentation, this is not recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Reagan)