Simon Birch is suggested by John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, and both films focus on friendships between two outcast boys and have been used in middle school classrooms to reinforce themes of relationships, friendships, identity, and the heroic spirit. The Mighty, the film adaptation of Rodman Philbrick's novel Freak the Mighty, is typically used in middle school classrooms to reinforce literature units in which the novel is studied. In this article the authors critique two films commonly used in middle school classrooms, Simon Birch and The Mighty, that portray young adolescent boys with physical disabilities as both pitiable and heroic, and then discuss the implications of these portrayals. In educational settings, teachers can foster engagement and empathy through careful choices and active reading of films (Considine and Baker 2006). Uninformed readings of film may reinforce negative and inaccurate beliefs and stereotypes about disability, and may perpetuate stigma status of people with disabilities. How and when movies are used in schools is important, as viewings with little analysis or reflection may have unintended consequences, sending the message that inaccurate or exaggerated stereotypes about disability are accurate and acceptable (Chervenak 2006 Longmore 1985 Norden 1994). Films with characters with disabilities are often shown in classrooms (for example, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Glass Menagerie, Moby Dick, Gattaca, A Beautiful Mind).
Film is a powerful medium that can affect how students think about people, places, cultures, and issues.
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