Whether it’s their lack of filter or naivety, children can be cruel, often emphasizing or blowing on the aspects that you cannot change for yourself. As a person who grew up by carrying hearing aids and following a special diet, I learned from first hand how children could make you feel horrible just to be different. Stephen Chbosky’s sweet and family film “Wonder” tackles these ideas of acceptance and intimidation in a story on a boy named August “Augcie” Pullman, who has Treacher Collins syndrome, while trying to Integrate into your new private school after being educated at home all his life.
Although it seems simple and even too sentimental, “Wonder” professes the adage “, when it was given the choice between being right or being nice, choose Kind.” This is generally the last choice we make when we are afraid, uncomfortable or that we just want to integrate. Too often, children and adults are kind enough on the rear burner to look at themselves, pulling others in an attempt to rise up at the top. “Wonder” has an edifying message with which everyone can identify, but especially for those who have disabilities who often experience a world that is not very nice.
Wonder is not based on real events, but he has real influences
Auggie, 10, his parents, Isabel and Nate, and an older sister via are fictitious characters. The journey of Auggie to Beecher Prep dealing with intimidators, being photoshoped of the image of the class, and the victory of the scientific fair is put on the screen by the writers Stephen Chbosky, Steven Conrad and Jack Thorne, based on the REM of RJ Palacio. However, the challenges that sweater is real for so many families.
According to the Craniofacial association of the American slitCollins treating syndrome (TCS) is a rare genetic disorder, also known as mandibulofacial dysostosis, which affects 1 newborn on 50,000. Although it is a rare disease, there is any Many children who live with TC or other similar facial differences.
While “Wonder” delicately presents the experiences encountered by those who live with a handicap and family members, the film and the book can resonate with anyone who has already had trouble integrating. Anyone can relate to feelings of isolation, loneliness or make you feel different. Palacio remembers having received an email from a 91-year-old woman after the release of her book, who shared a memory that girls were mean for her in the dining room when she was 13 years old. As she said NPR in 2013:
“I read it to children when I speak to them because it reminds them how their actions are known by people, and do you want to be recalled eight decades later by someone for an act of nasty or an act of kindness.
This powerful message is what makes “wonder” so inspiring. Even if the finest details are fictitious, the film has a strong real impact.
Wonder aware of the Collins treating syndrome
THE Texas children’s hospital The reports that Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) affects the development of the skull and the face bones, often creating difficulty cheekbones and a small chin. The eyes of people with the disease are generally inclined and their ears can be so small that they cause hearing loss. These facial differences can also lead to other problems, such as difficulty in breathing, speech disorders and consumption or alcohol consumption problems. This means that people with TCS often have to undergo in -depth surgeries.
Even if Auggie in “Wonder” is only 10 years old, he has already undergone 27 surgeries at the start of history. Unfortunately, it is a reality for many children with TCS or other facial differences. It is not only frightening for parents to see the small bodies of their child have to undergo medical trauma, but also for the child self, who may not fully understand what is happening during these rescue procedures .
Who plays Auggie?
“Wonder” is one of Julia Roberts’ best films Because her warm but fierce “mama bear” is such a memorable character, and the perfect match for the relaxed and affectionate nature of Owen Wilson that Nate. Together, they form one of the gentle pairs of parents at the ‘screen. “Room”, another project constantly based on real events.
Tremblay brings a sweet mixture of sweetness and bravery to the character of Auggie. However, some criticisms took shade with the young unabled actor playing a character with facial differences, including Ariel Henley, writer for Teenage vogue with Crouzon syndrome. As she wrote in 2017:
“To suggest that people with craniofacial disorders, who desperately want to be reflected in the consumer media, should be grateful for this film, while ignoring all the ways in which this story and the cast are problematic, only perpetuates our marginalization . “
She also deplored that “it was devastating to realize that the directors involved in” Wonder “prefer to throw a healthy and normal child” and put him in makeup and prostheses, rather than throwing someone who looked like me “.
Although it is refreshing to see a character of popular culture with facial differences that are not a villainThere is still progress to be made. The cast of talent actors like Adam Pearson, a man with type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1), in the Black comedy “a different man” Shows that people with disabilities should have the opportunity to play their own pieces, as well as a diversified collection of roles.
The author RJ Palacio was inspired by a fortuitous meeting in a ice cream store
The film and the book “Wonder” are incredibly well written, offering multiple perspectives on how society considers disability. Some are mean, others are indifferent, while some lend themselves to discomfort with something that is outside the norm. Back in her 2013 interview with NPR, Palacio revealed that her inspiration for “Wonder” was an experience of disability that she regretted. Once, when she sat next to a young girl with serious facial differences in an ice cream store, Palacio’s son was afraid and started to cry. She was quickly gone. As Palacio explained:
“I was really angry with myself after the way I replied. What I should have done is simply to turn to the little girl and have started a conversation and showed my children that ‘There was nothing to fear. […] I have to face a world every day that does not know how to face you. “”
This experience has inspired Palacio to create a “wonder”, a edifying story intended to encourage people to cross these walls that we are preparing when we fear what is different.
The title of Wonder is based on the song of Natalie Merchant in 1995
For the title of his book, Palacio borrowed from “Wonder” from Natalie Mercihant. As the merchant explained to BBCHer song speaks in the same way of a child born with a congenital illness, based on twins which she knew who had an epidermolysis Bullosa (who causes blisters of skin and membrane). A delicate and acoustic folk sound of merchant and moving voices create a piece of music in motion. The words describe the doctors shocked by what they see, wondering how it could be one of the creations of God. The merchant ensures the listeners that the child will prevail and overcome any struggle, in particular with love, patience and faith.
The title “Wonder” also refers to how children often see the world with impression, astonishment and curiosity. History teaches us that we have to take our fascination and transform it into a practice of kindness rather than cruelty.