Murderbell Film Review

The main theme of Murder ball film is about disabled game such as basketball. I think the main argument here is that disabled people can succeed in sports like others spot players. Disabled do good in all social activities and doesn’t matter even though they are seen as weak and deviant by the society. I think the thesis of the film is related to this course because it is about social and deviant behavior in human.  This course is also about deviant bodies and how media treat people.  The construction of deviant and how it is defined is what sociology is about.  People who are seen as deviant in the society have the same level when it comes to way of life. We see handicap people in different ways because there are policies that give them some special accommodation due to their weakness. 

The most convincing thing that I found is that disabled people play good like other games or spot if they committed themselves.  This was my first time to see disabled people playing basketball or any kind of game or sport. I always watched some games or spots but not the disabled on. I think it was interesting to me. I thought it was something good when the United States Paralympic team of disable became the leading in the world. Some of the star of the team like Mark Zupan and others make me feel good watching the sport when playing against Canada team and the Great Britain.  I did know that there are five hundred disable players in the United States. Rules of the game at the time they play was not convincing to me because I got confused.  From the sociology and anthropological perspective, people who are disabled are viewed as that they can accomplished anything in their lives but that was not the case as I know today. The labeling refers to handicap as their mater status because that is what they do have in common.  We have discussed lot of theories which address of the way society labeled such as Howard Becker and many others. Disability can serve as a master status and can carry with a stigma according to Becker 1963 & Schur 1971 in reading deviant behavior.  This authors are saying that stigma is not a difference but a characteristic that deeply discredits a person‘s moral character. I think there are many studies have shown how people with disabilities are stigmatized and depersonalized because of their master status.

This brings us to the story of disability, social identity, and family networks in chapter 26 of our text book. This is an article by Taylor which is related to chapter 26 in Reading Deviant Behavior. His study examines the social meaning of disability and the construction of social identity in a family whose members have been officially defined as handicapped, disabled, or mentally retarded. He briefly reviews the text on disability and stigma. In contrast to current theories, the family in this study has constructed a life world in which disability is not stigmatizing for their identities. I think this article examines, in depth, how family members and their broader social network construct the meaning of disability define themselves and each other in terms of their personal characteristics and family relationships. The conclusion of this article considers some factors that seem to account for the family's ability to avoid the stigma and stained identities associated with mental retardation and other disabilities.

I think film touched on how society feels about being disables. I felt that when people took this course they could see how this couldn't be true. This video we watched for class can show all of us that society needs to reconsider disable people as people who have ambitions. It would be better if we could stop more assumptions about handicap people.  Finally, if I had to research about the film I would like to look more into the many levels of disability that had been discussed at the time the film start.  

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Citation: Calhoun, C. Thomas, Conyers, Addrain & Thio, Alex. 2010. Reading in Deviant Behavior: Boston, MA:  person education, Inc publishing Allyn & Becon print.

Taylor, Steven “You are Not a Retard, You are just Wise”. Journal of Contemporary  Ethnography  vol 28: (March 2010), by reprint Sage publications, Inc.