lierdumoa:

Okay so my favorite thing about Finding Dory was the way it debunked disability porn. And by that, I mean it debunked the myth of self-sufficiency.

If you’re not familiar with what disability porn is, it’s generally a picture showing a disabled person, alone in a photo, accomplishing something on their own. The message is aimed towards abled people, and the message is – look at this “”“lesser human”“” doing a thing on their own! If this “”“lesser human”“” can do this thing all by themselves, then imagine what you, a superior human are capable of doing all by yourself!

In Finding Dory, Dory never does anything on her own. More importantly, neither does any other character in the movie. Dory finds help when she needs it, and she offers help when she can. Occasionally a character tells Dory, “I can’t help you. You have to do this by yourself.” And every single time that happens, the character who says that turns out to be wrong. Dory doesn’t have to do things by herself. She keeps looking for and asking for help, until she finds the help she needs.

Everything accomplished in the movie is accomplished through collaboration. The movie sends a very clear message:

You don’t have to do things alone. You’re not supposed to do things alone. Needing help does not make you a burden. Everyone needs and deserves help.

If I’d had more role models like Dory as a kid, maybe my twenties wouldn’t have been such a train wreck. I spent most of my early adulthood quite literally incapacitated by the myth of self-sufficiency. I flunked out of two different colleges because I thought I was supposed to do everything on my own. Instead of joining study groups or going to office hours, I hid in my dorm room and stopped showering. 

Watching Finding Dory, was a profoundly validating experience for me. I can’t recommend this movie enough.