1 00:00:00,304 --> 00:00:02,887 (upbeat music) 2 00:00:14,508 --> 00:00:17,342 - [Announcer] "The Gene and Dave Show". 3 00:00:17,342 --> 00:00:19,925 (upbeat music) 4 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,233 - Hi, I'm Gene. 5 00:00:35,310 --> 00:00:36,483 - And I'm Dave. 6 00:00:37,830 --> 00:00:41,117 - [Both] And you're watching "The Gene and Dave Show". 7 00:00:42,030 --> 00:00:44,870 - Well, that was a thrilling way to end part one. 8 00:00:44,870 --> 00:00:46,890 Oh, if you haven't seen part one yet, 9 00:00:46,890 --> 00:00:50,270 I encourage you to log onto thegeneanddaveshow.com 10 00:00:50,270 --> 00:00:52,410 and watch it before you watch this one 11 00:00:53,350 --> 00:00:57,030 because today we're gonna find out about Terry's motivation 12 00:00:57,030 --> 00:00:59,650 for making that parody of Helen Keller. 13 00:00:59,650 --> 00:01:02,053 And you wanna make sure you watch it first. 14 00:01:03,101 --> 00:01:05,600 And then we have one more movie 15 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,120 that's like disruption on steroids. 16 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,570 Are you ready for that, Gene? 17 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:14,340 - Oh yeah. 18 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:16,363 If you say so, Dave. 19 00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:19,233 - What is wrong now? 20 00:01:20,260 --> 00:01:22,323 You sound so tired. 21 00:01:23,887 --> 00:01:24,970 - I am, Dave. 22 00:01:25,980 --> 00:01:30,383 I think I got that thing, that drag syndrome. 23 00:01:36,350 --> 00:01:39,030 - Once again, Gene, you have no idea 24 00:01:39,030 --> 00:01:42,130 what's going on in our world of disruption. 25 00:01:42,130 --> 00:01:45,670 Drag Syndrome isn't a condition. 26 00:01:45,670 --> 00:01:50,493 It's a performance, the epitome of disruption. 27 00:01:51,650 --> 00:01:54,070 I tell you what, let's bring Celia, 28 00:01:54,070 --> 00:01:57,470 the executive director of Art Spark Texas in 29 00:01:57,470 --> 00:02:01,420 to help explain how artists effectively use disruption 30 00:02:01,420 --> 00:02:02,853 to make their points known. 31 00:02:04,170 --> 00:02:05,720 Hi Celia. 32 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,411 - Hey Dave, how are ya? - I'm good. 33 00:02:09,411 --> 00:02:12,170 Good. Did you bring Gene along with you today? 34 00:02:12,170 --> 00:02:14,890 - Gene's here but he's still having trouble figuring out 35 00:02:14,890 --> 00:02:16,110 what disruption is. 36 00:02:16,110 --> 00:02:18,460 He did not watch part one. 37 00:02:18,460 --> 00:02:20,023 We gotta get him up to speed. 38 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,643 - Well, I don't know if I've got that much time. (chuckles) 39 00:02:27,314 --> 00:02:30,540 That part one was pretty amazing, wasn't it? 40 00:02:30,540 --> 00:02:34,600 I just can hardly wait to hear Terry's response 41 00:02:35,870 --> 00:02:40,770 as to why she created it and what her muse was 42 00:02:40,770 --> 00:02:42,310 behind all of that. 43 00:02:42,310 --> 00:02:45,770 - Yeah, I know me too, but we gotta get Gene up to speed. 44 00:02:45,770 --> 00:02:49,540 So tell us again how artists effectively use disruption 45 00:02:49,540 --> 00:02:50,890 to make their points known. 46 00:02:52,722 --> 00:02:54,230 - It's interesting because I think when you talk 47 00:02:54,230 --> 00:02:57,200 to a lot of artists that they don't even really... 48 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,370 A lot of them are just making art 49 00:02:59,370 --> 00:03:03,210 and they're not making it out of advocacy 50 00:03:03,210 --> 00:03:04,583 or to make a point. 51 00:03:05,750 --> 00:03:07,820 It's just something that's coming out of them 52 00:03:07,820 --> 00:03:10,270 because that's what they're feeling at the time. 53 00:03:10,270 --> 00:03:15,270 But so often, it is disruptive. 54 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,270 And by disruption we talk, that it changes things, 55 00:03:19,270 --> 00:03:21,970 that it causes someone to think 56 00:03:21,970 --> 00:03:25,070 or feel differently about something. 57 00:03:25,070 --> 00:03:29,890 It disrupts a way of being or it just disrupts 58 00:03:29,890 --> 00:03:31,930 your afternoon, when you go into the museum 59 00:03:31,930 --> 00:03:34,810 and you see a painting that you don't quite understand, 60 00:03:34,810 --> 00:03:36,830 but it stays with you, 61 00:03:36,830 --> 00:03:39,630 when you go away, that night you think about it 62 00:03:39,630 --> 00:03:42,830 or you ponder it and you wanna go back and look at it. 63 00:03:42,830 --> 00:03:44,770 That's a disruption of sorts 64 00:03:44,770 --> 00:03:47,040 because it's disrupted your thinking, 65 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,040 the way that you're thinking. 66 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:49,950 - Yeah. 67 00:03:49,950 --> 00:03:51,980 And sometimes I think that you don't even mean 68 00:03:51,980 --> 00:03:55,113 to cause the disruption, but it just happens. 69 00:03:56,112 --> 00:03:58,057 You had a really good example 70 00:03:58,057 --> 00:04:02,200 of the early days of Actual Lives Austin, 71 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,180 where you had trouble finding theaters with ramps, right? 72 00:04:06,180 --> 00:04:09,070 - Right and I have to say though, in that one, 73 00:04:09,070 --> 00:04:11,120 we were trying to be a little disruptive. 74 00:04:13,022 --> 00:04:16,710 We were in here in Austin and performing 75 00:04:16,710 --> 00:04:19,630 and we had many people with wheelchairs 76 00:04:19,630 --> 00:04:22,660 or in scooters who worked with us 77 00:04:22,660 --> 00:04:26,890 and we are at the Dougherty Art Center 78 00:04:26,890 --> 00:04:28,321 at the Dougherty Theater. 79 00:04:28,321 --> 00:04:33,321 And those days, in order to get onto the stage, 80 00:04:34,270 --> 00:04:36,980 you had to go down a long hallway, 81 00:04:36,980 --> 00:04:41,040 down another hallway, through an art room, 82 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:42,980 into the kiln room, 83 00:04:42,980 --> 00:04:45,410 through the kiln room, out the back door, 84 00:04:45,410 --> 00:04:47,640 into the back parking lot, 85 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,240 across the parking lot, off a wooden ramp 86 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,253 and through a door to get onto the stage. 87 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,170 - It sounds like going through the labyrinth 88 00:04:57,170 --> 00:04:58,789 would have been easier. 89 00:04:58,789 --> 00:05:00,470 - Yeah and everybody thought, 90 00:05:00,470 --> 00:05:02,083 well, what's the big deal. 91 00:05:03,020 --> 00:05:04,070 You know what I mean? 92 00:05:05,413 --> 00:05:08,470 And it was funny cause every year when we were booked in, 93 00:05:08,470 --> 00:05:11,160 Sometimes we did two shows a year. 94 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,480 And when I would go and sign the contract 95 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,617 and I always say, "No, we're gonna be here. 96 00:05:15,617 --> 00:05:17,090 "We need to have the ramp." 97 00:05:17,090 --> 00:05:18,740 And we'd go out and we'd look at the ramp 98 00:05:18,740 --> 00:05:23,510 and inevitably, we'd have to repair the ramp 99 00:05:23,510 --> 00:05:28,510 because the water would run off the roof of the building 100 00:05:28,530 --> 00:05:31,813 with no gutter right onto the middle of the ramp. 101 00:05:32,700 --> 00:05:37,170 So as a 400 pound wheelchair rolled up, 102 00:05:37,170 --> 00:05:38,613 it would bull. 103 00:05:40,291 --> 00:05:45,110 And sometimes and the first time when we discovered it, 104 00:05:45,110 --> 00:05:48,460 there was actually a hole in the ramp. 105 00:05:48,460 --> 00:05:50,133 It had rotted through. 106 00:05:51,347 --> 00:05:53,760 So they would repair the ramp 107 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,530 so that we could make our merry trek 108 00:05:56,530 --> 00:05:59,070 down the long hallways and through the kiln room, 109 00:05:59,070 --> 00:06:01,920 out into the back parking lot, up onto the stage. 110 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,070 And then once you're up on the stage, 111 00:06:04,070 --> 00:06:06,710 you're captive of the stage 112 00:06:06,710 --> 00:06:08,923 because you had to get off the same way. 113 00:06:09,770 --> 00:06:13,050 And of course, so nobody could go to the bathroom 114 00:06:13,050 --> 00:06:14,483 or anything like that, 115 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,653 unless they wanted to take a flying leap off the stage. 116 00:06:20,570 --> 00:06:25,330 So one night when we were in the theater 117 00:06:25,330 --> 00:06:28,270 and we were trying to rehearse and everything, 118 00:06:28,270 --> 00:06:33,110 one of our actors made some kind of a scene 119 00:06:33,110 --> 00:06:36,370 about the fact that they couldn't get up on the stage 120 00:06:36,370 --> 00:06:38,220 and how dare they. 121 00:06:38,220 --> 00:06:42,713 And so we decided we'd make that part of the play. 122 00:06:43,651 --> 00:06:48,000 So when the show opened, the curtains opened 123 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,380 and there's the cast. 124 00:06:49,380 --> 00:06:52,170 And then we're like, "Wait a minute, where is everybody?" 125 00:06:52,170 --> 00:06:54,870 And then three of the actors who were wheelchair users 126 00:06:54,870 --> 00:06:59,150 came roaring into the performance space, down the aisles 127 00:06:59,150 --> 00:07:04,150 and smashed into the stage and said, "We can't get there." 128 00:07:04,490 --> 00:07:05,810 And we're like, "What?" 129 00:07:05,810 --> 00:07:06,877 And then they were like, 130 00:07:06,877 --> 00:07:08,797 "Yeah, we have to go down the hall, blah, blah, blah." 131 00:07:08,797 --> 00:07:11,320 And we were like, "Well, we're just gonna wait for you." 132 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:13,920 So we all just stood on the stage and waited 133 00:07:14,950 --> 00:07:16,640 while they did that trick. 134 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,770 And it took two or three minutes 135 00:07:19,770 --> 00:07:23,470 for them to come around and finally get on the stage. 136 00:07:23,470 --> 00:07:27,090 Well, the ADA coordinator for the city of Austin 137 00:07:27,090 --> 00:07:29,373 was in the audience that night. 138 00:07:31,590 --> 00:07:34,440 And the next morning she made a call 139 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,300 and had an appointment set up 140 00:07:36,300 --> 00:07:39,850 with the director of the theater. 141 00:07:39,850 --> 00:07:43,380 And before we knew it, we had a ramp made 142 00:07:43,380 --> 00:07:45,833 and the ramp exists to this day. 143 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,906 And it's all ready for anybody who needs to use it. 144 00:07:49,906 --> 00:07:51,310 It's not perfect. 145 00:07:51,310 --> 00:07:53,003 It's up the front of the stage, 146 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,840 but it's access and people can get on and off the stage 147 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:01,113 and other theater companies now use it. 148 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:05,680 And I had been trying, 149 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,780 and how this is disruptive 150 00:08:07,780 --> 00:08:11,950 is that I had been trying for years 151 00:08:11,950 --> 00:08:16,250 to get something, a ramp, something. 152 00:08:16,250 --> 00:08:20,180 And all it took was one little moment 153 00:08:20,180 --> 00:08:24,000 in a theater production to make all of that happen. 154 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,650 - [Dave] And the right audience members there, right? 155 00:08:28,150 --> 00:08:29,650 - Yeah. Well, that helped. 156 00:08:29,650 --> 00:08:30,783 That certainly helped. 157 00:08:33,230 --> 00:08:36,280 We didn't think it was gonna get us a ramp. 158 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:41,080 We had hoped it would but we knew we had to make a point. 159 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,305 And Gene, you were gonna say something? 160 00:08:44,305 --> 00:08:49,305 - Yes, I was gonna say that show was a long, long time ago, 161 00:08:49,810 --> 00:08:53,410 but I remember Dave and I going to South by Southwest 162 00:08:53,410 --> 00:08:56,263 just a couple of years ago when Zach, 163 00:08:57,180 --> 00:09:01,030 who's in a wheelchair was supposed to be up on stage 164 00:09:01,030 --> 00:09:03,950 and they had to carry him from his wheelchair 165 00:09:03,950 --> 00:09:06,400 to get him up on stage. 166 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,290 So I don't know what it's gonna take to wake people up 167 00:09:10,290 --> 00:09:13,690 and let them know we need access to every event. 168 00:09:13,690 --> 00:09:18,690 And even if we're not gonna be up on stage as a actor, 169 00:09:19,690 --> 00:09:22,750 to get in some places, they should be accessible 170 00:09:22,750 --> 00:09:27,150 so people could get work there or whatever, 171 00:09:27,150 --> 00:09:30,143 but we keep moving along. 172 00:09:30,990 --> 00:09:33,740 - We caused the disruption at South by Southwest one year 173 00:09:33,740 --> 00:09:37,420 that made for a change too with transportation. 174 00:09:37,420 --> 00:09:39,377 We went up and told them we wanted to get 175 00:09:39,377 --> 00:09:44,020 on the next transport to one of the other events. 176 00:09:44,020 --> 00:09:46,284 And they were like, "Oh, well, we don't have any way 177 00:09:46,284 --> 00:09:50,657 "to load up wheelchairs into the vans that we have." 178 00:09:51,510 --> 00:09:54,810 And very next year, we were going by there 179 00:09:54,810 --> 00:09:56,881 and they stopped us and said, 180 00:09:56,881 --> 00:09:59,131 "We got a van, we got a van, you wanna ride?" 181 00:10:01,460 --> 00:10:04,170 By informing people of things, 182 00:10:04,170 --> 00:10:06,453 sometimes that can really help us. 183 00:10:07,490 --> 00:10:08,960 - Well, Gaelynn Lea, 184 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:10,520 I don't know if you know, Gaelynn Lea. 185 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:15,520 She was one of the Tiny Desk winners for NPR. 186 00:10:15,950 --> 00:10:19,270 She's a musician out of Duluth, Minnesota, 187 00:10:19,270 --> 00:10:21,970 a very talented musician with a disability. 188 00:10:21,970 --> 00:10:26,970 And she now has, she won't perform in a venue 189 00:10:28,530 --> 00:10:30,860 unless the stage is accessible. 190 00:10:30,860 --> 00:10:34,310 So she's actually turning down gigs 191 00:10:35,230 --> 00:10:36,790 if the venue isn't accessible 192 00:10:36,790 --> 00:10:40,270 because she's decided that this is the only way 193 00:10:40,270 --> 00:10:42,570 that people are gonna begin to pay attention. 194 00:10:42,570 --> 00:10:47,100 And so she's asking musicians and performers to join her 195 00:10:48,010 --> 00:10:53,010 in this effort that she's making to make people aware 196 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,680 of the fact that most musical clubs aren't accessible, 197 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:00,130 really, most theaters aren't accessible 198 00:11:00,130 --> 00:11:05,130 unless they've been built in the last, pretty much 10 years. 199 00:11:05,290 --> 00:11:08,900 So the artist takes on the role of the disruptor 200 00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:13,370 and that's really was the impetus for all of this 201 00:11:13,370 --> 00:11:16,120 because when I was talking with Chris and Jill 202 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,560 from DisArt and learning 203 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:23,230 about their story of bringing 204 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:30,320 the Drag Syndrome folks from London to Michigan 205 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,750 and what it did to their town, I thought, 206 00:11:34,750 --> 00:11:36,980 well, you know, who knew? 207 00:11:36,980 --> 00:11:38,560 And that was not their intent. 208 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,010 They were just promoting. 209 00:11:40,010 --> 00:11:43,940 They were just bringing a show to town 210 00:11:43,940 --> 00:11:48,730 and what transpired was completely different 211 00:11:48,730 --> 00:11:51,490 than what they had intended. 212 00:11:51,490 --> 00:11:53,440 - Yeah and they upset all kinds of people 213 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,190 from the people that lived in the town 214 00:11:55,190 --> 00:11:57,310 to some of the politicians. 215 00:11:57,310 --> 00:11:59,560 So I can't wait to see what happens. 216 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:01,010 Let's go watch the footage 217 00:12:01,010 --> 00:12:04,470 and finish our talk on disruption. 218 00:12:04,470 --> 00:12:06,380 Watch part two of two. 219 00:12:06,380 --> 00:12:07,413 Here we go. 220 00:12:07,413 --> 00:12:09,930 - Very good. Thank you. 221 00:12:09,930 --> 00:12:11,090 - Well, that was, Gale, 222 00:12:11,090 --> 00:12:15,033 when I first saw that film, woo, 223 00:12:16,820 --> 00:12:21,555 it's so funny and it's so binding and just, 224 00:12:21,555 --> 00:12:26,555 let's start by just talking about why you made it. 225 00:12:26,740 --> 00:12:29,390 Let's just talk about that question first. 226 00:12:29,390 --> 00:12:32,270 And then we'll ask a couple other questions, 227 00:12:32,270 --> 00:12:35,903 but why this, Terry. 228 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:44,160 - Well, Helen Keller was the one role model I had, 229 00:12:44,830 --> 00:12:48,180 growing up, there was no other that I knew then. 230 00:12:48,180 --> 00:12:52,430 And I loved her, but I also found her really oppressive 231 00:12:52,430 --> 00:12:56,440 and that she was just so perfect and so good. 232 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,997 And so all of these different things and-- 233 00:13:00,220 --> 00:13:03,550 - You also played as a kid. 234 00:13:03,550 --> 00:13:06,830 You would play-- - Yeah, I used to pretend 235 00:13:06,830 --> 00:13:08,950 to be Helen Keller and I would go, 236 00:13:08,950 --> 00:13:12,340 I take my hearing aids off and I take my glasses off 237 00:13:12,340 --> 00:13:14,853 and I go around, outside in the backyard 238 00:13:14,853 --> 00:13:18,527 and I pat around and I come to the hose and I do, wa, wa, wa 239 00:13:18,527 --> 00:13:20,250 and I just love playing it. 240 00:13:20,250 --> 00:13:21,990 But the reason I loved it is because 241 00:13:21,990 --> 00:13:25,563 she was a spitting mad fireball until they tamed her. 242 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:27,490 She was (growls). 243 00:13:29,345 --> 00:13:30,670 I just love that energy. 244 00:13:30,670 --> 00:13:35,570 I thought that energy was so wonderful and dynamic and fun. 245 00:13:35,570 --> 00:13:39,290 And so I love that energy and I love the narcissism 246 00:13:39,290 --> 00:13:40,640 of that energy. 247 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,007 I was just fascinated by it because it was all ah, 248 00:13:44,007 --> 00:13:45,540 all the time. 249 00:13:45,540 --> 00:13:50,360 But again, I felt oppressed by the image. 250 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,700 And there was a way that I wanted to claim that. 251 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:58,450 And I also wanted to show what people seem to miss often 252 00:13:58,450 --> 00:14:03,450 is that the whole sadistic learning process 253 00:14:03,570 --> 00:14:04,810 that went on there. 254 00:14:04,810 --> 00:14:08,291 Now, as a child and even as an adult, 255 00:14:08,291 --> 00:14:13,291 I appreciate it because how do you take a force 256 00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:19,620 that does not have the normal channels of communication? 257 00:14:20,970 --> 00:14:25,970 How do you make the force understand how they can exist? 258 00:14:26,530 --> 00:14:29,030 So I guess, Chris, I wanted to do it. 259 00:14:29,030 --> 00:14:33,273 And also just because I just felt the savage need to do it. 260 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,320 There was just a savage need to do it and pick it up, 261 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,520 the way parody things, you absolutely adore, 262 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,930 but you're trying to make and I was trying to make points, 263 00:14:44,930 --> 00:14:48,393 but I was also just having a lot of savage fun, 264 00:14:49,270 --> 00:14:50,520 not just going, (groans). 265 00:14:52,506 --> 00:14:55,020 - So there was a lot of savage fun 266 00:14:55,020 --> 00:14:56,690 and as a communication professor, 267 00:14:56,690 --> 00:15:00,560 I also appreciated the film (laughs) 268 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,170 and tried to get Terry to expand it a little bit. 269 00:15:03,170 --> 00:15:04,373 - Yeah, she did that. 270 00:15:05,300 --> 00:15:07,630 - We're sitting in the room that the dining room scene 271 00:15:07,630 --> 00:15:10,680 was shot in. (laughs) 272 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:11,860 - And she's the one who said 273 00:15:11,860 --> 00:15:13,910 we have to have the dining room scene. 274 00:15:13,910 --> 00:15:16,690 We can't just let it be dunking your head in the toilet. 275 00:15:16,690 --> 00:15:20,020 And I said, "No, no, no." 276 00:15:20,020 --> 00:15:23,787 Not yet to have a scene in which we throw water on her. 277 00:15:25,935 --> 00:15:30,935 But also it's just the fun of playing that, Chris, 278 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:33,763 the young girl, 279 00:15:36,004 --> 00:15:37,796 fellow who played that role, 280 00:15:37,796 --> 00:15:42,790 she had epilepsy and we were very nervous. 281 00:15:42,790 --> 00:15:44,467 She so wanted to do this. 282 00:15:44,467 --> 00:15:48,103 And we were very nervous about triggering an episode. 283 00:15:49,842 --> 00:15:51,830 Think of the things that are done. 284 00:15:51,830 --> 00:15:54,207 And she was going, "No, no, that won't happen. 285 00:15:54,207 --> 00:15:55,167 "I'm gonna do this. 286 00:15:55,167 --> 00:15:56,037 "I wanna do this. 287 00:15:56,037 --> 00:15:57,177 "This is so much fun. 288 00:15:57,177 --> 00:15:59,440 "You're not gonna tell me I can't do it." 289 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:00,883 And we're going, "Okay, 290 00:16:02,157 --> 00:16:07,157 "but then again, you asked for it." (laughs) 291 00:16:07,341 --> 00:16:08,360 So if anything had happened, 292 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:10,063 it would be tough kick, kid. 293 00:16:12,340 --> 00:16:14,150 - And I'd like to forward 20 years, 294 00:16:14,150 --> 00:16:15,660 that she is now a filmmaker. 295 00:16:15,660 --> 00:16:19,760 - Yeah, she's a filmmaker and she loves, 296 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:21,470 she's so proud of being in that film 297 00:16:21,470 --> 00:16:23,513 and having done what she did. 298 00:16:23,513 --> 00:16:28,513 So that's why, but anyway, that's why it was made. 299 00:16:30,150 --> 00:16:33,490 Those are the reasons why it was made. 300 00:16:33,490 --> 00:16:36,490 - Seems so integral to your growing up 301 00:16:36,490 --> 00:16:39,163 and your personality and that energy. 302 00:16:40,150 --> 00:16:44,390 So, which makes me wonder, who was your intended audience? 303 00:16:44,390 --> 00:16:48,490 It's almost like you created it for yourself, right? 304 00:16:48,490 --> 00:16:49,610 Because it was so much fun. 305 00:16:49,610 --> 00:16:51,916 But I'm curious when you put it out in the world, 306 00:16:51,916 --> 00:16:54,110 who was intended audience? - I don't know how 307 00:16:54,110 --> 00:16:57,088 I knew reception was going to be the next question? 308 00:16:57,088 --> 00:17:02,032 - (laughs) Well, I wanna say that all of my friends, 309 00:17:02,032 --> 00:17:05,260 all of my friends, well, you know who it's like, 310 00:17:05,260 --> 00:17:08,430 I knew that there were from Faust, 311 00:17:08,430 --> 00:17:12,460 all of my Faust friends, disabled, non-disabled friends, 312 00:17:12,460 --> 00:17:14,190 they thought it was a hoot. 313 00:17:14,190 --> 00:17:16,800 My non-disabled friends were a little bit more, 314 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,173 should I be laughing? 315 00:17:19,270 --> 00:17:21,600 I can't help but laugh, but should I be laughing? 316 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,570 But my friends with disabilities, well, like Liz Carr. 317 00:17:24,570 --> 00:17:27,773 She just thought it was hysterical. 318 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:30,610 She did a review on Ultra 319 00:17:30,610 --> 00:17:32,875 We showed it in, as you can see, 320 00:17:32,875 --> 00:17:36,840 the International Disability Film Festival in London, 321 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,120 but she, coming from kind of mellow and Julie McNamara. 322 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:44,130 So people that we love-- - Who are, by the way, 323 00:17:44,130 --> 00:17:47,585 clear disruptors. - They're disruptors! 324 00:17:47,585 --> 00:17:50,941 They're all disruptors. 325 00:17:50,941 --> 00:17:55,230 They just thought it was hysterical. 326 00:17:55,230 --> 00:17:56,720 And so we didn't... 327 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,103 My intended audience were people who were like myself. 328 00:18:01,500 --> 00:18:06,500 They had a brush with disability or they had a disability 329 00:18:07,030 --> 00:18:10,000 or they knew people with disabilities 330 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:15,000 or they also just saw something in that film. 331 00:18:15,590 --> 00:18:18,010 Most of the people love that film. 332 00:18:18,010 --> 00:18:20,520 - I think you also need to point out 333 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,870 that originally, it didn't have the "Apologia". 334 00:18:25,756 --> 00:18:29,200 What motivated that is also important to talk about. 335 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,587 - Yeah because I liked it without the "Apolo" 336 00:18:31,587 --> 00:18:32,930 but the reason it came at "Apologia" 337 00:18:32,930 --> 00:18:37,010 wasn't because anybody with a disability got offended at it, 338 00:18:37,010 --> 00:18:38,800 although I'm sure a lot of people did, 339 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,810 but it was because a caretaker for a person 340 00:18:41,810 --> 00:18:44,780 with a disability took objection. 341 00:18:44,780 --> 00:18:46,710 And it's like you guys have this 342 00:18:46,710 --> 00:18:49,370 because it's like caretakers who take objections 343 00:18:49,370 --> 00:18:52,560 with people with disabilities behaving sexually in any way 344 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,193 or well, I'm sure we'll get to that. 345 00:18:56,193 --> 00:19:01,147 but it's like, there's a kind of an infantilization of that. 346 00:19:01,147 --> 00:19:05,290 I mean how dare you, how dare you treat someone so roughly, 347 00:19:05,290 --> 00:19:07,900 how dare you treat this magnificent filming, 348 00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:12,810 this terrible, terrible thing with such vile humor, 349 00:19:12,810 --> 00:19:16,810 so savagely with no sentiment, how dare you do that. 350 00:19:16,810 --> 00:19:20,620 And I thought, I almost got into a fist fight 351 00:19:20,620 --> 00:19:22,340 with this woman at a party, 352 00:19:22,340 --> 00:19:24,483 because again, I thought and I told her, 353 00:19:24,483 --> 00:19:27,780 "Who the hell are you lecture me about being deaf?" 354 00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:31,807 I said, "There are so many ways of being deaf, 355 00:19:31,807 --> 00:19:36,187 "little D all to big D, there are all these variations here 356 00:19:36,187 --> 00:19:37,547 "and I have my own. 357 00:19:37,547 --> 00:19:39,667 "So who are you to tell me what I should be doing 358 00:19:39,667 --> 00:19:41,747 "or how I should be dealing with this." 359 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,470 So anyway, I thought okay, I'm gonna do this. 360 00:19:47,470 --> 00:19:50,220 And I'm gonna do this to try to bring the battle 361 00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:54,053 a little bit since I couldn't hit her. (both laugh) 362 00:19:58,750 --> 00:20:03,537 - I was in the other room, it was an altercation-- 363 00:20:05,450 --> 00:20:06,570 - I don't do it. 364 00:20:06,570 --> 00:20:08,390 But man, I sure wanted to. 365 00:20:08,390 --> 00:20:11,050 I mean, I thought God, insufferable shit. 366 00:20:11,050 --> 00:20:15,240 And so I just thought then I'm gonna do it a different way 367 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,033 because I want you to see what you're imposing, 368 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:22,550 not just upon this piece, 369 00:20:22,550 --> 00:20:26,020 but what you're imposing upon people with disabilities, 370 00:20:26,020 --> 00:20:30,613 the people that you care for, it's always, 371 00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:36,540 I'm just thinking, yeah, that's called for, 372 00:20:36,540 --> 00:20:41,323 but sometimes like, okay, open up, (laughs), good. 373 00:20:42,590 --> 00:20:47,590 It just doesn't have to always be shrouded in tears. 374 00:20:48,250 --> 00:20:52,680 That's the thing about non-disabled people, 375 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,060 they're always shrouding us in tears. 376 00:20:56,060 --> 00:20:59,690 They weep buckets of insincere tears 377 00:20:59,690 --> 00:21:01,810 and they're pouring it over our heads. 378 00:21:01,810 --> 00:21:02,760 I'm just (retches). 379 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:07,710 - Hyperbole is like middle name. (both laugh) 380 00:21:07,710 --> 00:21:09,770 - And they think I'm this soulless demon, 381 00:21:09,770 --> 00:21:11,879 spawn of the devil. 382 00:21:11,879 --> 00:21:13,217 - Well, they also take that. 383 00:21:13,217 --> 00:21:16,303 But the context and who's watching it, 384 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,063 one has to be acutely aware of. 385 00:21:20,009 --> 00:21:24,840 - (laugh) Let me know what you guys thought of it. 386 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:25,940 I do think I'm a joke. 387 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,100 - Well, I laughed from moment one 388 00:21:31,100 --> 00:21:35,030 and it's the sorrowful music, like the captioning 389 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:38,030 is part of the experience as well. 390 00:21:38,030 --> 00:21:43,000 And then she wraps herself up into this sheet. 391 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,933 So from the beginning, it was a first. 392 00:21:50,037 --> 00:21:54,770 When you're aware of the nuances, 393 00:21:54,770 --> 00:21:56,340 the sorrowful music. 394 00:21:56,340 --> 00:21:57,870 You know that it's gonna be, 395 00:21:57,870 --> 00:22:00,640 like you're in for something fun. 396 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,240 But not everybody may tune into that 397 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:04,773 from the very beginning. 398 00:22:06,104 --> 00:22:11,030 - I tend to not be apologetic. 399 00:22:11,030 --> 00:22:15,390 So like if we push something, it's often my colleague, Jill 400 00:22:15,390 --> 00:22:19,340 who has to say, well, maybe we should do that 401 00:22:19,340 --> 00:22:23,980 because I'm always like, look, if it pushes against you 402 00:22:23,980 --> 00:22:26,030 and it makes you angry, then it's doing 403 00:22:26,030 --> 00:22:27,503 what it's supposed to do. 404 00:22:29,645 --> 00:22:33,700 Maybe that wasn't the intent. 405 00:22:33,700 --> 00:22:37,703 I mean, you didn't wanna anger people, did you? 406 00:22:38,567 --> 00:22:40,900 I was asked that, did you wanna anger people? 407 00:22:40,900 --> 00:22:42,670 - I think that the "Apologia" makes 408 00:22:42,670 --> 00:22:44,703 other kinds of statements though. 409 00:22:47,890 --> 00:22:51,310 Who has the right to this kind of humor-- 410 00:22:51,310 --> 00:22:53,720 - Or this kind of representation. 411 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,590 - Even the fact that we can't, 412 00:22:56,590 --> 00:23:01,590 we sometimes confuse Annie Sullivan with Ann Bancroft. (laughs) 413 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:07,870 So I think it adds, expands the conversation. 414 00:23:07,870 --> 00:23:11,840 - Chris, I think it was that I don't mind offending people. 415 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,530 I think it's part of our job, as disruptors, to do that 416 00:23:14,530 --> 00:23:16,400 because their idea of being offended, 417 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,550 is like my idea of getting awake, you idiot, you know, 418 00:23:20,550 --> 00:23:21,711 you know what I mean? 419 00:23:21,711 --> 00:23:25,260 So I don't mind but what I wanted to be sure of 420 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:29,100 is that they're offended by what I want them 421 00:23:29,100 --> 00:23:33,090 to be offended by, not what I didn't intend them 422 00:23:33,090 --> 00:23:34,303 to be offended by. 423 00:23:35,466 --> 00:23:38,860 I want to control, in some ways, their response. 424 00:23:38,860 --> 00:23:40,150 - Control the response. 425 00:23:40,150 --> 00:23:43,490 - I wanna control the effect in a way, I do. 426 00:23:43,490 --> 00:23:46,100 I mean, I want control of the offense. 427 00:23:46,100 --> 00:23:48,730 I do. Exactly, exactly. 428 00:23:48,730 --> 00:23:50,120 I wanna do that. 429 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,676 And so the "Apologia", in a way, was a way to control that 430 00:23:54,676 --> 00:23:58,343 to get a jump on their indignation. 431 00:24:00,364 --> 00:24:02,820 They get indignant and then all of a sudden, 432 00:24:02,820 --> 00:24:07,820 they see me signing, and then they discover I can't sign 433 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,883 and they discover, what, all of that, 434 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,190 to me, I think it adds a layer, again, 435 00:24:17,190 --> 00:24:21,310 it adds a different kind of a disruption because-- 436 00:24:21,310 --> 00:24:22,993 - Does it add to authority, 437 00:24:24,350 --> 00:24:27,597 it adds authority for your lived experience. 438 00:24:27,597 --> 00:24:30,383 - I think so, I think so. 439 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,680 They're probably imagining again, the soulless, 440 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,440 heartless spawn of the devil created it. 441 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,310 But I want them to know that the soulless spawn, 442 00:24:40,310 --> 00:24:42,493 deaf, heartless (laughs) who created. 443 00:24:46,550 --> 00:24:48,470 - Well, doesn't that make a difference though? 444 00:24:48,470 --> 00:24:50,870 I mean who the producers, the directors, 445 00:24:50,870 --> 00:24:53,483 the artists are of creating art, 446 00:24:54,326 --> 00:24:57,360 need to know who's behind the decisions 447 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:02,360 that made around disability and representation. 448 00:25:02,823 --> 00:25:04,109 - Yeah. 449 00:25:04,109 --> 00:25:06,240 You know, I can't wait until we start talking 450 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,050 about Drag Syndrome because that is something too. 451 00:25:09,050 --> 00:25:12,826 - We can transition here now, that's fine as well. 452 00:25:12,826 --> 00:25:14,561 - Can we do that now? 453 00:25:14,561 --> 00:25:16,400 I would love that. I would love that. 454 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:21,400 - So let's take a look at the video of Drag Syndrome's visit 455 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,763 to Grand Rapids and then we'll come and chat, okay. 456 00:25:27,642 --> 00:25:30,144 (calm music) 457 00:25:30,144 --> 00:25:33,144 (audience applauds) 458 00:25:41,067 --> 00:25:43,650 (upbeat music) 459 00:25:55,653 --> 00:25:56,486 - [Daniel] I think that's the problem. 460 00:25:56,486 --> 00:25:59,963 People don't separate them from Down Syndrome. 461 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,210 I don't think they see them as people. 462 00:26:03,210 --> 00:26:07,070 They see somebody with a condition 463 00:26:07,070 --> 00:26:11,690 and put it in a box of what they know about Down Syndrome. 464 00:26:11,690 --> 00:26:12,870 And by doing it, 465 00:26:12,870 --> 00:26:17,147 you take away the humanity of the person in front of you. 466 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:22,903 And by doing it, you erase a person 467 00:26:24,930 --> 00:26:28,423 and that's a humanitarian crime. 468 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,210 - [Ruby] I love it so much. 469 00:26:47,210 --> 00:26:48,600 We deserve to be... 470 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,120 To live as what we love 471 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:55,037 and we should be allowed to be who we are. 472 00:26:56,030 --> 00:26:58,800 - [Justin] What Ruby said, this is my life. 473 00:26:59,810 --> 00:27:02,427 I want all the people to just back off. 474 00:27:03,289 --> 00:27:04,574 - [Ruby] We're professional performers. 475 00:27:04,574 --> 00:27:05,921 That's who we are. 476 00:27:05,921 --> 00:27:08,338 (calm music) 477 00:27:40,097 --> 00:27:41,051 ♪ I'm gonna run the day ♪ 478 00:27:41,051 --> 00:27:43,221 ♪ And I'm feeling fine ♪ 479 00:27:43,221 --> 00:27:46,089 ♪ Cutting loose things higher than a mountain ♪ 480 00:27:46,089 --> 00:27:49,077 ♪ I'm the real thing, take me high tonight ♪ 481 00:27:49,077 --> 00:27:51,970 ♪ I'm gonna swing under all these lights ♪ 482 00:27:51,970 --> 00:27:55,050 ♪ So I feel the pressure touching me ♪ 483 00:27:55,050 --> 00:27:57,988 ♪ Can I write about me sparkling ♪ 484 00:27:57,988 --> 00:28:01,027 ♪ I got that label blurring my fame ♪ 485 00:28:01,027 --> 00:28:05,635 ♪ You can shout but I will never fit in ♪ 486 00:28:05,635 --> 00:28:08,220 ♪ I own it and I keep on it ♪ 487 00:28:08,220 --> 00:28:10,772 ♪ I'm the only B and that's how I want it ♪ 488 00:28:10,772 --> 00:28:13,325 ♪ Living ta-ta-ta-ta ♪ 489 00:28:13,325 --> 00:28:15,623 ♪ And tried about it because I'm a real hotshot ♪ 490 00:28:15,623 --> 00:28:18,943 ♪ And I ain't mad about it ♪ 491 00:28:18,943 --> 00:28:21,881 ♪ I ain't mad about it ♪ 492 00:28:21,881 --> 00:28:24,737 ♪ I ain't mad about it ♪ 493 00:28:24,737 --> 00:28:28,459 ♪ I ain't mad about it ♪ 494 00:28:28,459 --> 00:28:29,662 ♪ I don't explain myself ♪ 495 00:28:29,662 --> 00:28:34,198 ♪ I ain't got time playing, they don't sell fun ♪ 496 00:28:34,198 --> 00:28:37,358 ♪ They gonna still make it worth a while ♪ 497 00:28:37,358 --> 00:28:38,266 ♪ Because I don't care ♪ 498 00:28:38,266 --> 00:28:41,211 ♪ Go wait inside ♪ 499 00:28:41,211 --> 00:28:44,003 ♪ Oh, I own it and I keep on it ♪ 500 00:28:44,003 --> 00:28:47,169 ♪ I'm the only B and that's how I want it ♪ 501 00:28:47,169 --> 00:28:50,252 ♪ Living ta-ta-ta-ta ♪ 502 00:29:08,790 --> 00:29:10,708 - I'm saying they're just real people too. 503 00:29:10,708 --> 00:29:15,708 - If you're seeing them be able to function (indistinct) 504 00:29:20,771 --> 00:29:23,354 (crowd cheers) 505 00:29:29,549 --> 00:29:32,132 (upbeat music) 506 00:29:39,150 --> 00:29:41,800 ♪ It's gotta be against the law to look this damn good ♪ 507 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:43,774 ♪ Watch out now ♪ 508 00:29:43,774 --> 00:29:46,529 ♪ 'Cause baby I feel real good and I wish I would ♪ 509 00:29:46,529 --> 00:29:48,451 ♪ Watch out now ♪ 510 00:29:48,451 --> 00:29:50,897 ♪ It's gotta be against the law to look this damn good ♪ 511 00:29:50,897 --> 00:29:52,843 ♪ Watch out now ♪ 512 00:29:52,843 --> 00:29:55,716 ♪ Everybody watch out ♪ 513 00:29:55,716 --> 00:29:57,715 ♪ Watch out now ♪ 514 00:29:57,715 --> 00:29:59,227 ♪ I'm ready for a good time ♪ 515 00:29:59,227 --> 00:30:00,349 ♪ And I came to groove ♪ 516 00:30:00,349 --> 00:30:02,628 ♪ The whole band's here and we came to move ♪ 517 00:30:02,628 --> 00:30:04,953 ♪ Got a fresh haircut and two new shoes ♪ 518 00:30:04,953 --> 00:30:07,545 ♪ We're here all night like we got nothing to lose ♪ 519 00:30:07,545 --> 00:30:09,492 ♪ I'm coming out this jacket 'cause we turning up the heat ♪ 520 00:30:09,492 --> 00:30:11,869 ♪ I wanna see you clapping when you get up out your seat ♪ 521 00:30:11,869 --> 00:30:14,193 ♪ It's time to make it happen when we hit these streets ♪ 522 00:30:14,193 --> 00:30:16,448 ♪ I'm coming in hot and I can't be beat ♪ 523 00:30:16,448 --> 00:30:20,796 ♪ Watch out now ♪ 524 00:30:20,796 --> 00:30:25,701 ♪ Baby, watch out now ♪ 525 00:30:25,701 --> 00:30:30,701 ♪ Watch out ♪ 526 00:30:34,852 --> 00:30:37,205 ♪ I'm on the move I'm going up ♪ 527 00:30:37,205 --> 00:30:39,290 ♪ I'm a man on a mission with no missus ♪ 528 00:30:39,290 --> 00:30:40,789 ♪ And I'm looking for love ♪ 529 00:30:40,789 --> 00:30:43,942 ♪ Oh I'm just looking for love ♪ 530 00:30:43,942 --> 00:30:45,258 ♪ It's gotta be ♪ 531 00:30:45,258 --> 00:30:47,710 - We would love to say thank you very much for having us, 532 00:30:47,710 --> 00:30:48,543 America! 533 00:30:49,934 --> 00:30:52,119 (audience applause) 534 00:30:52,119 --> 00:30:57,119 I want say a very, very thank you to the DJ and the cast 535 00:30:57,303 --> 00:30:58,992 and the people who work here. 536 00:30:58,992 --> 00:31:00,242 Thank you much. 537 00:31:01,275 --> 00:31:04,327 (audience applause) 538 00:31:04,327 --> 00:31:05,994 Good night everyone. 539 00:31:07,269 --> 00:31:10,487 ♪ I'm gonna run the date and I'm feeling fine ♪ 540 00:31:10,487 --> 00:31:13,343 ♪ Cutting loose stick higher than a mountain ♪ 541 00:31:13,343 --> 00:31:16,436 ♪ I'm the real thing, take me high tonight ♪ 542 00:31:16,436 --> 00:31:19,267 ♪ I'm gonna swing under all these lights ♪ 543 00:31:19,267 --> 00:31:22,404 ♪ So I feel the pressure touching me ♪ 544 00:31:22,404 --> 00:31:25,427 ♪ Can I lie about me sparkling ♪ 545 00:31:25,427 --> 00:31:28,451 ♪ I got the label blurring my fame ♪ 546 00:31:28,451 --> 00:31:32,495 ♪ You can try but I will never be tame ♪ 547 00:31:32,495 --> 00:31:35,504 ♪ I own it and I keep on it ♪ 548 00:31:35,504 --> 00:31:38,517 ♪ I'm the only B and that's how I want it ♪ 549 00:31:38,517 --> 00:31:41,148 ♪ Living ta-ta-ta-ta ♪ 550 00:31:41,148 --> 00:31:45,530 - (laughs) I just wanna say, first of all, 551 00:31:45,530 --> 00:31:48,507 the first time I ever saw a clip of Drag Syndrome, 552 00:31:48,507 --> 00:31:51,616 this is when you guys are just going to be bringing it. 553 00:31:51,616 --> 00:31:55,420 This was before I saw this, the complete movie, 554 00:31:55,420 --> 00:31:58,870 I was so thrilled. 555 00:31:58,870 --> 00:32:01,340 I was just ecstatic about it. 556 00:32:01,340 --> 00:32:04,220 First of all, I wanna say, this is the clip 557 00:32:04,220 --> 00:32:09,167 and the film itself, it was so full of joy. 558 00:32:10,223 --> 00:32:12,120 It was wonderful. 559 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,140 And I thought, finally, the lessening 560 00:32:15,140 --> 00:32:18,730 of this kind of parental hovering, 561 00:32:18,730 --> 00:32:21,650 particularly with people with developmental disabilities, 562 00:32:21,650 --> 00:32:24,790 that you'll have people who are kind 563 00:32:24,790 --> 00:32:26,620 and good people who care, 564 00:32:26,620 --> 00:32:30,380 but they're not, for a minute, going to allow somebody 565 00:32:30,380 --> 00:32:33,620 with a developmental disability their autonomy, 566 00:32:33,620 --> 00:32:36,570 because they don't believe in that autonomy. 567 00:32:36,570 --> 00:32:41,570 So seeing this and watching the people in Drag Syndrome 568 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:49,320 do drag was thrilling to me on so many counts 569 00:32:49,950 --> 00:32:52,090 and so many ways. 570 00:32:52,090 --> 00:32:53,630 One, it was just fun. 571 00:32:53,630 --> 00:32:55,920 The drag was so fun. 572 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,760 The costumes were great and outrageous. 573 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:03,510 The outpouring of support was marvelous to me, 574 00:33:03,510 --> 00:33:05,283 but the camaraderie of it, 575 00:33:06,260 --> 00:33:10,423 also the camaraderie and the artistry, the artistry, 576 00:33:10,423 --> 00:33:13,970 to get those costumes, to get that makeup, 577 00:33:13,970 --> 00:33:15,880 to get that attitude. 578 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,550 I adored it and I was so shocked 579 00:33:19,550 --> 00:33:21,810 along with so many other people, 580 00:33:21,810 --> 00:33:26,230 when all of a sudden it's being called exploitation 581 00:33:26,230 --> 00:33:30,030 as if it's porn or child abuse or something like that. 582 00:33:30,030 --> 00:33:33,210 And that's what got me, the equation 583 00:33:33,210 --> 00:33:35,930 from all of those people who protested 584 00:33:35,930 --> 00:33:40,040 from the idiot, idiot, I won't even, I'm sorry, 585 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,470 that politician (laughs) 586 00:33:48,090 --> 00:33:50,050 who shut it down. 587 00:33:50,050 --> 00:33:52,540 And it was because of the kind of the terminology 588 00:33:52,540 --> 00:33:53,470 they were using. 589 00:33:53,470 --> 00:33:56,290 It was the same kind of terminology 590 00:33:56,290 --> 00:33:59,900 that we would hear from people in Faust, from Actual Lives 591 00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:02,710 from it, these things, when there were talking about 592 00:34:03,910 --> 00:34:07,233 the infantilization of their own desires. 593 00:34:08,420 --> 00:34:13,420 And so we won just, we're so glad you fought for it. 594 00:34:14,540 --> 00:34:16,940 So glad you won the fight. 595 00:34:16,940 --> 00:34:17,773 You won it. 596 00:34:17,773 --> 00:34:21,580 And you won it in terms of PR and just in terms 597 00:34:21,580 --> 00:34:26,580 of just itself, the kind of exuberance 598 00:34:26,810 --> 00:34:31,013 and also the unexpectedness, because again, 599 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:33,810 people with developmental disabilities 600 00:34:33,810 --> 00:34:38,293 are usually boxed in as to be nonsexual beings 601 00:34:39,180 --> 00:34:41,550 who have no kind of autonomy 602 00:34:41,550 --> 00:34:44,880 because they really can't think for themselves. 603 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,400 And it's up to us, the caretakers, 604 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:49,850 to do all the thinking and feeling for them 605 00:34:51,300 --> 00:34:52,500 as if they were infants. 606 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,990 And so your film, for me, 607 00:34:56,990 --> 00:34:59,890 it had a happy ending and I'm so glad 608 00:34:59,890 --> 00:35:04,300 and also just so shocked by the protesters, 609 00:35:04,300 --> 00:35:08,802 because it reminded me of what we still face in that regard. 610 00:35:08,802 --> 00:35:11,550 - And I would like to add one of the things 611 00:35:11,550 --> 00:35:14,373 I also appreciate is Chris, 612 00:35:16,930 --> 00:35:20,870 you referred earlier to a kind of educational outreach, 613 00:35:20,870 --> 00:35:22,173 educational context. 614 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,937 And so I loved reading about the addition of the panels 615 00:35:26,937 --> 00:35:31,090 that then surrounded the, and I thought, oh cool, 616 00:35:31,090 --> 00:35:34,290 that's wonderful to bring in additional panels 617 00:35:34,290 --> 00:35:36,730 and different groups to talk about this. 618 00:35:36,730 --> 00:35:40,380 And then I wanted to comment too that I was appreciative 619 00:35:40,380 --> 00:35:45,380 of having the link to it on your website. 620 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:50,290 And you posted there the links 621 00:35:50,290 --> 00:35:55,290 to some positive neutral articles and detractor articles. 622 00:36:00,170 --> 00:36:03,870 Terry's first little solo show, at the back cover of it, 623 00:36:03,870 --> 00:36:08,870 had some people liked it, some people didn't. (laughs) 624 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,932 And there, she takes very select blurbs 625 00:36:12,932 --> 00:36:17,932 to push you should be part of the former group, 626 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:23,220 but I love that context because it's very interesting 627 00:36:23,220 --> 00:36:28,220 to me to immediately read the different perspectives on it 628 00:36:28,930 --> 00:36:30,870 and hear the voices. 629 00:36:30,870 --> 00:36:32,863 And wow. 630 00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:38,220 - What I love too, the one thing I've loved about the group 631 00:36:38,220 --> 00:36:43,220 is that it helps us on our quest to make disability sexy, 632 00:36:43,350 --> 00:36:44,990 the way that Crip Camp did 633 00:36:44,990 --> 00:36:46,970 and the way that a lot of folk from Mat Fraser 634 00:36:46,970 --> 00:36:49,100 and other performance out there there, 635 00:36:49,100 --> 00:36:50,970 it helps to make it sexy 636 00:36:50,970 --> 00:36:55,970 because disability isn't considered sexy, it just isn't. 637 00:36:59,180 --> 00:37:02,743 And so I thought this is sexy. 638 00:37:03,663 --> 00:37:07,970 - If we take it back to the beginning of our conversation, 639 00:37:07,970 --> 00:37:12,970 the mere presence of sexy disabled people is a disruptor. 640 00:37:13,220 --> 00:37:15,965 - It's a disruptor and then some. 641 00:37:17,410 --> 00:37:22,410 I really wanna do a skit. (laughs) 642 00:37:26,146 --> 00:37:31,146 - I think that's the mark of good disruptive artists, 643 00:37:31,190 --> 00:37:35,453 that it spawns other disruptive art. 644 00:37:40,050 --> 00:37:44,490 I just think that there's a way in which the work 645 00:37:44,490 --> 00:37:47,160 that you guys did in the "Miracle Worker" 646 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,250 and what we did, completely different contexts 647 00:37:50,250 --> 00:37:55,238 in Grand Rapids, but both are examples 648 00:37:56,870 --> 00:38:00,810 that can give people a glimpse of disability 649 00:38:00,810 --> 00:38:04,020 in ways that they don't normally get a glimpse 650 00:38:04,020 --> 00:38:04,853 of disability. 651 00:38:04,853 --> 00:38:09,073 And I think that that's been, for us, transformative, 652 00:38:10,556 --> 00:38:13,580 that our work with Drag Syndrome 653 00:38:13,580 --> 00:38:17,730 really started conversations in our city 654 00:38:17,730 --> 00:38:19,970 that would never have been started before. 655 00:38:19,970 --> 00:38:24,150 So the disruption became political. 656 00:38:24,150 --> 00:38:26,523 And then once political took over, 657 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,030 we really got some great work done. 658 00:38:30,030 --> 00:38:32,773 - But not just in our city, but around the country. 659 00:38:37,142 --> 00:38:40,080 - The impact that has had, has been just enormous, 660 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:41,050 just enormous. 661 00:38:41,050 --> 00:38:44,570 And the other thing too is because I think about disruption, 662 00:38:44,570 --> 00:38:48,430 it also inspires and goads conversations 663 00:38:48,430 --> 00:38:53,430 in the disability community itself, about who are we, 664 00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:56,343 what are we? 665 00:38:58,050 --> 00:39:01,630 Because again, people with disabilities 666 00:39:01,630 --> 00:39:06,630 can have preexisting narratives about their own lives 667 00:39:09,170 --> 00:39:11,320 and these kind of disruptions, 668 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,750 well, they disrupt those preexisting narratives. 669 00:39:14,750 --> 00:39:17,253 And so they're all of a sudden going, huh? 670 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,960 That's not me, that's not me. 671 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,620 And that's what I love about this. 672 00:39:24,620 --> 00:39:28,130 This is what I love, the whole idea about disruption, 673 00:39:28,130 --> 00:39:30,330 but particularly in our communities. 674 00:39:30,330 --> 00:39:32,120 This whole thing about disruption, 675 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:35,913 it reminds you too of the pleasure of diversity. 676 00:39:36,890 --> 00:39:40,933 How much more fun and alive, the same with theater. 677 00:39:40,933 --> 00:39:43,639 One of the thing you have to consider like 678 00:39:43,639 --> 00:39:46,760 this diverse theater, this kind of disruptive theater, 679 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:51,670 it's fun and it reflects life so much more clearly 680 00:39:51,670 --> 00:39:53,560 than the kind of theater you see with people 681 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,040 with perfect bodies and perfect diction, 682 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:58,490 which can be sobering. 683 00:39:58,490 --> 00:40:01,500 I mean it's just like (snores), just so boring 684 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:03,670 and you see people with different bodies 685 00:40:03,670 --> 00:40:06,170 and different ways of speaking and it's thrilling. 686 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,060 I always think that these kinds of disruptions 687 00:40:11,060 --> 00:40:12,900 and that kind of diversity 688 00:40:12,900 --> 00:40:16,560 and that kind of let's get in there and do this 689 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:21,560 also can revive moribund and dying institutions, 690 00:40:21,860 --> 00:40:26,040 but these riots and that kind of disruption, 691 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,100 but also all of these other disruptions 692 00:40:29,100 --> 00:40:32,313 that are going on, it's an effort to remake, 693 00:40:33,311 --> 00:40:38,179 to remake and really, an effort to remake it 694 00:40:38,179 --> 00:40:42,120 in a more fun and wonderful, embracing, 695 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:47,120 compassionate, live, living way. 696 00:40:49,272 --> 00:40:51,020 So that's my favorite thing. 697 00:40:51,020 --> 00:40:53,180 - Thank you guys so much for being here with us 698 00:40:53,180 --> 00:40:56,770 and thank you all at home for watching. 699 00:40:56,770 --> 00:41:01,770 And we hope that we've sparked some disruption in your day 700 00:41:02,190 --> 00:41:05,670 so that you can think more about some of the art 701 00:41:05,670 --> 00:41:08,759 and politics that we're talking about today. 702 00:41:08,759 --> 00:41:11,070 We want to let you know where to find us. 703 00:41:11,070 --> 00:41:15,300 You can find DisArt at disartnow.org. 704 00:41:15,300 --> 00:41:18,083 And then where do we find Mickee Faust? 705 00:41:18,940 --> 00:41:20,617 - You find it at www. 706 00:41:22,638 --> 00:41:27,638 - [Both] M-I-C-K-E-E-F-A-U-S-T. 707 00:41:30,287 --> 00:41:31,558 - [Terry] .com. 708 00:41:31,558 --> 00:41:35,630 - (laughs) Well, lots of love to you guys, 709 00:41:35,630 --> 00:41:37,660 and thanks everybody for watching 710 00:41:37,660 --> 00:41:41,010 and thanks to Celia in Art Spark Texas 711 00:41:41,010 --> 00:41:42,480 for having us as well. 712 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:43,780 This has been great. 713 00:41:43,780 --> 00:41:45,392 Bye everybody. 714 00:41:45,392 --> 00:41:46,680 - Bye everybody. 715 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:47,513 See ya. 716 00:41:49,049 --> 00:41:51,549 ("Chest Out") 717 00:42:27,020 --> 00:42:28,990 - [Announcer] And can mom afford to have help preparing 718 00:42:28,990 --> 00:42:30,320 her meals? 719 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:32,590 We know what you're going through. 720 00:42:32,590 --> 00:42:34,920 Amerigroup has a plan for people with Medicaid 721 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:38,216 that helps them get the services they need to live at home. 722 00:42:38,216 --> 00:42:40,750 Amerigroup, choose us for helping your loved ones 723 00:42:40,750 --> 00:42:41,700 live at home. 724 00:42:41,700 --> 00:42:43,557 Call 1 800-964-2777.