Variety: The opening musical number in “Best Summer Ever” ends with a kiss between protagonists Sage (Shannon DeVido) and Tony (Rickey Wilson Jr.), who fall in love at a sleepaway dance camp in Vermont. Executive producer Will Halby said he shared a realization with his crew while filming this scene.
4 comments:
It was really excellent to read about this musical and how well disability is being actually represented within the project! It is so amazing that over half the cast and crew have a disability, because it is critically important to have representation both in front of and behind the camera, and the fact that the actors playing characters with a disability actually have a disability of their own is so important. One of the producers, who has cerebral palsy said, “Just because you have a disabled character doesn’t mean the show has to be about their disability.” That is one of the most important parts of disability representation, that characters with disability do not need to be depicted as some type of burden or challenge that the main characters must learn to work with, characters with disabilities can just be part of the story as a whole. I am really excited to watch this and I think it is an amazing step forward for disability representation within film.
This is wonderful! I love that this film not only has disabled cast members playing disable characters, but has disability representation behind the camera too! I tend to see a trend in TV, film, and theatre where the cast of people the audience sees is diverse, but the people that do all the work behind the scenes are not, and that is not fully committing for diversity in the entertainment industry as a whole. Watching the trailer, this looks like another take on the “High School Musical” teen movie trope, but it looks like a funny heartfelt film. I’d be interested in seeing if the premiering and distribution of the film is just as disability friendly as the production process was. I’ve read articles posted to this blog about how theaters are not particularly accessible for both those with mobility handicaps and neurodivergent individuals. I also wonder if there is a future where this movie is co-opted into a theatrical production that can be just as accessible.
This seems like a very promising promotion of representation. At first I was suspicious, but I was reassured when the producer clarified that the show was not simply about the characters’ disabilities, it just included characters who had them. This is exactly the sentiment I share with how diversity should work—characters should be free to acknowledge their identities, but ideally, their identities or disabilities should not be a source of central conflict that defines their character. Once a character’s disabilities or identities become what the character revolves around, they become a cardboard cutout to which the creators of the show can puppet as their token of diversity. That is why this film makes me excited, because the creators seem to be on the same wavelength in that regard. It is also important to acknowledge the sentiment that a lack of representation is harmful, which is also addressed in the article. It is great that DeVido was able to prevail, but many give up or are discouraged before they really make it anywhere, due to their identities. It takes a special kind of person to enter an industry that is discouraging and alienating to people with disabilities, and a lot of people would not be able to handle that conflict. Overall, I believe that this film should become a model to others on how to handle diversity.
It is incredibly important for actors to actually have the disabilities that they are being hired to play. Otherwise, you’re just making a caricature out of that disability. Oftentimes, films will stop their “diversity & inclusion casting” at those in front of the camera. But, hiring people with disabilities to work behind the camera is just as important. I was really sad to see that Best Summer Ever is “the first musical to star people with disabilities.” That’s really concerning and says a lot about how much the entertainment industry still needs to grow. We still have a ton of work to do not only in making entertainment accessible, but making it representative and relatable to people with disabilities. Without the intentional pushes of films like Best Summer Ever, the industry sits in its ableist ways. I applaud the producers and company of this movie for doing what’s right and being a role model for the industry. Hopefully others will follow their example and we’ll see more of this in the future.
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