The power of film is as unimaginable as the characters within the movies. As an under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs I tried to talk about film diplomacy but only now, reading Ron Suskind’s article in the NY Times do I truly begin to understand it.
It is a personal essay about his autistic son but it is much more than just a personal story—it is a public call about how we approach those with disabilities and how the movies can be so much more than entertaining.
Ironically, while on public diplomacy missions I tried to address the issue of disabilities as part of the American value of inclusiveness and reaching out to those with physical and cognitive disabilities. But I did not understand the linkage between film and those with disabilities until this article which opens the window onto the human mind, human emotion and how through film and books we change the human being.
I urge my TakeFive readers to read every word of this piece. Try not to cry. Or do.
