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Along with the typical growing pains of high schoolers, the students of the Texas School for the Blind must cope with the challenges of being nonsighted in a society hostile towards difference and perceived disabilities. Following the lives of four blind teenagers, The Eyes of Me asks the audience to ponder: How do you see yourself, when you can't see at all?
Our society, has created a very rigid conception of abled versus disabled persons. Basically, any variation of our slim idea of healthfulness is cast as a "disability." The Eyes of Me has the wisdom to illuminate a narrow, human scope on the issue of disability and blindness by focusing on intimate moments in the teens' lives. Instead of grandious pleas for pity, the filmmakers focus on simple acts like crossing the street or taking a test to illustrate the full spectrum of being blind.
None of the four teens were born blind; all recently become blind because of a disease or an accident. Instead of showing anger or demands for pity, the profiled teens (Chas, Isaac, Meagan and Denise) view blindness as part of their identity, like having red hair or weak ankles. After losing his sight, Isaac says, "I don't know how to be a blind person." All four of the teens express their excitement at finally finding acceptance at the Texas School for the Blind. Everyone can relate to the feeling of not being accepted in high school, and this is particularly prominent sentiment throughout the film. Denise is overwhelmed by emotion at her Sweet 16 party when so many of her friends show up to celebrate. At her old school, she never got invited to parties.
The most poignant moments come in these simple lamentations, as when Chas mourns the fact he doesn't know what his sisters look like grown up. None of the teens use blindness as an excuse to not be ambitious. Chas writes and produces his own music, Isaac is a drummer, Denise participates in a school play and Meagan becomes the valedictorian. But, the film is careful to depict, these achievements are not because or in spite of their blindness. Like their musical ambitions or academic excellence, the teens' blindness is just another aspect of their involved personalities
The Eyes of Me (2009, U.S.), Wed., Feb. 24, 7 p.m., free, Overbrook School for the Blind, 6333 Malvern Ave., 215-877-0313, ext. 405, whyy.org/memberexperience.
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