Katie Koplow February 20, 2013 PRT 3325 Attitudes/ Labels Paper Simon Birch

The movie Simon Birch (1998) tells the story of two friends, Joe and Simon and their journey together. Simon was born with a condition that causes him to be the smallest child ever born in Gravestown Memorial Hospital. He wasnt expect to survive more than two days and, due to a miracle, eleven years later he is still alive and believes this condition is a sign that God made him for a certain reason and is going to use him to become a hero. The movie revolves around how Simon interacts and affects many people of the town and how they view Simon due to his condition. He argues with his Sunday School teacher about faith, challenges his priest who lacks true understanding of the Word of God, rides bikes, plays baseball and swims with his best friend Joe. Recreation plays a major role in Simons life. Most of the movie revolves around him participating, like anyone else, in some form of recreation. He is able to participate in normal pre-teen activities with Joe and he doesnt let his disability affect him or prevent him from doing anything. Because of his condition, Simons parents refuse to accept him and they neglect him. Lucky for Simon, Joes mother, Rebecca Wentworth takes Simon in and acts as a motherly figure for him. Ms. Wentworth is the most beautiful person Simon knows and he loves her just as much as Joe does. One day during a baseball game, Simon hits a high foul ball and kills Ms. Wentworth, leaving the two boys linked together to figure out what they are missing in life and motherless. For Simon, it is his task to become a hero like God has called him to be and for Joe it is to find out who his father is.

Ben Goodrich, a drama teacher takes the place as the fatherly figure for the two boys. He gave them an armadillo and baseball, which becomes a symbol and key possession of their friendship. Ben was dating Rebecca before her death and eventually adopts Joe as his son. Simon gets blamed for the Christmas play that didnt go well and isnt allowed to go on the church retreat. During the retreat, Rev. Russell who is the pastor of the towns church, ends up telling Joe that he is his father. Once Joe learns of this and the search is over, he realizes that Ben has been a better father than Rev. Russell can ever be and the quest to know is dads identity ends. On the way home the bus swerves to avoid hitting a deer and ends up in a frozen lake. This is Simons time to be used as Gods instrument. Joe and Simon work together to get all the children safely out of the bus. The boys end up in the hospital where Joe and Simon get to talk one more time and Simon dies a hero. Joe is forever affected by his friendship with Simon and ends up naming his son Simon. Simon is affected with Morquios syndrome, which is an inherited disease of metabolism where the body is missing or doesnt have enough of a substance needed to break down long chains of sugar molecules. This genetic disorder causes dwarfism and causes Simon to be very small and grow with an under developed heart and underdeveloped body organs and muscles. He has tubes in his ears, a disproportionate head and a high pitched, squeaky voice due to the lack of development of the vocal cords. Because of Simons physical differences people label, name call and portray him in a different way. He is seen as being a creature of something else, not normal and unnatural. They make comments about him based on his physical appearance and size. He is required to play the part of baby Jesus in the Christmas play just because of his size. While playing baseball he is often not given a fair chance by other players or his coach. His coach knows

that the pitcher wont be able to strike him out because he has such a small strike zone so he uses Simon just to get on base and doesnt let him try to hit the ball. The other players call him names such as granite mouse, stumbolina, pinch-hitting munchkin, hobbit and creature. His parents view him as a screw up and worthless due to his size and lack of ability to do many things without help. Simon is so strong and never seems to let these labels and the attitudes of others to affect him for long. Sometimes he will let them role off, but a few time in the movie he does retaliates by trying to hit someone, flipping them off or saying rude and cruel things to retaliate. He has to put up with a lot of teasing. One example is in Sunday School where the kids pick him up and throw him around the room and pass him back and forth like a ball and then gets in trouble by the teacher for misbehaving. Others view Simon as fragile and not a real human with feelings, more of a doll to play with. Some of the girls in his Sunday school class treat him as a doll and call him cute, adorable and little. This is hard for Simon because it makes him seem as something unnatural and not real. Characters in this movie would need to change their view of Simon Birch in order to make their attitudes toward him positive. They would need to think of Simon as a person first and disregard his inabilities and his physical conditions. This is done by some of the characters like Joe, Rebecca and Ben but others like his Sunday school teacher, Reverend and parents view him in a negative and useless way. They dont consider his thoughts or opinions and his voice doesnt matter. In order to change this those interacting with Simon would need to change their personality and view Simon as an equal. I learned a lot from this movie. There is so much symbolism involved with the names, locations, props and symbols and the events that take place. I think the interactions that the other character have with Simon are very important to see and try to place

yourself in their position. Would I believe Simon when he tells everyone that he believes God has a plan for him and made him special to be used as an instrument? Would I be accepting and accommodating like Joe and make it a priority to help Simon is all activities but still let him have his freedom? Would I customize my bike to fit him, take him swimming, joke and tease like pre-teen boys do or would I feel uncomfortable because of his physical appearance and dwell on the inconvenience and abnormality that comes along with being his friend. These are the reasons I liked the movie, because it helped me put my opinions about being friends with someone with a physical disability in the light and challenged me to see which character I would a line with. Simon has such an influence on all the people he interacted with. Even after his death he continues to affect and influence Joes life. He helped teach many people important life lessons and showed them true importance in life. This goes to show me that people with disabilities have just as much to contribute to society and can influence, teach and inspire you just as much, if not greater than someone who is considered to be normal.

Johnson, M. S. (Director). (1999). Simon Birch [Motion picture]. United States: Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment.