B.U. Bridge is published by the Boston University Office of University Relations.

Contact Us

Staff

Documentary debunks negative stereotypes of the mentally handicapped

By David J. Craig

In the opening scene of Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown, 35-year-old Marni Jamieson reflects poignantly on a lawsuit her family brought years ago against the hospital where she was born, alleging that it was responsible for her developmental disability: "We lost the case because there wasn't enough proof that there was something wrong with me," she says. "It was just a birth defect. It was nobody's fault."

	Nancy Fliesler's documentary about her mentally handicapped sister and brother-in-law will be shown at the Association for Retarded Citizens annual national convention in New Orleans next month. Photo by Kalman Zabarsky

Whether there is something wrong with Jamieson might have been debated in court, but to her it is an unavoidable fact, and she speaks about it with disarming candor and wisdom. Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown, a new documentary by Nancy Fliesler (COM'89), follows Marni and her husband, Kris Jamieson, 32, who is also mentally handicapped, for several days, showing them making it on their own in New York City and how they have come to terms with their disabilities.

While entertaining friends, discussing the unlikely prospect of having children, or enjoying a romantic getaway, the Jamiesons strive to lead full, dignified lives but are cognizant that their options are limited and that there are prejudices against them. At one point, when a social worker asks Marni what would be her ideal job, she retorts, "You mean if the learning disability never happened, or back in reality?"

Fliesler, who is Marni Jamieson's older sister, says she made the intimate 47-minute film to challenge the stereotype that mentally handicapped people do not think deeply and to counter common media depictions of them as "cute and pitiable." It was screened at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in August and will be featured at the Association for Retarded Citizens annual national convention in New Orleans in October.

"I'd tried in the past to write about Marni," Fliesler says, "and it was never successful because she's full of contradictions and readers couldn't believe some of the things she's able to do and say. I thought a film would let people see for themselves what she's like."

Who we are

Fliesler began filming in August 1996, shortly after deciding to pursue a career in video production. Without much moviemaking experience, she made several trips to Marni and Kris' Queens, N.Y., apartment, shooting them at home, around the city, and at work, using a Hi-8 camera she bought for about $2,000 and other video equipment borrowed from the Arlington, Mass., public access cable station.

"In the beginning, technical issues like making sure the sound was recording properly and trying to hold the camera steady were very absorbing," says Fliesler, who earned a master's in science journalism from the College of Communication and now helps produce educational videos at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. She made the film for less than $15,000. "But the filming was fascinating because I myself had often wondered how Marni and Kris get by from day to day."

Kris and Marni Jamieson, a mentally handicapped New York City couple, are witty, resourceful, and reflective in Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown, a film about their daily lives. Still photo from the movie

Much of the film focuses on routine events in Marni and Kris' lives, such as commuting to their jobs by bus and taking a special education course. The two Queens natives met in a social program and have known each other for 15 years. They were married in 1993 and have lived in their own apartment ever since.

Marni, who as a young child was diagnosed with a brain injury -- a condition similar to, but not as severe as, mental retardation -- earns $1 an hour sorting clothing hangers and doing other simple tasks at a Goodwill store. She says during the film that she would prefer to "spread her wings" and get a full-time job where she would have more interaction with people. But she says with a sigh, "I'm slow. It's hard to get me a good job."

Kris seems less frustrated and saddened by his disability than Marni, although the two function at similar levels. He works about 10 hours a week doing maintenance at a children's clothing store and enjoys his job so much that "Friday's are awful."

Fitting in

Among the most illuminating scenes in the film are Marni and Kris discussing how others view them. Marni, we learn, resents it when people disregard her because of her disability and particularly despises the term mentally retarded. She also finds euphemisms such as special distasteful. "When I was in school, teachers would say I was special," she says. "It's hard to know if they meant I was special because I am handicapped or if it was an inside thing. . . . if you were special because of you."

Memories of how loved ones explained her condition as a child also haunt her. "My mother would tell me that not everyone would like me," she remembers. "That's pretty hard to accept coming from your own mother."

In contrast, Kris, whose comments are printed in subtitles because of a severe speech impediment, at one point stubbornly insists, "No one knows I am disabled. I fit in." He later admits, however, that Stevie Wonder and Christopher Reeves inspire him because they "won't give up, either."

The film includes many lighthearted moments: Marni and Kris poking fun at Fliesler for always having a camera in their faces, a mentally disabled friend telling the comical story of how Kris proposed to Marni (while they were taking out the garbage), and footage of Marni and Kris describing what they love about each other. (That each is disabled, notably, does not come up; what does are Marni's "blue eyes and smile," the fact that she cooks "the best meatloaf in town," and Kris' sense of humor.)

"I wanted to show that their lives are very rich and filled with fun, even though they have a sadness about what's happened," says Fliesler, who plans to begin work on another documentary this fall about the "human drama" of physical therapy. "Hopefully, viewers will get involved in the drama of their lives and through the film Marni and Kris will be able to transcend the labels that have been put on them.

"I think taking part in the film was good for them, too," she continues. "I know a lot of the things Marni talked about were painful for her, but she felt that the film might help other people like her, and she considered that a real mission."

To order a copy of Lifestyles of the Poor and Unknown, e-mail info@filmakers.com or call 1-800-555-9815.

14 September 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations