Men charged across the gym, colliding into each other with such violent force that one man instantly hit the floor head first. The victor had barely a moment to gloat before he swung his steel chariot into another opponent. The ball went flying into the air towards a member of the opposition while the rival skillfully twisted his chair away from the furious wheels of the aggressor. This is the game of Murderball. A competitive sport played by Quadriplegic men who, as the name suggests, try to murder any member of the opposite team in possession of the ball. There is only the helmet of bravery to stand between these men and a collision that could lead to a broken neck, complete immobility, or death.
Our society views disability as not only a physical disadvantage, but as prevention from having a full life, and realizing the human potential. Yet while watching the passion with which these men played, loved, and carried out personal vendettas against other, this misconception is easily refuted. The players were in many ways a testaments to fortitude and nothing to be pitied. At the end of the film, when grown men sobbed liked babies after losing the yearlong dream of the world cup, we empathized with them and it had nothing to do with the wheelchairs.
The documentary Murderball suggests that although a disability challenges the way an individual navigates their environment, the handicap does not define the person.
Each player faced a turning point in their lives that left them in a wheelchair.
The film’s focus was on how they individually adjusted to life as a quadriplegic and how they took on obstacles as a team.
They took different routes of recovery and rebalancing their lives. The sport was a new way of expressing pre-existing drive, passion, and a general love for competition. Their characters were not shifted by physical disability. Competitors competed, the compassionate sympathized, and the ladies men used their wheelchairs as a pickup innovation.
They lived as men with a handicap, not as handicapped men.
Our society views disability as not only a physical disadvantage, but as prevention from having a full life, and realizing the human potential. Yet while watching the passion with which these men played, loved, and carried out personal vendettas against other, this misconception is easily refuted. The players were in many ways a testaments to fortitude and nothing to be pitied. At the end of the film, when grown men sobbed liked babies after losing the yearlong dream of the world cup, we empathized with them and it had nothing to do with the wheelchairs.
The documentary Murderball suggests that although a disability challenges the way an individual navigates their environment, the handicap does not define the person.
Each player faced a turning point in their lives that left them in a wheelchair.
The film’s focus was on how they individually adjusted to life as a quadriplegic and how they took on obstacles as a team.
They took different routes of recovery and rebalancing their lives. The sport was a new way of expressing pre-existing drive, passion, and a general love for competition. Their characters were not shifted by physical disability. Competitors competed, the compassionate sympathized, and the ladies men used their wheelchairs as a pickup innovation.
They lived as men with a handicap, not as handicapped men.
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