Worthy
Why do we see Down syndrome as something bad?
Dashiell Meier, young filmmaker with Down syndrome, explores the dark past of his disability. Though interviews with historians, anthropologists and doctors, as well as visits to former asylums, he discovers what his life might have been like if he had been born a generation earlier.
The Film
Interwoven with depictions of people with Down syndrome and their families, Worthy portrays a realistic picture of how people with Down syndrome live today while tracing the origins of still-prevalent harmful falsehoods and stereotypes that significantly limit them. The film portrays an authentic confrontation of prejudice, showing how our incorrect assumptions originating from misguided science have perpetuated a self-fulfilling reality. while documenting evidence that these ideas are ableist and untrue.
Dashiell's Mission
Through this documentary, I want to address the fact that disability doesn’t define us. There are people who see their disability as a burden and don’t like themselves because of that. I want to tell those people that it’s OK to just be yourself. By acknowledging the stereotypes of Down syndrome and disability in general, we can gain an understanding of what it means to be ourselves as a first step of ending these myths. This is the first step that we need to take. We need to learn about our terrible past. How do we move on from that to live in a better world where we can start over?
