Film Club: ‘How Life Looks Through My ‘Whale Eyes’’ - The New York Times

In what ways are we not really seen for who we are?

Video player loading — A filmmaker devises a few experiments to help his family experience his disability — and show how a little imagination can make us all more empathetic.

“How Life Looks Through My ‘Whale Eyes’” is a 12-minute film that touches on themes of disability, difference, empathy and what it means to be truly recognized. In this Op-Doc, James Robinson, the filmmaker, shows what it feels like to live with several disabling eye conditions that have caused him countless humiliations. “I don’t have a problem with the way that I see,” he says. “My only problem is with the way that I’m seen.”

How do Mr. Robinson’s words resonate with your own experiences seeing — and being seen by others? What would you like others to see and understand through your own eyes?

Students

1. Watch the short film above. While you watch, you might take notes using our Film Club Double-Entry Journal (PDF) to help you remember specific moments.

2. After watching, think about these questions:

What moments in this film stood out for you? Why?

Were there any surprises? Anything that challenged what you know — or thought you knew?

What messages, emotions or ideas will you take away from this film? Why?

What questions do you still have?
What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?

3. An additional challenge | Respond to the essential question at the top of this post: In what ways are we not really seen for who we are?

4. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)

5. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.

6. To learn more, read “How Life Looks Through My ‘Whale Eyes’.” In the introduction to the film, The Times writes:

In the Opinion video above, James Robinson, a filmmaker from Maine, shows what it feels like to live with several disabling eye conditions that have defied an array of treatments and caused him countless humiliations. Using playful graphics and enlisting his family as subjects in a series of optical tests, he invites others to view the world through his eyes.

But his video is also an essay on seeing, in the deeper sense of the word — seeing and being seen, recognition and understanding, sensitivity and compassion, the stuff of meaningful human connection.

In a society that does a lousy job of accommodating the disabled, Mr. Robinson appeals for more acceptance of people who are commonly perceived as different or not normal.

Learn more about Film Club here and find all of our films in this column.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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