52 Films by Women Vol 10. 46. BEING HEUMANN (Director: Siân Heder)
Pictured: 'Sign 504.' Brooklyn-born disability activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) stops traffic in a scene from the fact-based protest drama, 'Being Heumann', written (with Rebekah Taussig) and directed by Siân Heder. Still courtesy of Apple TV (US)
There are plenty of
reasons to push back against the film Being Heumann, a
fact-based dramatized account of the struggle to secure the implementation of
equal rights for disabled people in America. First, it depicts events that
happened almost 50 years ago under a Democrat administration; Jimmy Carter had
just been elected President. Why would filmmakers want to attack Democrats when
the majority of America’s ills today are enabled by Republicans? Second, while
it features actors with disabilities on screen, it is co-written (with Rebekah
Taussig) and directed by an able-bodied director, Siân Heder. Where is the
disabled point of view? Third, it is a conventional crowd pleaser with moments
of humour. Shouldn’t it be angrier or more radical? There are large numbers of
people who simply won’t watch an issue-driven film because they don’t want to
listen to a lecture, confusing not seeing disabled people in their daily lives with
not seeing a problem. Certainly the issue of workplace discrimination on health
grounds doesn’t always receive full attention. The film makes the point that
anyone could become disabled at any time; that the issues raised in the film
could apply to everyone. But that thought isn’t compatible with a desire for escapist
entertainment.
Still, I very much enjoyed
Being Heumann. It plays like a version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest where the repressive force doesn’t win. It emphasises
the importance of coalitions to affect change, of utilising different
skillsets, of being prepared to risk one’s life to ensure your concerns are addressed.
Also, to know what’s important; no one should have to die for a cause.
The ‘Heumann’ of the
title is the late Judy Heumann (born 1947, died 2023) played by English actress
Ruth Madeley, whose Brooklyn accent is completely convincing. We first see her negotiating
the streets of downtown Manhattan in her battery-powered wheelchair (complete
with joystick) in the early 1970s. The absence of ramps prohibits crossing
roads safely, so Judy is forced to use her wheelchair among other (faster
moving) motorised vehicles. Doing so puts her at risk. Heder shows Judy in her
chair from a truck driver’s point of view. If she were any closer, she wouldn’t
been seen and could easily be crushed. Road users assess Judy as a hazard, but she
has the right to travel just like everyone else. What choice does she have?
Judy is one of a
number of activists seeking the signature into law of section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation
Act, which states that ‘no qualified individual with a disability can be
excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to
discrimination under any federally funded program, including public schools,
universities, and hospitals.’ Moreover that ‘covered entities must provide
reasonable accommodations, structural accessibility, and effective
communication aids.’ There is a caveat: ‘unless doing so creates an undue
financial or administrative burden.’ The film focuses on delays being
attributable to the high cost of such adaptations. The implication is that
every street will require a ramp, every (federally-funded) public building an
alternative to stairs. Moreover, such changes will need to be implemented
within sixty days, requiring capital expenditure running into billions of
dollars.
To draw attention to
her cause, Judy stops traffic with her chair. She is, by her own estimation, a
‘radical crip’. The film fast forwards to 1977 when section 504 remains extant.
Judy and her activist community plan a protest outside the San Francisco office
of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), hoping to attract the
attention of Secretary of State Joseph Califano, Jr (Mark Ruffalo), who refuses
to take Judy’s calls. We see Judy waking up in her apartment, then taken to the
bathroom by a helper, telling her, ‘You’re late. I need to pee.’ Then she is
dressed. Pointedly, Judy asks for a second pair of underwear and packs her
toothbrush. This will be no ordinary protest, not least because one of the
placards features Judy’s misspelling, ‘disabilitities’.
Having arrived at
the building, Judy and the protest group move inside and secure an audience
with the regional director. In order to be welcoming, his assistant serves the
group punch, something the regional director is not keen on. Judy demands that
he call Califano. ‘He’s a busy man,’ the regional director replies. Cut to
Califano talking about the difficulties of reconciling helping the poor with a
diminished budget. ‘504,’ he reflects later, ‘what were they thinking?’
The casting of the
off-screen activist Ruffalo does signify that at some point Califano is going
to fold. The screen Califano reminds his audience of his civil rights
credentials. He marched in Selma (with Martin Luther King). Califano fears
being fired for over-committing public spending and (in the film at least) he doesn’t
have to answer to Congress on appropriations, rather only to the President
himself.
Still, none of the
protestors are quite prepared for the sit-in that Judy spontaneously declares.
They don’t have all their medication. ‘I sleep in an 800lb iron lung,’ one of
the protestors explains. However, they remain committed to the cause and call
in a favour for food. Brad Lomax (Antwan Tolliver) who has multiple sclerosis, has
links to the Black Panthers, who have also sent able-bodied Chuck Jackson (Ray
Fisher) to assist. ‘What do you want me to do?’ he asks, treated as almost
superfluous as far as Brad is concerned. In one scene, set to the song ‘Life
During Wartime’, the entire wall of a toilet cubicle is ripped out to allow
access by a wheelchair. Later Brad reflects, ‘they used to be scared of me.
Now, it’s a different kind of fear, that they’ll turn into me.’
There is a stand-off
between the regional director’s staff and the Panthers, who bring in trays of
food for the protestors. Police are ordered to search the food. One of the
officers tastes the chicken. ‘I said search, not eat.’ This gives you a flavour
of the film’s humour. Actually, the Panthers succeed in smuggling in some drugs
– which provide a respite from pain, I suppose. The protestors set up a love
tent and offer lessons in sexual pleasure. While Judy doesn’t have recourse to
the tent, she avails herself of volunteer Jim Pechin (Jon Beavers) who hovers
over her, having helped her get comfortable on some cushions. Seeking sexual pleasure, she tells him, ‘I’m
going to tell you what I want and how I want it.’ ‘Yes, ma’am,’ Jim responds.
Embedded with the
protestors is local reporter, Evan White (a moustachioed Dylan O’Brien). His
footage is syndicated, giving the protest nationwide exposure. The occupation
took place alongside protests in nine other cities. Judy and the group see
reports that the Washington DC group gave up. ‘They were starved out,’ Judy concludes.
Califano is
astonished that the occupation is tolerated. On Day 13, the police enter the
building and strike radiators with their truncheons, shouting, ‘time to leave’.
The group is rattled. There is also a bomb scare, with a threat issued by the
New World Liberation Front. ‘We found a device in another location,’ the police
tell Judy. She decides to call the group’s bluff. They expect the worst, but no
such device goes off. Judy responds by going on hunger strike.
In an unexpected
twist, the group is visited by a delegation from Washington DC. Califano is not
among them. The group decides that the leadership should go to Washington to
attend a congressional hearing in order to best present their case. Having told
the group that she was prevented from flying – ‘fire hazard’ – in one of the
film’s most impassioned speeches, Judy and her team head for the airport,
leaving other protestors to continue with the occupation.
Judy needs a lesson
in civility from members of the group. ‘I’m not an asshole. I’m from Brooklyn,’
she explains. ‘I’m from Brooklyn,’ protestor Joni (Roberta Colindrez) tells her.
Later, Joni confesses her love for Judy, which is reciprocated. Former radical
socialist protestor Kitty (Madeline Delp) reminds Judy of the adage ‘catching
flies with honey’. Judy is initially sceptical of a socialist who wears pearls
but softens her stance among the group, allowing some of them to leave.
One highlight
involves the group being given a lift from the airport in a U-Haul van, hanging
on tight in the dark as the van rounds corners. Instead of going to a local
church, where they have been offered shelter, they camp outside Califano’s
house. Spotting them the next day, Califano sneaks out through the back window
and sprains his ankle. ‘What am I going to do about them?’ he cries. ‘Try
talking to them,’ his wife replies. In many of Califano’s scenes, there is a near-silent
woman standing next to him, who then offers the voice of reason.
Pictured: Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano, Jr (Mark Ruffalo) addresses a group of protestors in a scene from the 1977-set fact-based drama, 'Being Heumann', co-written (with Rebekah Taussig) and directed by Siân Heder. Still courtesy of Apple TV (US)
The conclusion is
unexpected. Rather than return to San Francisco, Judy stays in Washington DC.
Kitty speaks to the waiting media and makes her mentor proud.
Heder plays a little
loose with some of the disabilities. One protestor can only communicate by
pointing to letters with a stick attached to his head, but even he occasionally
speaks. The film is allowed some licence for dramatic or comic effect. It also
incorporates a debate about the protestors’ demands. Not all their needs are
compatible with one another; blind people need to know where the curb is - slopes
or ramps don’t help.
Heder’s last film, CODA (Children of Deaf Adults), won Best Picture at the American Academy
Awards in 2022. Unfortunately, Being
Heumann is unlikely to be
nominated. Other films like The
Odyssey, La Bola Negra or the ‘documentary’ You Can See Everything are likely to swamp the categories. Nevertheless,
it is a spirited follow-up intended to remind audiences in the year of
America’s mid-term elections that peaceful protest can achieve results. Hope
need not be so audacious.
Reviewed at Screen Two,
Picturehouse Central, Shaftesbury Avenue, Central London, Monday 12 October
2026, 11:15am London Film Festival Press and Industry Screening
Comments
Post a Comment