Jellybeans

Here's an thought-provoking bit of prose -- at least, to me, it was. See what you think.

Last evening, I attended a theatrical productional of the local high school drama department. A friend who supports the arts had an additional ticket, and she offered it to me -- having seen the opening night already.

I went -- was a bit late, but saw all the pertinent parts of the production -- and came away with a question on my mind I can ask nowhere else except within the aninimity of this forum. The question is this: are those people who suffer from physical afflictions not of their own causing (the play was about Down's Syndrome) celebrated for their afflication, or for the importance that lies within society to not exclude them?

To state this a little more clearly, let me say... has the standards of human behavior been lowered due to their diminished capacity? We expect nothing from them, and thereby they are applauded when they accomplish even the most mundane, ordinary things. Is this right? Is this the way ANYONE should be handled? Now I agree one should not expect them to function with the same capacity as anyone absent the affliction; but to expect NOTHING from them at all? I will never forget that amazing scene from the original "Miracle Worker". Anne Bancroft is struggling with Patty Duke, physically struggling with this obstinate child who would NOT do what was expected of her. Patty Duke's family was shocked by the ardour with which Anne Bancroft fought against their child, arguing instead for compassion. They question Anne Bancroft why they must treat their child as a normal child -- she clearly is anything but.

Anne Bancroft growls back the answer, with Patty Duke violently wrapped in her arms, contesting EVERYTHING Anne Bancroft did, "I treat her as a normal child because that is what I expect her to be!"

That is my horrid paraphrase of what she said -- I'm not entirely sure those are the words verbatim -- but the context, the meaning implied is the same. If you want people to improve, ANY PEOPLE, acquiescing yourself to their condition accomplished nothing.

Back to this play - it was called 'The Jellybean Conspiracy' - while I applaud the efforts of the one who wrote it, I question whether or not emphathy with people who have Down's Syndrome, or any malady that prevents normal human interation, is profitable to the person. The character Patty Duke played, Helen Keller, she still had her physical limitations throughout her life (to the best of my knowledge); but she did not acquiesciese to those limitations. She lived a rich life. Why must we deprive others of the same simply for the basis of human empathy? EVERY human life is precious, as every human life has been created in the image of God. However, to settle for mediocrity is a pitiful excuse.