For this assignment, I chose to watch
a movie called The Upside. This movie is about Philip Lacasse, a man with quadriplegia,
who hires Dell Scott, a homeless man, to be his life auxiliary. Dell is a
successful billionaire who unfortunately suffered a terrible accident while
paragliding. The accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, requiring 24/7
care. I was very impressed by the movie because it displayed so many honest
emotions from Philip about how he copes with his new life. He requires
assistance with every aspect of his life. For example, he needs someone to help
him with feeding, dressing, eating and showering. However, he does have a little
independence when he is in his wheelchair because he is able to control it with
his chin. Dell and Phillips relationship inspired me because they both had to
let each other into their lives for the well-being of both. Dell relied on Phillip
for his pay check and Phillip relied on Dell to be his care-taker. Towards the
end of the movie, Phillip goes on a date but ends up getting put in the friend
zone because of his disability. This completely devastated him and ultimately
led to Phillip firing Dell and pushing everyone he cared about away. However, Dell
does not give up on Phillip and they remained friends for life. I was empathic
for Phillip throughout the movie because I put myself in his shoes and I could
not imagine dealing with that amount of life change.
The reason I chose to watch this movie for my first neuro note is because I wanted to further my knowledge on spinal cord injuries. As an occupational therapist, I am going to be working with people with a variety of spinal cord injuries. Over the past couple of weeks, I have learned how different every injury is. Spinal cord injuries not only change a person’s life physically but mentally as well. I recommend people watch this movie because it gives an in-depth idea of what people struggle with everyday when they are paralyzed. Depression is extremely common because of how different their life changes and how reliant they must be on other people. In the movie, Phillip struggles with depression and eventually tries to push every one that is close to him away. I think that part of the movie was important because of how severe his depression became. However, his friends knew they needed him then more than he ever had before. This is where an occupational therapist would come into play. As OT’s it is our job to help clients be as successful as possible in their daily life occupations. As for Phillip, an OT could have helped him find a reason that made his life worth living again. Overall, this movie was fantastic and I recommend everyone to watch it!
Burger, N. (Director). (2017). The Upside [Video file]. United States: Escape Artist. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
