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Finding Dory for the Win!

Have you joined the millions of others who have flocked to the theaters to see Finding Dory?  NO???  What are you waiting for???  GO!!!!

We enjoyed this gem of a movie a few days ago and I am in love.  It wasn't the story line, although it was cute.  It wasn't the music (there really wasn't any) or cinematography.  It was the message.  Finding Dory is all about celebrating differences and loving people for who they are.  Like I tell my kids all of the time, everyone has different strengths, and the movie focuses on Dory's.  

I also really, really loved the way Dory's parents were portrayed.  They recognized that their daughter had some challenges (short term memory loss) and gave her skills and strategies to cope.  They didn't get angry with her; they weren't in denial; they didn't try to "fix" her.  They simply figured out ways to help her be independent.  

But they also quietly worried about her, which I thought was significant.  You see, as special needs parents, we teach, we encourage, we cheer, we celebrate...but we also quietly worry about our kids' futures.  And no matter how many skills we give our children to foster independence, it's still scary to turn them out into the world.

In the end, no one ever lost hope and Dory is celebrated for who she is.  This movie is beautiful, and I really hope that it gets the recognition it deserves!  

If you've seen it, what do you think?

If you haven't seen it yet:  stay until the very end. Pixar loves to put little surprises at the end of its movies!  :)

Comments

Mary Lou said…
Julie....
I am just like Dory. We are Kindred Spirits me and that lovable, funny, forgetful Blue Tang fish!! We're the same!! Because *I*, too, have short-term memory loss.... Unfortunately. Like Dory, I have had it my *entire* Life.... Even as a girl growing up. Short-term memory loss happens to be one of *my* challenges, one of *my* learning disabilities. {I am not as bad as Dory, though.... Yet.... Give me a few years.... I am only thirty-two!! Ha!!} ;-D
And you just gotta LOVE Ellen DeGeneres.... Right?! ;-D
"Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive", Raelyn


Pol said…
So interesting to read your take on Dory. It's not out in the UK yet - so we haven't seen it yet. We were looking forward to it - but I was warned off my a friend from NY, who saw it with her Autistic son at the weekend. He found it very distressing - and from her description I'm pretty sure my son would find it very tough too. So fascinating to know that you got so much good out of it :)

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