Netflix Movie "Away"

FranticFrummie

Tue, Sep 08 2020, 10:41 am

If you have Netflix, and you are OK with rated PG movies, I highly recommend this one!

If you are sensitive to intimacy scenes, skip the first episode, or at least fast forward. It's just a scene of a loving husband and wife, and it's to illustrate how strong their bond is. Nothing gratuitous or graphic.

So, on to the good stuff.

There is an actress with Down's Syndrome in the series, and I love how they portray her. She is a normal teenager, mainstreamed in school, and not ONCE do they make a point of her genetic difference from the other teens. It's just an accepted fact. She has regular friends, she's included in everything, and it's never because the other girls "are so generous", or doing it out of pity. They genuinely like having her around, just because she is herself.

There is also a character who becomes paralyzed, and you see the struggles and choices he has to make. You see him in group therapy, learning how to cope with his new normal, and you never see him being shamed for moments that he is angry or scared.

(Sorry, spoiler alert.) Another paralyzed character in the group develops a relationship with an able bodied woman, and they eventually marry!

Another character has severe PTSD from an incident that happens early in the series, and she has to overcome it in order to move forward.

Overall, if you can look past the secular tone of the series, I have never in my life seen such a genuine and life affirming portrayal of people with different challenges, and the other people in their lives.

I really, REALLY hope this show gets renewed for a second season!