Review of Crip Camp co-directed by James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham

Abstract

Crip Camp (2020) follows the structure of a well-made film (Simon, 1972), and echoes the social issue film genre (Byars, 1991), thereby telling a clear, chronological story that reifies conservative family values as the solution to challenges faced by society. Through this structure, it fails to push for the change it claims to seek, while presenting content that objectifies people with cognitive disabilities, minimizes the contributions of Black disabled people and LGBT+ disabled people, and erases the voices of non-Black disabled people of color. Crip Camp fails to use the medium of film to present (through tools of filmmaking and the content within) alternative interdependent maps (Mitchell & Snyder, 2017), or reimagine what society can be.