Being Heumann

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway yesterday was Being Heumann with my nephew.  This is Sian Heder's follow-up to the Academy Award-winning CODA and I enjoyed it just as much as its predecessor!  Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) is a polio survivor and disability rights activist determined to get Joseph Califano (Mark Ruffalo), the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, to sign Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which would prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities as well as provide them equal access to programs that receive federal funds, such as K-12 education, higher education, healthcare, housing, and pubic services.  When all of her repeated attempts to contact Califano fail (in some amusing scenes), she decides to stage a sit-in at the HEW building in San Francisco along with other disabled activists. They are aided by Evan White (Dylan O'Brien), an ambitious reporter who comes to believe in their cause, and, even though the phones are disconnected and access to food is cut off, they persevere until Califano agrees to meet with them.  When he sends an underling instead (another amusing scene), Heumann and several other protesters decide to go to Washington, D.C. to compel him to meet with them but this also proves difficult when they are arrested for trespassing (and released because there are no accessible jails to hold them).  The group eventually goes back to San Francisco but Califano ultimately decides to sign Section 504 and, in an epilogue, Heumann continues to work for the eventual passage of the American With Disabilities Act in 1990.  As a teacher, I implemented many 504 Plans for my students and know the law very well but I had no idea how it came about.  I found the story so compelling that I had to do a deep dive into the events portrayed and I definitely appreciate what disability activists went through to ensure equal access for all (even though it seems we still have a long way to go).  The movie is incredibly inspirational and I especially loved the message that people with disabilities are not tragic figures but ordinary people who can accomplish much with simple accommodations (I also loved that the characters, especially Heumann, are not always portrayed as sympathetic because they shouldn't need to be likable to deserve their civil rights).  Finally, I loved the authentic representation in the cast with disabled actors portraying the real-life activists (they all do a great job, especially Madeley).  My only complaint is that Califano is not a well developed character (I think he is a very one-note villain) and it seems like his decision to sign Section 504 comes out of nowhere.  This is now streaming on Apple TV+ and I highly recommend it.