How's Your News?

Heartfelt, moving, inspiring!

I found this film to be wonderful - respectful - and life affirming all at the same time - the reporters - a group of people with so much heart and verve for life that you cannot help but learn from them "what's your biggest dream?" is about the most profound and elemental question known to humankind - and these reporters dare to ask.

Kudos to everyone involved - if you've ever felt like an "other" and outsider, or someone behind the glass - watch this film and then join all of us - each person striving to be, do, learn and become - the best the can.

What's not to love - the people driven to realize the film - the reporters on a quest to explore America - they each have a valuable mission - to become themselves by interacting with others, where they will learn.

As cheesy as the story could have been, it wasn't - nor clichéd - which of us on this planet has not a single quality which stands in our way? We are all coping as well as we are able - and my favorite feeling at the end wasn't just for what the entire group accomplished - but how the film reflected some aspect of the viewer - whether they were looking or not.

This documentary is the kind of film that makes you want to be alive! At first glance, the idea of severely disabled people trekking across the country and interviewing people for their "news" show seems kind of depressing. While many people talk to the reporters, others are jerks and ignore them. Yet through scene after scene, the spirit of the cast will warm your heart. The people in this film are truly inspiring. Plus, it's funny as hell ! Best documentary I've seen since "I'm from Hollywood."

I have seen this film so many times I have lost count. I remember one time, when I was watching it with some girls who I was hanging out with from this class I was in at the time, we were about a fourth or a third of the way through the film and one of them had to use the bathroom. We paused the film, and then one of them was silent for a bit and then turned to me and said in all sincerity, "This is going to be one of those films where there is my life before and then there is my life after, isn't it?" I knew that I adored the film, but I was never able to verbalize its importance until she said that. Now, that is entirely how I describe the film to people who haven't seen it, and yes, everyone who has seen it that pitch has agreed with me afterwards, this is indeed just that type of movie.

There are people who claim that the movie is exploitative of the handicapped cast, but if that was true then how come the entire cast and their families and friends and co-workers and camp staff fully endorse the movie 100%? The a-holes who think the movie is exploitative believe that the handicapped and mentally challenged individuals in society should be "protected" and that they should be kept out of the public eye where they might possibly be teased (they think that they should just stay in their houses, away from where they can mix with society, and that they shouldn't be allowed to experience life like "normal" people).

See, in How's Your News, they constantly put the handicapped and mentally challenged right in "normal" people's faces in the public. This is where the movie shines because people have to then deal with the handicapped, whether they become uncomfortable, laugh, cry, get depressed, whatever--the point is that they have to deal with the handicapped people that the "normal" people in society would often like to forget even exist.

The handicapped and mentally challenged cast in this film challenge social norms and affect the people's lives that they encounter along their roadtrip. Many people become uncomfortable, some get to re-examine their lives spurred on by the cast's innocent questions, some smile, others are rude, some get angry, and others become utterly confused. But whatever the case, the people in the documentary have to deal with them because they are right in their face, and they have to acknowledge that the handicapped and mentally challenged are people too (and if they don't, honestly they just look like a-holes).

The people who think that the handicapped and mentally challenged should stay "protected" in their houses while being separated from society are the true bigots. Once you see this movie, you will understand, it is hilarious, heartwarming, and well-made--see this film!

NOTE: Yes, the very first time you see it, it is absolutely normal to be uncomfortable for the first 10 to 15 minutes (20 for some, even). But trust me, stick it out because this film will change your life. I can't recommend this film enough.

I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to watch this film because you were worried that it was exploitive of those with disabilities. I felt the same way before I watched it. I feel different now. If you could see how proud the "How's Your News?" crew are of their work, you'd realize what an accomplishment this was for them. I really admire the courage it must have taken to go out and meet the world face to face. They have a truly amazing perspective on the American experience. I think they probably have a better understanding of how "we" are doing as a society than any of the people who refused to talk with them. They really earned my respect.

This movie from start to finish was an in-depth look into the developing minds of the mental and physically challenged. I must say that it puts away the fears that the general public reserve for the less fortunate, including the severely retarded. I, being one of these people, have a new understanding and tolerance. The line between "laughing at them" and "laughing with them" is not even an issue. The sheer joy, dedication and child-like determination makes this film shine. Whether it be the "goofiness" of the characters or the ignorance of the people they encounter. You will undoubtedly be laughing your head off from start to end and left with a warm, fuzzy feeling deep down. This movie is an instant cult classic and has already been copied and recopied through my friends. The reaction is ALWAYS the same...

"Tell us, "How's Your News?"".