When Billy Broke His Head... and Other Tales of Wonder

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

In "When Billy Broke His Head and Other Tales of Wonder," journalist Billy Golfus attempts to shift his father’s and the viewer’s societal perspectives on disability. By chronicling his own experience and having conversations with peers, he illuminates and challenges the ingrained biases that lead to discrimination, systemic barriers, and social exclusion for individuals with disabilities. Underscoring his narration is dry wit and acerbic humor to highlight the absurdity of these deeply ingrained perspectives and the resulting challenges for people with disabilities. 

Through these experiences and conversations, we are presented three distinct lenses through which disability can be viewed: the medical model, the charity model, and the socio-political model.The charity model is critiqued for denying people with disabilities their inherent right to accommodations while the medical model is portrayed as reductive and dehumanizing. Conversely, Golfus champions the socio-political model, which views disability as a systemic issue, not a problem of the individual. He also uses this lens to critique how these biases can be found throughout pop-culture and only work to reinforce stereotypes and perpetuate oppression. 

Throughout the narrative, Golfus engages in discussions with his elderly father, who believes that with determination one can overcome their disability. This conversation culminates in the final scene while fishing on an idyllic body of water, with his father concluding that disability is a fate worse than death. Here, the camera zooms out and Golfus reveals they are not on a picturesque lake but tied to a dock. He confesses that they forgot the gas line due to their shared cognitive impairment – his from a brain injury and his father’s from old age. By sharing this, Golfus disrupts our perception and invites us to reconsider our own beliefs toward disability.