Tipper Gore on The Soloist

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-04-24 18:35:00 UTC
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Today, the issue of homelessness hits the big screen as The Soloist opens in theaters across the country. Jamie Foxx stars as Nathanial Anthony Ayers, a musical prodigy who becomes homeless on Skid Row, and Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez, the LA Times journalist who befriends him.

Slowly but surely, advocates are catching the movie and offering their observations. I'll be featuring lots of different movie-related items in the coming weeks. To kick things off, here are some remarks from Tipper Gore, who blogged about The Soloist over at TakePart.org:

I couldn't help but notice that the movie opened with Steve Lopez in medical care after his bike accident, while Nathaniel Ayers never received any medical care for his condition.

Therein lies the injustice we live with in our society, a basic injustice that is rooted in stigma, and nourished by misunderstanding and fear of the illnesses of the human brain - and until recently with the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act - perpetuated by an insurance industry that refused to provide anything but paltry benefits for mental health illnesses.

As a society, we wouldn't just let Steve lie bleeding and suffering in the street. Yet we allow many thousands to do just that because there is no visible blood....just bizarre behavior that signifies mental illness and acute suffering.

How do we answer for that one?

I haven't had a chance to catch the movie yet myself, but I want to hear your thoughts. What does the movie get right? Is anything over-sensationalized? What's the big take-away from this film?

I'm all ears!

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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