Award-winning Film Highlights Down Syndrome

The 2020 Christopher Awards were recently announced and many people have been excited to learn that The Peanut Butter Falcon is one of our winners in the Feature Films category. This heart-warming, poignant, and delightful comedy-drama exemplifies independent filmmaking at its best. It is a story that reminds us of the essence of what it means to be human and inspires us to open our hearts to better understand the unique life circumstances of other people.

The Peanut Butter Falcon follows the adventures of Zak, a young man with Down syndrome who escapes from a nursing home where he's been consigned to live for two and a half years despite his yearning for a different environment. On his journey, Zak connects with Tyler, who is also on the run, being pursued by a rival fisherman along the Outer Banks of Virginia and North Carolina. Zak and Tyler are eventually joined by Eleanor, who has been dispatched by the nursing home to bring Zak back into custody. The three of them bond over shared humanity, the joy of freedom, sorrow over broken dreams, and longing for a better life.

At the heart of this story are the unique circumstances of the characters, whose personal flaws sometimes reveal good intentions underlying their mistakes, such as Tyler's petty criminality, which is a manifestation of his frustration over the role he played in his brother's death. The bond he forms with Zak helps to heal the wound of this painful memory as the two of them chart their course along the tranquil barrier islands, by motorboat, by foot, and by a makeshift raft with a sail.

While the adventure that unfolds within The Peanut Butter Falcon is a captivating one, the story behind the making of this film only adds to the amazing nature of this production. The project got its start when two friends who aspired to make a feature film met Zack Gottsagen, a person with Down syndrome, at a camp for actors with disabilities. It was after this encounter that they decided to make a film for Gottsagen to star in, and they wrote the screenplay specifically for him, translating aspects of his personality into character traits that suited the story. For instance, they took Gottsagen's desire to become an actor and changed it into his character's desire to become a professional wrestler, which in turn translated into dramatic sports-oriented tension and rollicking scenarios.

The decision to create a feature film for a young man with Down syndrome to star in might be one of the gutsiest and ingenious moves ever made in an industry so dominated by money and the bankability of actors. But, as is so often the case in life, a gutsy decision produced amazing results. The interactions between Gottsagen and his co-stars, who include Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, and Bruce Dern, were some of the most authentic and unreproducible ever to grace the screen.

The Peanut Butter Falcon hasn't received the attention of major Hollywood films but it has been well received and loved by people around the country. This film sends profound messages on a number of levels, not least of which is the dignity with which it invites the world to look upon a young man with Down syndrome. In an age when we sadly face a growing movement to eradicate people with Down syndrome through abortion, this is a film we all need to watch and share and invite people to be changed by.  

This essay is a recent "Light One Candle" column by Father Ed Dougherty, M.M., The Christophers' Board of Directors ; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events. 

Background information:

The Christophers