What Are The Ethical Issues In The Movie Radio

Although Radio was a young African American man with disabilities he never gave up on his dream. His dream was to be a part of the football team, to be included, and to be treated as equal as the rest of the football players. Radio gave his all every time he was included in the team on and off the field despite the obstacles in his way from the team members and his disabilities he never gave up.
Portraying a disabled individual is very difficult ethically and morally for any actor however Mr. James Robert Kennedy did an amazing job throughout the movie. He was faced with many challenges such as his communication skills for the character “Radio”, his communication issues decreased over time with the much needed help from his friend Coach Jones

and Radio started to talk more and more. Radio not only had a disability but he also lived a very hard life and could never live on his own.
Radio’s mother was a single parent and worked many hours to keep a home for him. Unfortunately, Radios mother passed away. The sad part about this movie is that as an individual with disabilities depending solely on his mother, and she is no longer there, Radio is left hanging in limbo. This poor man has no one he is limited on all activities of daily living skills he needs twenty four hour supervision to keep him from being exploited by others and he has no one except the high school football coach and his team.
Radio would jump right in the 1970’s pickup truck with Coach Jones with the seventies music playing and he was the happiest he had ever been.

He was going to the High School and he would lite up like a candle burning bright every single day in fact he was very sad when football season was over. So, with the other coaches help, Radio went from walking the train tracks every single day to attending high school daily. He helped the football team, the basketball team, and even started helping in the office to announce the daily menu. Announcing the menu over the ancient loud speaker for the entire high school was an enormous achievement for the man called

Radio.
Radio went to high school for years to come helping as much as he could for anyone doing anything he was asked. Although this got him into some serious trouble he continued to have a huge heart and cared deeply for others. He faced many challenges along the way but he continued to work hard to do a good job and wanted to stay in the eleventh grade although he had officially graduated.
The setting for this movie could not have been better.

The seventies style truck made this movie even more inspiring. Listening to the sixties and seventies music throughout the movie was actually fun. This movie will make you smile, feel like crying and excited all in one setting. It was like you were right there and truly touched you every minute all the way up to end of the movie. Watching a movie that can reach out and grab a hold of you even years after production in October 2003 is truly an amazing production. Looking at this movie with a different way of thinking actually made me realize how much I didn’t notice the first few times I watched it.
Coach Jones was an amazing mentor teacher and friend to Radio. Standing up for a disabled man to his boss the school board, his friends and to his students made this character truly stand out over all others. The coach was humble and caring but also could stand his ground when needed, he never let anyone push him into decisions that would harm Radio. The students who played pranks on Radio made this movie hard to watch at times unfortunately it is reality. When he was locked in the football team’s storage building was infuriating and scary because no one knew what they had done to

him.
Radio never gave up on his dream to be a part of the team. Although he lost his mother and had no one but the coach he remained in high school for many years to come. Someone who has disabilities may not be able to communicate as in this movie but that does not mean they do not have feelings and hurt the same as anyone else does. It is characters (people) like Coach Jones that never gives up and continues no matter what that makes the difference in the life of someone with disabilities. Imagine being all alone can’t communicate like everyone else and no one understands why you walk the same route every single day or why you have to have that radio near you at all times it makes a difference to have that one person that cares enough to notice to care and believe in you. Radio’s dreams came true because one person noticed!