Parents' Guide to Wildflower

Wildflower is clearly trying to be a good example of disability representation on-screen. And on the surface, it's entertaining and promotes a feel-good message about family togetherness. But the way that the disabled characters are portrayed may offend some viewers. While we're led to sympathize with Bea, it's at the cost of her parents' character development. The result is an uneven representation of disability in which the characters are shown in a more stereotypical light than the film was probably aiming for. Wildflower's inherent ableism is woven throughout the film in subtle and not-so-subtle ways -- the most egregious of which is when Sharon and Derek's parents openly discuss and argue about whether Sharon should be sterilized so that she and her husband can't have children. It's a shocking conversation to have in a film that's supposed to be giving viewers the idea that Bea's family is just one type of American family.

Bea having to raise herself in squalor with an irresponsible, junk food-eating mom and a dad who races toy cars is one of the biggest ways the film actively argues against disabled people having children, which muddles the supposedly warm message it wants to portray. It would have been nice to see how Bea's parents cared for her well-being, as well as how Bea's grandparents, aunt, and uncle might have stepped up to the plate to provide a loving village for her and her parents, instead of either wanting to take her away (in the case of her aunt and uncle) or preventing her from being born at all (in the case of her paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather). The cast -- including Jean Smart, Jacki Weaver, Erika Alexander, Brad Garrett, Charlie Plummer, and Kannon -- are great, but their charisma can only cover up the confusion of the film's messaging so much.