Blind Actor Portrays a Relatively Realistic  Blind Character in See For Me

Editor’s Note: Since this movie was released in June 2021, this review has spoilers. So, if you  haven’t seen it bookmark  this page  and come back later.

Movie Overview

I saw the movie See for Me in audio description on Amazon Prime recently. I thought it would be a good topic to blog about for Disability Pride Month. See for Me is a suspense thriller where a young blind woman takes a cat/house sitting job in an isolated mansion. The role is played by an actual blind actor named Skyler Davenport who is also  autistic and nonbinary. When three intruders break in, the female character, named  Sophie, uses an app called See for Me to get help from a sighted volunteer  and gamer named Kelly. The See for Me app is very similar to Be My Eyes and AIRA. Both smartphone apps are virtual assistants where a sighted person  provides help via  camera and microphone.

Not an Innocent Angel

I appreciated the fact Sophie  was portrayed as a flawed human being. She was rude to her mother, the homeowner, Debra and the 911 operator. People can be rude, self-centered and jerks sometimes. This includes blind and low vision folks.

So many times blind people are portrayed as innocent, little angels  that can do no wrong. But we are people just like anyone else. We lie, cheat and steal. We are no  different and vision loss is not an excuse.

She was a thief too. She took one of the homeowner’s expensive bottles of wine. Then when the home invasion started  and the robbers were  breaking into the safe she wanted a piece of the action. She wanted some of the money, which she took  and got away with in the end.

Blindness Not the Main Point

I like the fact her blindness was a presence but not the main focus in the movie. It is there on the screen  for all to see but the characters don’t dwell on it. For example, in the scene  where Sophie tells the robbers she is blind, they confirm it and then move on. They don’t make a big hairy deal about it.

It was a nice twist when Sophie  turns off all the lights in the house using the breaker box. This evens the playing field a bit  and moves things to her advantage. Likewise  when she uses one of the robber’s cell phones to call the other one. When the phone rings she uses sound localization to penpoint where he is in the house. I use that  technique all the time to find things I have dropped on the floor.

Role Played By Blind Person

I loved that Sophie was played by an actual blind person. This has been a sticky point in the disability community for a long time. Nondisabled actors playing disabled people when a disabled actor  could have played that role. It seems we get it when it comes to other  groups. Yes, it makes sense that a Black person  actually play a Black character. But when it comes to the disabled  the idea doesn’t transfer over for some reason. Davenport is obviously very talented and capable of playing this role.

Adjustment to Vision Loss is Realistic

You learn  at the beginning of the movie Sophie is in the adjustment phase of her vision loss. She is grappling with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease causing blindness. This change in vision has dashed  her Olympic dreams as a Downhill skier. So, she comes off as annoying and overly independent–not wanting help from anyone.

I get it. I was there myself. Over time I learned it was okay to occasionally accept help. A good example is when Sophie arrives at the home, Debra offers a walk-through. But Sophie is borderline rude giving a curt no thanks. I didn’t think it was wise to decline doing a walk-through a large house you have never been in before. When the home is burglarized, this bad decision  causes Sophie problems.

Listening and Leaving Home Was Not Realistic

When Sophie first hears noises in the house she thinks it is the cat. She is  cat/house sitting after all. Yes, that makes sense. But because she barely uses her white cane and didn’t get the walk-through she is having a hard time with navigation. I know she was checking on the cat  thinking that was the source of the noise. But I would have listened a little more before moving around a huge unfamiliar house looking for a cat who  already knows the territory. But this is part of what makes the movie, right?

Also, I would have been suspicious and cautious. She had reset the alarm   after her foray outside to smoke  and had to call See for Me to get help. The alarm didn’t go off. That would have told me something was off. Once I heard the drilling sound I would have known it was a home invasion  or something really bad happening. She eventually did and called the police.

I didn’t think  it was realistic that Sophie wanted to leave the house a soon as  she knew it was being robbed. She heard the men coming in and was afraid. Although  this is a true emotion, for a blind person acting on it is not wise. She was isolated, didn’t use her white cane much, and had no real idea of  her location. It is cold and snowy outside. She had already experienced this  earlier when she locked herself out of the house. So, if you leave the house what happens? How do you really get away?

Her desire to leave was just not  real in my mind. I would have sheltered in place. Kept quiet  and continued to listen until help came.

Perplexed About Shooting Robbers

Sophie uses her See for Me virtual assistant, Kelly. She shows Sophie how to aim one of the robber’s guns  and fire. Now this was interesting. I am not a gun owner and never interacted with them. But in a life or death situation  I can understand  what Sophie was doing.

However, the part that perplex me was her hesitation. She paused to shoot the thieves. Kelly would give instructions to aim and shoot but  there was this wait time I didn’t understand. I would  think you would shoot  immediately after the command. Perhaps Sophie was nervous, scared  or not confident.

Proud of Blind Actor

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Adjustments  are hard when  people first lose their sight and that was  pretty obvious with Sophie. There were just a couple of things that made this movie not totally realistic  for me. That is Hollywood for you. The best part was the use of a blind actor. I am proud of being blind. I want to see more blind people acting and blind characters in films and movies.