915 words
7 minute read
TW: GIF warning
Luckily, Tara knows this, and she gives me highlights of the shows she watches. This morning, she told me all about the most recent episode of 9-1-1 and specifically, Christopher's role in it.
If you've been around the blog for any length of time, you'll know that my love for Christopher Diaz knows no bounds. Most recently, his skateboarding fall last season really resonated with me. (Seriously, enough can't be said about the importance of authentic disability representation.
This season, Christopher's dad, Eddie, is dating. (Ironically, he's dating Christopher's former classroom teacher, but as Chris is no longer her student, it isn't technically a conflict of interest.
Eddie arrives home from his date and his coworker and friend, Buck, says he's late. That Buck has managed to negotiate with Christopher enough that he got ready for bed and into bed, but Buck was not allowed to tuck him in or tell him a story.
So, Eddie goes in, and Christopher immediately starts asking where his dad was. Eddie says he was out to dinner and Chris tries to guess who he was out to dinner with -- which friend -- from where. Eddie won't budge, so Christopher seemingly relents and asks for a story "--about your friend."
***
A few days later, Christopher is helping his dad make a salad and Eddie brings up his "friend" again. He reveals to Chris that it's a woman.
"A girlfriend," Chris says, clearly upset.
"She's someone I like a lot and I think you'll like her, too."
"No, I won't!" Chris responds, angry.
"Okay, let's just talk about it," Eddie tries again.
But Christopher yells "no," and sweeps the entire salad bowl onto the floor where it shatters. Then, he says, "I'm really mad at you," and walks out of the kitchen.
A couple of things about this scene:
First of all, we have what Tara has termed, Christopher's "glorious disabled anger" here. Often, we'd see a scene like this followed up immediately by the disabled character being reprimanded or framed as wrong or bad for having legitimate feelings -- after their "no" is not respected.
Eddie just lets Christopher go to his room and slam the door. Then he picks up the bowl.
And secondly? It appears that Christopher is now walking unaided (at least short distances around his house) and it's just not a thing. No one comments on it, on how he's getting "better" or how "he worked hard in PT" or anything. He's just...walking around his house and it's usual.
And I love it.
***
In the next scene, we see Eddie talking to Christopher's teacher via video chat. She asks, "He wouldn't even talk about it?" and Eddie responds, "No. Total meltdown." But instead of Chris's reaction being framed as unreasonable, his teacher says, "Maybe this is too fast," and "He's been through so much, maybe we should take a break."
Eddie is not quite as ready to break things off but has made it clear he's letting Chris cool off before he tries to talk to him again.
He goes to Christopher's room and finds it empty. He checks the closet and doesn't find him. A short but desperate search ensues, until Eddie hears his cell phone ring. It's buried in Christopher's bed.
Buck is on the phone and reassures Eddie that Christopher is there with him. (That Christopher used Eddie's phone to call himself an Uber and get a ride there.) Eddie says he'll be right over.
There's no huge explosion of temper over what Chris "put him through" or how hard it is to raise a kid like Christopher. Just Eddie, coming over as fast as he can. Christopher is ten or eleven years old now, and while not old enough to take an Uber alone (in my opinion) this scene does a lot to show the dignity of risk and also the ingenuity of disabled people -- how we adapt to get ourselves what we need.
***
Buck tells Christopher that he heard about Chris blowing up at his dad. Christopher says "I don't want to talk about it." Buck is persistent saying that as long as he's here, they might as well talk about something, and that Christopher was there for him when he needed to talk, so he wants to return the favor. (Not exactly healthy boundaries between an adult and a child but I do appreciate that Christopher is not only ever framed as the one being helped.
Christopher admits, "Dad's dating," and then says that he wishes he could forget because "people leave and I miss them" and "I don't want to miss anyone else."
Buck tells Christopher people do leave, but sometimes they don't stay gone forever. That he will see his grandma and his friends again. Christopher asks, "Do you promise?" And Buck does.
Then, Christopher stands to hug Buck and says, "You're a good friend."
[Image: Christopher stands and hugs Buck.]
Buck says, "Yeah, sometimes I am."
And the episode ends with Christopher's former teacher coming over, and Christopher smiling and greeting her with a hug.
***
It's just so refreshing and lovely to see Christopher's feelings honored and to see him reassured -- when we are so often told our feelings are not valid if we are not being positive at all times.
Regarding what you said about Christopher not being old enough (in your opinion) to take an Uber by himself:
ReplyDeleteI think that’s part of what I loved about that scene: that what Christopher did—calling an Uber for himself, then leaving without telling his dad—can easily be framed as “not okay, but also totally normal.” That is, if we saw an abled 9-year-old (because I think he’s supposed to be 9 during that episode) call an Uber to get out of an uncomfortable (but not abusive) situation, we would smile at their ingenuity while shaking our heads that they did such a thing...and that was exactly the reaction I had to Christopher doing it! Similarly, I’m going to assume that after Eddie apologized for not listening to Christopher’s feelings, he probably also told him “but you can’t run away without telling me”...which is also what I’d expect if Christopher was 100% abled! The way the show doesn’t ignore Christopher’s CP, but also doesn’t make it the focus of his character, is one of my favorite things, and this was a fantastic example of that!
I also really love how you see Buck and Christopher’s relationship as not always having the healthiest boundaries on Buck’s end...though I do appreciate that it’s (almost) never framed as Christopher being some kind of disabled guru child, but as Buck not realizing that an 8 year old isn’t actually his peer, so matter how much he gets teased about being immature.
(My timeline thought, by the way: Christopher is 7 at the beginning of season 2, and 9 near the end of season 3. So he’s probably 10 or just about 10 now...except we’ve been told—via onscreen info and dialogue—that the episodes take place more like when they would have premiered without the pandemic, so Christopher would likely still be 9.)
(Oh, and, my actual, literal reaction to the scene where Eddie realized Christopher was missing:
[Eddie picks up his phone]
Me: “He ran away to Buck’s, didn’t he?”
[Eddie talks to Buck]
Me: “Ha! Christopher, I’m pretty sure you weren’t supposed to do that...but I really love that you did!”)
Right, I agree. That's why I mentioned what I did about dignity of risk and disabled people's ingenuity. I continue to really love Christopher's character and how the writers are portraying him (and of course, Gavin McHugh's portrayal is fabulous.)
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