Review of Movie "I am Sam"

At a young age we are taught to not judge a book by it’s cover. In today’s society where different disabilities, genders, races and cultures are fully embraced, it is important to spotlight the struggles and stereotypes that we all face and learn to overcome. Growing up, I understood the importance of acceptance however, I was unaware of the struggles people with disabilities face daily. The movie “I am Sam” does a great job in recreating the stereotypes people with disabilities overcome.

The main character Sam Dawson does not let his disability define him. In fact, the main character taught me about resilience and unconditional love.

The film shows us unconditional love through Sam Dawson’s daughter, Lucy. Lucy begins to understand her father’s learning disabilities. As a matter of fact, she questions why her father’s mental capacity is of a 7 year old, but she reassures him it’s ok to be different. Lucy sees beyond her father’s disabilities.

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She sees a hardworking father surrounded by loving and supporting friends.

As Lucy gets older she begins to tone down her learning and participation in school for fear of becoming smarter than her father. Although nothing similar to Lucy and Sam’s situation, as a child of undocumented parents with hardly no education, I’ve learned to love their imperfections and grow from the obstacles we overcome. Because with unconditional love together we rise and like Lucy we see no boundaries in what we as a family can learn to accomplish together.

Furthemore, Sam’s resilience of raising a child as a single parent with disabilities and working at starbucks showed me what one is willing to do for unconditional love. When Lucy’s mom stepped out of the picture, his sole focus was to learn how to raise a child. Throughout the film we see Sam face several challenges. He is constantly reminded of his learning disability but never stops smiling. In fact, he serves everyone with a compliment and a smile. He surrounds himself by positive friends and a neighbor who together help him raise his daughter.

When Lucy is taken away he finds a lawyer to help him get Lucy back. Because Lucy is his world, he complies with everything they require to return Lucy to his custody. Sam’s resilience has taught me that love and kindness drives people to push harder to get through our darkest times. Unfortunately, some of the darkest times in our country have labeled hard working undocumented immigrants as dangerous and uneducated, we carry a greater responsibility of showing those who label our parents that we are much more than those labels.

Because in many immigrant families love and resilience is what is readily available we are constantly reminded the importance of it. Through the years I’ve realized that getting higher education is not only for my benefit. It recognizes that my parents sacrifices was worth it and it sets a path for future generations to come. Although the road to higher education can be tedious, I remember that some of us like Sam face more challenges and like his resilience, I too must continue to make my family proud.

For the most part, this film is one of my favorites because it taught me the value and extent of what parents go through to protect their kids. No matter how may times it’s stated unconditional love will always be the power to get the gears of resilience moving and pushing through for a better future. Like Sam and Lucy, I embrace my families imperfections and work with our resources to lift each other up.