Remember that throwaway line about Dory’s family from Finding Nemo? This movie does, and after another throwaway line about the importance of family, Dory’s subconscious is sparked and she remembers her parents. She goes on a search that leads her to an aquarium in California, with Marlin and Nemo trailing closely behind, but it comes with a catch: Dory’s memory is hazy, so not all the clues and pieces of information are reliable. In that sense, the movie plays like a wacky scavenger hunt, with Dory sometimes remembering details and other times forgetting everything. It’s this confusion that leads to the real fun, as you’re often left in the dark.
I’d normally go on to discuss the film in a review-like format, but that’d do my thoughts a disservice. Instead, I’d like to zone in on something many reviews haven’t been talking about, yet I still feel is equally relevant. It’s a pressing theme throughout the 100-minute runtime, and glancing over it is disrespectful to why this movie works: let’s talk disabilities.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I have several disabilities. When I was 7 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD (or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This began a trip down the rabbit hole that later included Asperger’s Syndrome, Social Anxiety and Tourette’s Syndrome. All throughout my childhood, I felt I didn’t belong. I was shunned by my peers, ignored by my teachers and at constant ends with those who wanted to help, yet didn’t know how. In short, I was miserable growing up.
Which is all the more reason why, even before she had her own movie, Dory spoke to me. Finding Nemo came out around the time I’d hit teenage-hood, and here was this fish, a fictional character, who was quirky enough to be funny, yet grounded enough to be relatable. She was constantly the butt of jokes, but she compensated with her spontaneity and hopeful optimism. She wasn’t the focus, Marlin’s relationship with his son was, but she definitely stole the show. In short, she was every kid with a disability who hadn’t given up hope, making her an exemplary role model.
On the flip side, Finding Dory takes full advantage of Dory as a character. At first, this sounds like a potential disaster; disabilities, after all, are often misunderstood and misrepresented in mainstream culture and society, so there’s a chance this could backfire. But the movie never strays from what it’s trying to do: shed light on Dory without demeaning her. There are plenty of jokes at her expense, don’t get me wrong, but more often than not the movie recognizes the severity of Dory’s short-term memory loss and plays it sincerely. Humorously, maybe, but never ironically.
I love that. Far too often, society hears “disability” and thinks “distraction”. It views it as a negative, something that needs to be rectified. Alternatively, when it’s acknowledged, it’s over-glamourized. Both approaches are grained in some form of truth, but Finding Dory takes the middle ground. It recognizes that Dory’s presence can be uncomfortable in excess, yet it also respects her as an individual. It even frames her disability as something positive, something to learn from and work with as a strength. After all, Dory’s best quality has always been her spontaneity, so why not cater to that?
But it gets better! One of Finding Nemo’s sub-themes was overcoming adversity. Nemo had a damaged fin, yet the movie had him learn that that didn’t have to stop him from achieving greatness. Finding Dory expands on that adversity theme and makes it the primary focus. Ignoring Dory’s memory, the movie introduces an octopus with a missing tentacle, a whale shark with bad eyesight, a beluga whale with a head injury, a bird with delayed cognition and two seals with missing fins, to name a few. All of them get their chance to shine, which I love. In a world that struggles with disability representation, this film excels at it, leaving Marlin, the only “normal” character, at, ironically, a huge disadvantage.
Of course, the film is wickedly funny too. If Finding Nemo was a "buddy-road trip" movie, Finding Dory is more of a screwball comedy. It has its heart and brain, no doubt, but its mostly wacky and unpredictable hijinks help disguise the bitter undertones. This is what Pixar used to excel at: masking depressing subtexts with barrels of laughs and colourful characters. I wouldn’t consider it one of their best, perhaps second-tier over first-tier, but Finding Dory is still a prime example of Pixar’s beating heart.
So yeah, go see it. And bring your kids, especially if they have a disability, as they might appreciate it more than you!
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