By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Crip Trip is a docu-series about two friends and filmmakers, Frederick Kroetsch and Daniel Ennett, who set out on a road trip from Edmonton to New York. Ennet, a multidisciplinary artist and disability justice advocate, is a quadruple amputee trying to find full-time employment to avoid institutionalization. The series follows them on their trip as they meet other disabled people across North America who are facing issues regarding care and mobility.
The docu-series aired this year in April. Despite its comedic undertones, the series is raw and infuriating. Instead of focusing primarily on the specifics of disability, it focuses on the world around it — the institutional restrictions to mobility and access experienced by the disabled community in North America. Using the road trip, ideas about mobility, including a huge lack of access to proper mental care for disabled people in North America, are revealed. The two travel in an old RV, which almost ends up breaking down in the first episode. This creates doubts about whether the road trip will even take off. The journey feels turbulent, as there is a lingering feeling that at any point something can go wrong — as exemplified by the RV constantly breaking down. The series becomes a fight for completion, exemplifying the crew’s dedication to spreading awareness of the main message behind the trip.
The series sheds light on core issues surrounding disability justice, such as bureaucratic red tape and inadequate financial support for caregivers. The themes surrounding the poverty trap of not allowing disabled people to work — lest they forgo their benefit payments — as well as the undue exploitation of family caregivers as unpaid forms of labour are explored. The clear lack of humanity when it comes to caring for those vulnerable becomes painfully visible, despite the chaotic fun experience that is at the backdrop.
Kroetsch represents an outsider trying to learn about the struggles of disabled people and their support systems, while Ennett represents the insider inviting the viewer to see the world through the lens of the disabled community. Exploring disability through both of their viewpoints and the rest of the story, Crip Trip challenged me of my own perception of the privilege regarding my body and mobility while informing me of the many injustices still present for the disabled community today.
Watch Crip Trip on AMIplus.
