What Is The Theme Of I Am Sam

I am Sam is a heart-warmth story of Sam Dawson, a mentally challenged single father who is raising his daughter Lucy with the help of an extraordinary group of friends and his next door neighbor Anne. As Lucy turns seven and begins to intellectually outshine her father, their close bond is threatened when their situation comes under the inquiry of a social worker who wants Lucy placed in foster care. According to Smart (2016), Society causes the disability, and it is society, rather than the individual, who should bear the responsibility for dealing with disability (p. 73). Faced with a seemingly unwinnable case, Sam vows to fight the legal system and forms an unlikely alliance with Rita Harrison, a highly powered, self-absorbed attorney who initially takes his case as pro bona as a
challenge from her colleagues. On the outward appearance the two could not be further apart; however, they are similar. Sam’s compulsive nature mirrors Rita’s more socially acceptable obsessive –compulsive nature. Her enthusiast needs for perfection and success separates her from her own son and has been slowly destroying her self-worth. Together they struggle to convince the court that Sam deserves to get his daughter back and in the process fuse a bond that results in a unique testament to the power of unconditional love. This paper examines Sam and how society treats people with disabilities when it comes to their perspectives of caring for children whose parents has a disability.
Keywords: Society, people with disabilities.

Society and People with Disability I believe this movie shows the factual insight of what a mentally challenge person feels.
It shows how no matter who you are you can love someone. The most amazing thing about this movie is how not only does it tells a story about a mentally disabled man who wants custody of his daughter, but it also shows how some people can be caught up in their work or own lives to be able to focus on their child’s life. While watching the movie, I am Sam has several connected themes: Fighting for what is right, learning to love who you are and love is all you need. Society saw him as a charity case. According to Smart (2016), it has long been acknowledge that societal influences such as lack of health insurance, lack of education, and poverty are associated at higher rates of disability. Sam was not worried about containing a certain IQ score and having a college degree; he was worried about getting his daughter back from foster care because he could not bear to see his daughter living with another family. Throughout the film, Society treated Sam as if he doesn’t have the rights to provide for his seven year old daughter because of his disability. Smart’s (2016) study found the
following: Prejudice, discrimination, and stigma are not an inherent part of a disability; instead, they are part of the environment. These attitudes needlessly hinder PWDs. More relevant today as examples are individuals with mental illness who manage their illnesses with medication and, yet, because of societal prejudice, discrimination, and stigma, are unnecessarily hindered. (p.68) I am Sam presented a sociopolitical model because it shows a social, political attitudes and barriers as well as the civil rights and equal status of people with disability rather than the charity or pity of being disable. Despite his disability, Sam wanted to be treated as an American citizens and not as a charity case. In Sam’s own way, he is an activist for people with disabilities because