The Miracle Worker
November 12, 2000 on Channel 7
I did not finish watching this show, but I gotta tell you what is so essential about this show, things that move me personally. Helen, a little kid who lives in a quite neighborhood and far from the community, could not speak nor hear anything. As a 10 month year old baby, she was capable of muttering but somehow everything was taken away from. Since then, her mom & dad always let her do anything she wants or they sympathize her for what she is. At the dinner table, she'd grab food from each person's plate and eat w/ her bare hands. No one in the family really cares. Whenever she was displeased, she'd lie on the floor and fight herself against what she cannot see. One day, they hire a teacher to teach her "finger" language meaning communicating w/ her fingers.
Annie, the teacher, was one of a kind. A compassionate teacher but also a strict teacher who wants to teach this poor kid Helen as many words as she can. She started off by disallowing Helen from eating food from everyone else's plate. She lock Helen w/ herself in the dining room & foods and plates fly across the room in a matter of seconds. Helen, uncontrollable, hated this teacher who tries to give her manners and etiquettes.
Annie realizes that Helen cannot move ahead by living in a house where her mom & dad spoiled her w/ her wants. So she asked permission from them to take her a small cabin outside the main house for two weeks. She has two weeks to teach Helen as many words and as a person with manner & attitude.
When one loves a person, one may not be willing to see that person suffer. That's the difficulty that her parents are trying to overcome. Annie, on the other hand, knows how hard it is to let go a person from a personal experience. Often it is best to do so in order that that person can grow to become independent. Change is difficult and brings out resistance in each of our own kind.
Some of the words that Annie taught Helen are: spoon, fork, plate, cake, horse eats apple, birds come out of the shell, dog, feather, silk...
Unfortunately, I just don't know the remaining side of this story. Well, I'll just have to look around! If anyone knows what happened since then, please don't hesitate to email me. I'd love to know the ending. It's gotta be a good ending. It's from Wonderful World of Disney. :)
Bye!