How The Batman's Matt Reeves Helped Me Accept My Disability
Matt Reeves gave an interview. He did a lot more than talk about The Batman.
Sink; sunk; skunk.
I can still hear the vocabulary words during speech therapy. Every consonant was a pressure cooker boiling alphabet soup up to my larynx. I had to say it right. That’s why I was pulled out of class, correct? So I could say it right?
My speech impediment - courtesy of my autism - caused me to miss out on the little things kids took for granted: the basic sentences, funny anecdotes happening during class, being left out of popcorn reading. The moment I tried expressing my radical thoughts, they would quickly be reduced to a word’s difficulty.
Even after I got over the SKs and STs of consonants, my speech impediment was still evident. Whether it was someone flat-out telling me I sounded like nails on a chalkboard or a kid making fun of how I said Kylo ‘Wen’, there was always that reminder.
Coincidentally, director Matt Reeves felt a similar reminder as well.
While promoting the highly anticipated The Batman in an interview with MovieMaker Magazine, Reeves talked about a scene from a previous film he directed:
Another of his films, 2010’s Let Me In, a remake of the 2008 Swedish film Let the Right One In, includes a scene when bullies mock a little boy, calling him a little girl.
“That was very personal for me, because I always, you can even see now, I have a high voice. I’m often mistaken on the phone for being a woman,” he says. “And some kids were pretty brutal to me.”
It hit home.
An acclaimed Hollywood director being open with his vulnerabilities? That same kid growing up to direct a superhero tentpole with booming ticket sales?
Although Matt Reeves does not have a speech impediment - to public knowledge, I still saw myself in that kid. The high, “not normal” voice; the childhood bullying; the internal fear of not being taken seriously; I knew exactly what Reeves was talking about.
While it may seem insignificant to some, there have been times when I felt I had to lower my voice and sound “perfect.” In an age when a soundbite is the new Twitter meme and Elizabeth Holmes becomes a baritone out of insecurity, it can feel as though your speech impediment ultimately defines your worth. Turns out, that is not the case.
Whether your voice is too high, too low, or prone to stuttering, the “flaws” in your spoken words do not invalidate you. It’s not about how something is said but what is being said. Words can have a significant impact on those around us - even when it involves anecdotes about a vampire film.
Matt, if you somehow stumble upon this post: thank you, truly, for making your movies personal. Your work helps more people than you realize.
Thank you for sharing this