At the time of writing this blog, I had just come from seeing the biopic, “Elvis” (2022), about the king of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley (1935-1977) and how he became who he was through his music, his triumphs and his tragedies.
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But watching this movie, without going into spoiler territory, made me think that “Elvis” is more than just a biopic about Elvis Presley, it’s a movie that teaches a strong lesson about what it means to be taken advantage of and used for someone else’s gains.
Take for example Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), a weasel of a manager who ends up using Elvis to settle his own financial fantasies and not caring about Elvis’ overall well-being. He doesn’t care about Elvis being Elvis such as performing his own way because all he sees in him is a golden goose that laid golden eggs in best known novelty songs such as singing “Here Comes Santa Claus” in a forced Christmas setting.
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Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker in “Elvis” (2022)
Now, let’s be real, anyone can be taken advantage of no matter if you are rich and famous or poor and a nobody. But there is no one more subjective to being taken advantage of than neurodiverse and disabled individuals.
This has been a major problem for as long as anyone can remember because some neurodiverse and disabled individuals cannot speak up for themselves or defend themselves if they are being threatened.
But the key factor is that the individual taking advantage of someone being neurodiverse or disabled doesn’t care about what happens to their victim. All they care about is what they are profiting or getting out of them as quickly as possible.
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Part of the reason why I decided to become a self-advocate and public speaker in the field of autism/neurodiversity is because I want to empower those who want to speak up for themselves and help professionals who want to help those most vulnerable to being taken advantage of but are not sure how.
We see people being taken advantage of in educational institutions, places of employment and within families. As a result, we are seeing neurodiverse/disabled individuals not being able to live life according to their own desires because some sleaze has other plans.
There are plenty of Colonel Tom Parker’s out there in the world and we need to do whatever it takes to keep those Colonel Tom Parker’s from doing what they so desire.
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In Part 2, I will discuss ways to keep those Colonel Tom Parker’s out of the lives of neurodiverse/disabled individuals or any individual for that matter.
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Catch you all later!!
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