Do you really want to be the bird in the box?

You might have heard about the horror movie Netflix released last month called “Bird Box,” an adaptation of a Josh Malerman novel. The film, which stars Sandra Bullock, centers on an unknown monster that compels anyone who sets eyes on it to commit suicide, so survivors must blindfold themselves when venturing outdoors.

In a world overrun by creatures that cause insanity upon first glimpse, it’s only natural that whoever hasn’t seen these beings would attempt to survive by using their vision as little as possible.

The story follows one woman as she survives against all odds in order to get herself and her children to safety, training the kids to listen for danger and teaching herself to see with her other senses as she navigates this new and treacherous world blindfolded. She and a group of surviving housemates find a box of birds which they leave outside to alert them of danger, hence the name “Bird Box.”

The book, and subsequently the movie, does act as an interesting tool to discuss issues related to visual impairments. Specifically, the movie de stigmatizes parenting while blind. The able-bodied population has always been unable to imagine people with visual impairments successfully parenting children. In fact, many parents who are visually impaired have written about the sighted population telling their kids to “take care” of their parents. Bird Box does indeed address issues such as these.

Despite the trio of characters all being blindfolded in Bird Box, you never once see Mallory lose her position as the authority figure. Even without sight, her children respected her, listened to her (okay, well I am not going to give the entire film away), and perhaps even had a healthy dose of fear when it came to her authoritative parenting style. Bird Box proves the hierarchy is clear when it comes to blind parenting… parents get the top spot.

However, what initially sounded like the perfect opportunity to create awareness about blindness has now been appropriated by the society for exactly the opposite. Viewers across the world are now slapping on blindfolds for the #BirdBoxChallenge to attempt driving, crossing streets, lighting candles and beyond while “blind.”

This has prompted Netflix to issue a cautionary message on Twitter which reads, “Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.”

People come away injured or, at the very least, with the notion that being blind is scary and dangerous. What they should be taking away from this movie is that blind people are perfectly capable of succeeding, as the main protagonist does. After all, she didn’t learn how to live life blindfolded overnight – and you won’t either.

With my lifetime of experience as a blind person, I can use the computers, use cutlery, walk independently and light a candle, but none of that came naturally.

While I’m all about a good suspense film and furthering the discussion on blindness, there is such thing as bad press – and the Bird Box challenge is exactly that. By popularizing this notion that being blind is frightening, society is taking all of its subscribers and throwing them into their own bird box; caging themselves in with their misconceptions screaming “Scary, danger, danger!” until someone sets them free.

Do you want to be the bird in the box? I think not.

Challenge yourself not to the #BirdBoxChallenge, but to a challenge which will allow for learning about blindness in a positive way. Here are some of the ways you could do that:

1.Watch the movie and read the book. The challenge aside, it’s a pretty great plot.

2. Read other books and watch other movies that depict blindness in a realistic way (Daredevil does not count as realistic).

3. Read blog posts and Facebook pages on and by people who are visually impaired to better understand our lives as they really are.

4. Volunteer at an NGO that works for people who are visually impaired.

5. Alleviate actual challenges that visually impaired people face due to the misconceptions that the able-bodied world holds about us. For example, ensure that the software and apps you develop are accessible to screen readers, make sure you post image descriptions or alternative text for the images you post and social media, etc. And (this applies only to Indians), for heaven’s sake stop texting on Whatsapp groups that contain visually impaired members by typing other languages in English (because screen readers do not read this weird combination very well).

6. If you are that keen on it (which I doubt) learn to use a screen reader or read and write braille.

You’ll probably find that not being able to see is not so daunting once you get the hang of things. Maybe we can’t drive like they do in the movie, but we could certainly light candles, cook, work, walk around, and plenty of other things that the able-bodied people do not think we can do.

Don’t be the bird in the box. Don’t close yourself off from the world based on misinformation. Don’t do the Bird Box challenge. Instead, challenge yourself to stay accurately informed.

If the end of the world does result in being blind for survival, you’ll have the upper hand. There’ll be plenty of blind people around to guide you if you get stuck. Remember, we’re always willing to answer questions, if not derogatorily put to us.