Rising Phoenix (2020)

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As the 2024 Paralympic Games begin in Paris next week, I'm going a bit off the theme of my blog. This isn't a cozy, but it's a topic that's very personal to me, and one that I feel the whole world should know more about.

"Rising Phoenix" is a 2020 Netflix original documentary about the Paralympics.  One of the co-producers of "Rising Phoenix" is Tatyana McFadden. She is originally from Russia, but in her childhood, she was adopted, and then she moved to Maryland to be with her adopted family. Like me, she was born with Spina Bifida. I have been following her story at the local level since she was in high school. It is because of her activism that students with disabilities are allowed to compete in high school sports alongside their other classmates under Maryland's Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act. She has competed in the Paralympics, where she has won many medals, and she will be competing in this summer's Paris Games starting next week. She can also now add producer to her growing list of achievements.

"Rising Phoenix" had my attention from the very beginning. It starts out with a narration that compares Paralympians to the Avengers.  The narrator says that Paralympians, like the Avengers, are "a team of superheroes who try to save humankind, save people, fight for success." The documentary goes on to highlight the stories of several Paralympians, with some of the politics of the Games seamlessly woven into it. I shed tears in the beginning of the film, as I often do with the opening ceremonies, because of what the Paralympics means to people with disabilities and to the world in general. It is a very honest documentary, touching on issues (such as inequalities in pay) that many people are likely not aware of. However, it also filled me with hope because of the many obstacles that have already been overcome. For example, did you know that just weeks before the 2016 Paralympics, those games almost didn't happen because they ran out of money, even though a certain amount had already been allocated specifically for that event? And when it did happen, there were almost no spectators in the beginning because it wasn't advertised. Thankfully, those Paralympics ended in success.

My only criticism of "Rising Phoenix" is that they didn't focus enough on the Winter Games. It was primarily about summer events and those athletes. The only mention of the Winter Games was when Tatyana McFadden talked about why she participated in them. They were in Russia that year, her hometown. So she figured out a sport (cross country skiing) that she could do...and off she went! It was touching to see that her birth mom was there to see Tatyana compete. Although this was epic, I would have loved to see more winter sports highlighted, such as sled hockey.

This is just a minor complaint. I highly recommend watching this documentary as we head into the Paralympic Games next week. When it's done, you will not only be educated on the games, but you will also be filled with more hope than you probably ever thought possible.