Honesty through a Screen

Something magical happens when you connect with someone new. This connection creates an energy that can leave you giddy, no matter if the meeting was platonic or romantic. While there is nothing like human interaction, there are always unconscious biases that sneak their way through. Yet, during the pandemic, when we had to distance ourselves from others, our need for connection became a thing of survival and not judgment. That meant that an interesting change was taking place for actress-comedian Santina Muha when she found herself participating in virtual events. She wasn’t seen as a person in a wheelchair, instead, she was recognized for the unique person she is.

This shift in people’s perspectives resulted in a spark of creativity, and with the help of her friends, including award-winning director Jacob Reed, Muha decided to make a documentary short, Full Picture. Full Picture is a social experiment in which Muha meets and chats with strangers virtually, not mentioning or showcasing her wheelchair. It is only when we remove our preconceived notions that we can allow ourselves to see the truth.

This beautiful exploration of self came out at a time when the whole world had to pause their life, which in effect caused the use of a moment of self-reflection. We began to see the world differently, and for Muha, that meant something unexpected.

“It (Full Picture) came from Santina telling us about this experience she was having in the first couple months of the pandemic,” Reed says. “We all thought it was so interesting and wanted to document it.”

“It did feel odd that no one had asked me ‘What happened to you?’ or ‘Why are you in that thing?’ for a solid few months,” Muha adds.

Using their background from their work on viral videos (for Buzzfeed), the idea for a social experiment documentary was born. Muha also points out that the lack of questions about her wheelchair intrigued her about participating in the doc, but it wasn’t necessarily focused on interactions with strangers. Reed began to realize that the interactions he missed the most were the “tertiary friends,” the ones who you meet through mutual friends. There is a thread of connection, and that seems like a perfect place to start when they began their recruitment for participants.

“Ourselves and our producers Liz (Reichelt) and Stephen (Sanow) started reaching out to friends and family to see if they knew anyone who would want to have a quick conversation with a stranger for a documentary about first impressions,” Reed adds

Those first impressions yielded something unique, a genuine connection with people based on conversations and not dispositions. Muha had wonderful conversations with a wide range of people, and it was beautiful to watch. This experiment fascinates me. I was mesmerized by the freeing interactions she was having, all the while looking inward at my own tendency to hold judgments. 

That was most evident when Full Picture took a moment out of the conversations with Muha and interview the participant on their opinion of her. The disbelief that was expressed when they were informed that she is in a wheelchair is sort of inspiring, you can see that humanity can look past prejudgment and see the heart of a person. It made me, and I hope the audience, address their own bias, we learned we could be better.

“I’ve learned that because so many strangers over my life seem to be focused on my disability upon meeting me, I expect it,” Muha adds. “So I’m more surprised when someone doesn’t seem to be affected by it. ”

It brought up an interesting side topic for me. Maybe my years in special education have influenced my affinity for Full Picture, but the element I find most important is the idea of ableism. The idea is that the worth of a person is placed on their perfection, be it attractiveness, success, or physical abilities. 

“Absolutely. My sister has Down Syndrome and a lot of our family friends are a part of the DS community, and I’ve also been friends with Santina for almost a decade,” Reed explains. “And even that didn’t prepare me at all for the experience of making this film. Seeing how deep-seated our biases were was a really enlightening experience.”

“Yes, it was honestly a validating experience for me. I also felt that the men we interviewed were more affected by the ‘reveal’ than the women,” Muha adds. “And I don’t want to generalize too much, but that finding made me reflect on my life and realize that my disability has been more of an issue for me when dealing with boys/men, from middle school on.”

Prejudice comes in all forms, but the one I believe does not get recognized enough is ableism. This idea that connection can only be done through perfection is infuriating. I’m grateful for Full Picture because it brings this to the forefront, and allows the audience to enjoy the voyeurism of first impressions while taking a look into their own interactions with people.

At the center of our being is a desire to connect with another, to form a bond that’s unique to them. To some extent, we can’t help our nature of biases, but when we are all downgraded to a computer screen and desperate for normalcy, prejudices tend to fade away. One can form a lasting connection with people when you see who they are at their core, and that was a beautiful thing to witness in Full Picture. Muha felt the same, for she still keeps in touch with some of the participants, expanding their virtual relationship into a real-world one.

“I’ve kept in touch with one of the girls we interviewed—we’ve had a few wine and cheese nights on my rooftop,” mentions Muha.

The lasting friendships formed after participating in a social experiment on overcoming prejudices is a beautiful concession. However, that’s not the only thing that results from Full Picture, for I believe the audience and filmmakers were granted the opportunity to grow beyond the limits we unintentionally set up for ourselves. That’s what good films do, they allow the audience to learn. Muha and Reed also had specific goals for the outcomes of the film, as most activists do.

“I’d love for people to treat people with disabilities like well-rounded people because we are. There are so many things that make up a person, and having a disability can be one of those things, but it shouldn’t supersede all the other things,” Muha explains. “It’s fine to ask questions about someone’s disability, when appropriate. But it should rarely if ever, be your opener.”

“One of our biggest goals was to center the narrative around Santina’s experience as an audience surrogate so that audiences didn’t feel like they were being preached to or lectured at,” Reed adds. “Ultimately, I hope it’s a film that disarms and entertains people in a way that also lets them realize we all are susceptible to bias.”

At least for me, Full Picture did just that. There are very few times I have ever finished a film and been disappointed that it had ended, but none has been stronger than what I felt at the end of this short. I longed for more, for more conversations, for more revelations. Unfortunately, Reed always pictures this self-contained as a short film, yet Muha would love the opportunity to chat with more people.

“It would be interesting to work with a social scientist or something and actually talk with a wide enough representative sample to be able to draw some conclusive data,” Reed adds.

We might not be able to experience more of this film’s experiment, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take the lessons we’ve learned, or the perspectives Muha and Reed refreshed, into our own daily interactions. Every person we meet is different in some way from ourselves, and instead of focusing on their negative aspects, we need to embrace and champion them. Our uniquenesses are our strengths.

Full Picture is currently available On Demand.

Written by Lisa M Mejia
Images provided by Full Picture