Brady - Short Film Analysis using Representation

A Summary of Brady

This short film is about a young, disabled boy named Brady, however; his mother seems to steal the spotlight at various points in the film. Brady's mother takes Brady to the swimming pool where it is then noticeable that she lusts for a young man, possibly at High School, named Ted who volunteers at the pool and helps Brady to improve himself. Brady's mother appears to give Ted her phone number, or a note of some sort which seems to make him feel uncertain about the situation and awkward, resulting in Brady's mother retracting her gesture and breaking down emotionally inside of her car. 

Representation of Disability and Lust

Where Brady is first seen

Brady opens with a big close-up of a woman taking off a small child's clothes. The audience can determine this as her nails are painted and often, small children don't choose to dress themselves. If you look closely you can also see that the young child, the audience assumes is Brady, is sat in a wheelchair showing that he is disabled and this concludes why his mother is dressing him. If the audience had not taken notice of this, the next scene shows his mother carrying him into bed from his wheelchair where she then continues to align his legs and makes him comfortable.
The next scene features Brady's mother marking papers or filling out forms etc. and she pours a glass of wine which could suggest that she is stressed or might need an escape of some sort with alcohol. Her facial expression, along with a lasting sigh, also suggests that she is fatigued; this could represent that Brady's disability has an impact on her life. It is apparent that Brady's mother is single as there has been no male figure about in Brady's household.
As Brady's mother pours out her glass of wine, there is a medium close-up of a man lunging into a body of water which represents Brady's mother's lust for a man, or a particular man which the audience then comes to learn is Ted; a volunteer at the swimming facility. Her lust for this particular man is shown with a short scene of her in bed pleasuring herself.
Brady hasn't spoken yet at this point which could make the audience question whether there are greater complications with his already restricted abilities; once Brady's mother wheels him into a double doorway, shown through a long shot, Brady says 'Hey' to Ted which eradicates his inability to speak.

Ted and Brady's mother's fingers touching

There is a close-up of Ted softly touching Brady's mother's fingers as she explains that Brady's arms are stiff so they need to be worked upon which could imply that there is chemistry between them. After this occurs, Brady's mother can be seen to be staring at Ted as he walks away with a sly smile upon her face.

Brady's mother glancing at Ted

Brady's mother sits upon a bench beside the pool and picks up a magazine to supress her boredom as she waits, however; when doing so, she keeps glancing up from the magazine and the camera shows a close-up of Ted which further represents her lust for him. During this scene there are also long shots, medium shots and close-ups of Brady as well to show that he is still at the top of her mind despite her desire for Ted. After a few slow-paced shots switching between Brady's mother's facial expressions and shots of Ted, there is a short clip of bubbling water which could suggest Brady's mother's passion and warmth towards Ted.

Ted being glanced at

A long shot through Brady's eyes, as he's sitting in his wheelchair after the session, shows his mother walk up to Ted and starts to thank him for the help with Brady. She then begins to pass him money which is the audience's first though but then turns out to be, for example, her phone number or a time to meet her for a date. During this time, a close-up of Brady's face shows the audience that he's trying to understand what is happening between his mother and Ted.

Sharing the note

Ted seems to take this gesture the wrong way and Brady's mother becomes embarrassed and tries to apologise for her immaturity with 'I'm sorry, what am I thinking?' and takes back the note she has given him and walks away. Ted also walks away and the audience can distinguish that he feels awkward about the situation, despite not being able to see his face, as he ruffles the back of his hair.

Rejection

Brady's mother wipes off her lipstick inside of her car which could suggest that, before she took Brady to his swimming session, she had wanted herself to look pretty in order to impress Ted. She says to her self 'stupid, stupid, what was I thinking?' and the audience can witness her heart shattering as she floods out her emotions into her hands. The audience can also grasp a sense of frustration in herself as she hits the steering wheel multiple times.

Brady wiping his mum's tears

Brady calls him mum over and here the spectators can see their roles switch when Brady lifts up his hand, which he had severe difficulty with before, and proceeds to wipe his mother's tears. Brady, despite his disability, is mature with his emotions, whereas his mother, being physically able, is immature and weak within her emotional state.